Saturday 16 August 2008

application



So it's about time I broke this period of self-imposed exile. There's a call-out that looks to be of some interest, the Nine Trades project.

My proposal is as follows:

I live and work in Dundee.
I work at the Halifax / Bank of Scotland call centre as a customer service adviser for telephone banking.
I have been working there since 2003, when I took the job on part-time while at art college. Amazingly, I am still there.
I am on a part-time contract, but usually work lots of overtime to supplement my income.
I do not feel that my day job and my artistic practice are connected in any way whatsoever. This is a source of some frustration to me, and I see this project as an opportunity to perhaps rectify the situation.
The working environment for my ‘day job’ is highly structured and controlled. Reading is prohibited and conversations are fragmented.. However, many people draw or ‘doodle’ during their time at work, and this activity interests me as being an all too rare outlet for expression.
The doodles themselves are usually thrown away once the shift is finished, and one idea for this project might be to present the ephemeral workplace scribbles as being somehow timeless and monumental. The drawings could be used as the starting point for a larger composite piece, bringing together the productions of various employees in a singular artwork that would lend grandeur to what might have been thrown away and destroyed. I would also be interested in teaching my fellow employees a process such as screen printing or etching. To doodle using these techniques could prove interesting both for the potential artists and also for the viewer.

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