The sphere of art has become newly bound to post-industrial economic structures, where terms such as "creativity" now circulate as hard currency in the branding of corporations and universities alike. The increasing value placed on cultural capital (in Pierre Bourdieu's formulation), and the rise of the so-called "experience economy" have blurred lines between production and consumption, making it increasingly difficult to define what constitutes work, and to identify who is working, and to what ends. Working Conditions brings together three artists and practitioners engaged in challenging the notion of "work" in an increasingly individualistic and creative economy. The program will be structured as an open forum facilitated by Lise Soskolne, co-organizer of W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy); playwright and journalist Alexis Clements; and Jesal Kapadia, artist and professor at MIT's Program in Art, Culture and Technology.

On March 1, 2013, along with Franco Bifo Berardi, Liliane Weissberg, Claire Pentecost, and Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, W.A.G.E. delivered a speech at a dinner organized by Andrea Büttner as part of her exhibition at the MMK Zollamt, Frankfurt am Main. The speeches about money and poetry, conceptions of poverty in Judaism and Christianity, the remuneration of artistic work and food distribution conflicts will subsequently be incorporated into the exhibition as a sound installation. The dinner was part of a series of events carried out in cooperation with the Frankfurt Jüdisches Museum in conjunction with its show "Juden. Geld. Eine Vorstellung". The exhibition, including the speeches delivered on March 1, is on view until April 21, 2013.

Day 2 in a two-part discussion organized by Arts & Labor. Members of the arts community respond to the Day 1 discussion, and talk about strategies used to build community, advocate for artists and create sustainable institutions. They will also examine the challenges and strengths in navigating their roles as activists, precarious workers, job providers, and culture producers. With workers from Queens Museum, Creative Capital, ProjectProjects, and W.A.G.E.

For the third in a series of public forums contributing to W.A.G.E. and Artists Space's Research Partnership, curator, artist and writer Marion von Osten will give a presentation on the current conditions of artist labor in relation to the formation of creative and cultural industries. Von Osten has produced numerous texts and projects plotting the evolution of artists' work as a model for neo-liberal economies, including the exhibition Be Creative! The Creative Imperative (Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, 2002); the research and event based project Atelier Europa (Kunstverein Munich, 2004); and the recent text "Unpredictable Outcomes / Unpredictable Outcasts: On Recent Debates over Creativity and the Creative Industries" from Critique of Creativity (Mayfly books, 2011).

Following her presentation, von Osten will be joined by Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU. Ross's research analyzes contemporary labor, the urban economic landscape and the organization of work. His books include No-Collar: The Humane Workplace and Its Hidden Costs (Basic Books, 2002), Low Pay, High Profile: The Global Push for Fair Labor (New Press, 2004) and Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times (NYU Press, 2009).

Marion von Osten and Andrew Ross will be preceded by a brief presentation by W.A.G.E. summarizing recent developments in the conception of W.A.G.E. Certification, an initiative that will 'certify' nonprofit organizations and museums which follow an established best practices model, and pay artist fees meeting a minimum payment standard. The presentations and following discussion will look to locate W.A.G.E's advocacy for the payment of artist fees by non-profit art institutions, and the research into the establishment of best practice models, in a broader discourse around the economies of creative labor.

W.A.G.E. will participate in Truth is Concrete, a 24/7 marathon camp on artistic strategies in politics and political strategies in art, a project by steirischer herbst in Graz, Austria. September 21 - 28, 2012. W.A.G.E. will be in Graz from September 24-28 and participates/presents on the 27th.

Public meeting to address the need for artists' exhibition fees in non-profit art institutions in Glasgow and beyond. The line-up: introduction by artists Charlotte Prodger & Corin Sworn, an overview of W.A.G.E., short presentations by Corin Sworn (Artist), Isla Leaver-Yap (Freelance Curator) and the Scottish Artists Union, followed by an open discussion.

Tuesday September 18th, 8pm at The Art School (New Vic), 468 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3LW.

As part of the W.A.G.E. / Artists Space Research Partnership, Working Artists and the Greater Economy will release the 2010 W.A.G.E. Survey results and present their analysis. This survey gathered information about the economic experiences of 600 visual and performing artists who worked with non-profit arts organizations and museums in New York City between 2005-2010, and included specific questions about the receipt of artist fees as well as the coverage of expenses for exhibitions, screenings, lectures and performances at over 67 institutions throughout the 5 boroughs. The survey results present a vital and precise portrait of the predominant economic relationships between artists and institutions.

W.A.G.E.'s Research Partnership with Artists Space is based in part on the need to compare such information with the particularities of institutional budgets. A visual presentation of the survey results will be followed by a specific comparison of Artists Space's honoraria payments to artists, speakers and performers between 2005 and 2010, in comparison to the existing fee schedule set by CARFAC (Canadian Artists Representation/Front Des Artistes Canadiens). This presentation will also introduce the principles of W.A.G.E. Certification, and the work being done to develop it through the Research Partnership.

Free food by FEAST/Brooklyn and survey posters will be provided.

The first in a series of programs presented in partnership with Artists Space between January - September 2012. After a brief introduction to W.A.G.E. Certification, the program began with a presentation by artist, economist, and sociologist Hans Abbing, author of Why are Artists Poor: The Exceptional Economy of the Arts. Abbing's presentation and Q & A were followed by a sustenance break with homemade soup, bread and drinks. The evening culminated in a town hall meeting, engaging the public in an open-ended discussion that contributed to framing the agenda for upcoming programs and the formation of W.A.G.E. Certification.

