Katya Ev
(ekaterina vasilyeva)
Visitors of an Exhibition Space are Suggested to 'Do Nothing'
2021
(participatory) (delegated) performance, legal agreement
co-produced by Caveat, Brussels
exhibition In the Long Blink of an Eye, HISK, Gosset site, Brussels
curated by Daniella Géo
Images by the artist, Laure Cottin Stefanelli & Manuel Wetscher
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'Doing nothing' - this paradoxal, since being defined by negation, task was proposed to the visitors of an exhibition that took place in Brussels (Dec, 2020 - Jan, 2021) in a form of a performative piece.
Entitled Visitors of an Exhibition Space Are Suggested to 'Do Nothing’, this participatory set-up indeed invited visitors to ‘do nothing’, but first meticulously spelling out the conditions that ‘doing nothing’ will be both subject to and enabled by: visitors sign a contract that was developed by the artist in close collaboration with a lawyer, and which is legally valid and binding. After 'doing nothing', they get remunerated and receive a proof of payment. It was possible for visitors to take part in the performance and ‘do nothing’ for any amount of time, whereas the compensation is foreseen for the number of full hours.
The contract for 'doing nothing' specified that all applicable taxes and social contributions should be paid by both parties according to local laws and regulations.
Visitors of an exhibition space are suggested to 'do nothing' is conceived as a re-enactable piece.
Statistics & Data
Applicable law & regulations: Belgian
Compensation rate: €10,251 *
Compensation rate on Sundays and national holidays: €20,5
*Belgium's general minimum wage upon CAO (collective labour agreement) n° 43 of the National Labour
Council, which sets the absolute national bottom amount for wages. These apply when there are no other
specific sectoral agreements on minimum wages. On Sundays and national holidays the compensation is
200%.
Number of hours available for 'doing nothing' (time- and budget-wise) : 32
Number of visitors: 600
Number of participants (visitors that signed the contract for 'doing nothing'): 21
Shortest duration of 'doing nothing' : 3 minutes
Longest duration of 'doing nothing': 1 hour 30 minutes
Number of participants that 'did nothing' for a full hour / number of paid hours : 10
Total duration of 'doing nothing' by all participants : 12 hours and 10 minutes
Breach(es) of the contract: 1
Source of budget for 'doing nothing': Flemish Community, Belgium, Ministry of Education, HISK
Fiscal & legal responsibility (contracts with participants signed by) : the artist
Hosts: Titouan Russo, Mélanie Weill
Legal conception: in collaboration with Julie Van Elslande (Caveat / Emptor)
Texts: in collaboration with Mélanie Weill, Jesse Van Winden (Caveat / Emptor)
Space setup: in collaboration with Azad Asifovich
Related artworks
next version of the performance:
Ne rien faire contre rémunération'
2022
New Space, Liege (Be)
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