Superintern
Multi-media Installation
Vienna | 2013-2015
Since 2013 we have been trying to convince the Danish artists collective Superflex to take back their offer of an unpaid internship published on their homepage. Being an artist group we have always admired, we wanted to give Superflex the chance to correct their unethical offer. In our eyes this offer not only demonstrates the ongoing aggravation of working conditions in the artistic field but also represents a break in Superflex’s own critical and idealistic art practice.
March 11th 2014
Dear Superflex,
A friend of ours suggested you just might be too poor to pay your interns a decent wage or at least a small allowance. It seems hard to believe an artist group of your status and reputation to be completely impoverished. But as we want to show our appreciation of your work we would like to contribute our share. As we know the financial crisis hit hard on all of us, especially on those in the creative fields, we want to reach out for those who we hold in high regards.
Our package is to be seen as a symbol of solidarity. We hope you find it tasty.
You will find food products with a nutrition value almost sufficient for a grown-up for one day. And, the good news is: it costs less than 2 Euro! Now you might argue that if it is possible to survive with a little more than 50 Euros monthly, you virtually needn’t pay your interns. But we figured that this might just increase a vicious circle, meaning that the problems are only shifted out of sight: Certainly you know that of my 39 Cents spent for the chocolate, the cocoa farmer only gets about 1 Cent. A lot of chocolate would need to be sold to in order to enable them to have a decent life. To cut it short, you not paying your interns eventually enables you to do works as “Guaraná Power”.
In case you have not noticed so far, we are still convinced you should take down the offer of an unpaid internship off your homepage (as we tried to suggest in our emails on September 17th 2013, and January 2nd 2014).
With best regards from Austria,
Hannah Rosa Oellinger, Manfred Rainer
Email on January 2nd 2014, 15:26
Dear Superflex intern,
As Superfex hasn’t responded to our last email (see below), we like to believe that it got caught by you. It is important for us to stress, that we did not by any means want to affront you or your position. We think highly of your contribution to the art world. After all, it is often the invisible labour that enables the greater good.
And although we are just about to suggest being allies, we know that there is never going to be a united intern’s strike. There are always at least hundreds who are eager to take over your unpaid job, making your refusal pointless. What worries us though, is the acceptance that unpaid internships have among our generation. Even though more and more people are starting to question this practise, their ability to change the situation is very limited.
The only action that actually makes a difference is implementing fair laws and having fair employers stick to them.
For this reason we are looking forward to Superflex’ answer.
Hannah Rosa Oellinger, Manfred Rainer
Email on September 17th, 2013, 22:17
Dear Superflex,
We really like your work.
But we fear the picture perfect image you draw throughout your artistic work has one black spot. We are writing to you with concern regarding your unpaid internship offer you advertise on your homepage. Your offer clearly addresses students and recent graduates from the cultural and artistic fields: People who hope by taking an internship they will bridge time avoiding unemployment, people hoping to get a slice of that “famous artist”-cake, people hoping to build a network pushing their career, people hoping to support your socially committed work. However, this offer clearly excludes everyone who is not able or not willing to cross-finance your work with their personal loss. In the end, you might be getting those who can afford it, not the free independent thinkers, the creative heads and those who actually want to participate in making this world a better place.
“The current economic crisis has left labour markets in turmoil. There are no work guaranties even with a higher educational degree; longer working hours are demanded of those in jobs; salaries are cut and availability is requested at all times. With growing fears of losing the vital workplace, uncertainty of the perspectives for the future spreads through societies.“ (description text, “The Working Life”) Apparently, you are well aware of the fact that at a time of mass unemployment and floods of academics spilling out of the universities, one is facing more and more barriers entering the job market. Being an artist, it seems that the first step upon climbing the career ladder has become exhibiting in artist run spaces and the like, where instead of being given money, you usually get ripped off. You have anyway become used to a huge competition for any grant or scholarship due to cuts in the cultural budget. Eventually, a small percentage might make it into a gallery, where the proportion of your profit as a young artist will be quite limited. So in the first years of struggle you’d probably take any opportunity promising to take you one step higher and even an unpaid internship seems to be a ray of hope. Taking advantage of these tight conditions in the cultural field is an irresponsible act.
In the text to “The Working Hard” you furthermore state that having a job is important “(...) when it comes to survival, but also when it comes to holding on to ones own identity as an included member of society.” Agreeing with the comprehensive significance of having a job, we believe this diagnosis still doesn’t justify not to pay your interns. Wondering about the inconsistency between the main aspects of your artistic work and your job offer, we have to regard it as a joke on contemporary neo-liberal logic. Superflex’s tools clearly stand in opposition to the exploitative idea of an unpaid internship. Beuys once denounced all artist to be opportunists. Nobody is interested in having him proven right.
We think that we could substantially help and contribute to your work. To do so, we need to know that we don’t end up in debt and more importantly, we want to continue thinking of Superflex being the respectable, idealistic creators of works such as “The Working Life”. Should you change your offer to pay a salary covering at least our living costs, please understand this (cvs and portfolios enclosed) as our application.
With the best regards from Austria,
Hannah Rosa Oellinger, Manfred Rainer
oellinger/rainer