j asked if I was going to do sound-related work in connection with my upcoming performance piece of sitting in an office cubicle making art for 45 44 (non-continuous) hours. No, my piece has fairly strict parameters requiring that I regress to the tech-level I had 10 years ago, in the drab office environment where we low-paid permatemps had lots of downtime but had to look busy. This means no internet, no music, just me and MSPaintbrush for hours on end. This may sound like religious penance but it's really a kind of existential roots investigation and a comment that "art life" is inseparable from "work life" in the modern world as opposed to some soothing experience that is the province of special Others. Plus it gives me a chance to draw with the computer in a public context, have fun, and get away from the music studio for a while (despite being on a tear).

Yesterday one of the organizers politely but nervously asked me if I still have an, um, job these days. The answer is yes! Where I work now isn't so physically different from this "art project" and my past jobs; it is more demanding, though. We could talk about it, but let's just say blogging about my perma (as opposed to permatemp) gigs is not part of my long-term survival plan as an artist. (But bashing poking good natured fun at critics, institutions and "powerful" artists is--go figure.)

- tom moody 5-09-2005 5:06 am




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