Silvershed coordinated and presented a panel discussion addressing: How do recent lateral, collaborative projects, ranging from artist-run spaces to curatorial initiatives to knowledge communities, counter the information/service-based economy and its elements of fluid social networks, entrepreneurial spirit, flexible labor management and interactions with daily life? Or do these art projects and communities utilize these factors and build upon them—in turn aligning with this mode rather than producing a disarming critique?

Moderator: Liam Gillick; Panelists: Summer Guthery, The Chrysler Series, Rose Marcus, The Dependent Art Fair, Jackson Moore, The Public School New York, James Voorhies, Bureau for Open Culture, Lise Soskolne, W.A.G.E.

The New York launch of "Are You Working Too Much? Post-Fordism, Precarity, and the Labor of Art" the fourth in the e-flux journal reader series published by Sternberg Press. To mark this occasion, W.A.G.E. presented a live reading followed by a self reflexive Q+A; and Liam Gillick read from Construction of One: A Manuscript (2011), an unpublished text on the progressive working practices deployed by Volvo factories in the early 1970s.

This panel focused on the aesthetic tropes that activists use to express political dissent. Theatrical gestures such as street art (e.g., glamdalism), dance parties (e.g., Funk the War), or costumes have found their way into protest tactics. Simultaneously, many contemporary artists create 'activist' or 'social' art by pulling off media pranks against the government or corporations (e.g., Yes Men), reenact past protests (e.g., Mark Tribe or Sharon Hayes) and other forms of public performances. What are the historical roots that contribute to the use of current aesthetic interventions in political protests? In what ways do they expand or limit the possibilities for protests to transform the social order? How does experimenting with aesthetic and artistic sensibilities influence our political consciousness and practice? Political thinkers and art-activists will address these questions in order to make sense of the various forms of protest today.

Panelists: Mark Herbst, Journal of Aesthetics; Beka Economopoulos from Not An Alternative; Chris Mansour, Platypus The Artist-Citizen, Advocating Change, W.A.G.E.

A screening & debate about artistic concepts and practices, to challenge some common assumptions such as "Experimental filmmakers want to be marginal," "Artists make a lot of money," "Experimental filmmakers have a subject when they start and an end in mind," "Artists blissfully ignore film history," and "These works have no form!"

Participants: Math Bass, Shannon Ebner, Alice Konitz, Adam Putnam, Lucy Raven and W.A.G.E

In conversation with CARFAC Executive Director, April Britski, and curator Lauren Cornell, W.A.G.E. discussed its Certification of the exhibition Free, and the payment practices of institutions in the US and Canada.

Panelists: April Britski, Executive Director of CARFAC (Canadian Artists' Representation/Le Front des Artistes Canadiens), Free curator Lauren Cornell, and W.A.G.E.

Working in conjunction with curator Lauren Cornell, W.A.G.E secured an artists fee for each participating artist (separate and in addition to covering artists expenses) for the exhibition Free, on view from October 20, 2010 - January 23, 2011.

W.A.G.E. speaks at The Creative Time Summit: Revolutions In Public Practice II and participates in a panel discussion about institutions.

Panelists: Danielle Abrams, Chen Chieh-Jen (represented by Amy Cheng), Andrea Fraser, Otabenga Jones & Associates, W.A.G.E.

W.A.G.E. launched two online surveys targeting the exhibition experiences of visual and performance artists who have worked in New York with either or both Small to Medium Non-profit Institutions and Large Non-Profit Institutions and Museums between 2005-2010. The purpose of these surveys was to compile information about the economic experiences of artists in order to bring greater transparency to the economic practices of institutions in New York City, and to establish a more just and sustainable relationship between artists and arts organizations.

Drawing upon the celebratory and labor-oriented cultural themes of May Day, Human Resources' May Day event promotes a festive atmosphere with a labor rights consciousness. Human Resources' May Day event showcased performances from musical artists, Mad Gregs and Wounded Lion; performance collective My Barbarian; performance artists, Lucy Indiana Dodd, Corey Fogel and Dawn Kasper; and video presentations from Sharon Hayes and W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy).

Panel discussion subjects: The role of artists needs to be repositioned as essential to our culture and society. How can artists determine how to maneuver within the existing societal structure to achieve reliable, long lasting support both politically and socially. How can artists realize that individuals can hone power to implement change? What are the resources that artists may utilize to understand the rights and opportunities that already exist? What are some examples of artists who have advocated for more support and have succeeded? What are steps artists can take to achieve greater agency for themselves?

Panelists: Zeffrey Throwell (Moderator), Steven Lambert, Carin Kuoni, and W.A.G.E.

#Class was organized by William Powhida and Jen Dalton who turned the gallery into a 'think tank' for guest artists, critics, academics, dealers, collectors, and anyone else interested in examining the way art is made, seen, and sold in our culture.

W.A.G.E. holds an open teach-in and consciousness-raising leading to a fruitful, fruity discussion as part of a series hosted by Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner.

Panel discussion subject: What are the pros and cons of state-funded art and cultural production at a moment of severe economic crisis?

Panelists: DD Guttenplan, W.A.G.E., and Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, moderated by Jenni Lomax

Discussion of current W.A.G.E. issues and overview of progress, actions, movements, complaints, relevant current events, and feelings. "Come have a cup of coffee with us and stimulate your economic power as an artist and/or cultural worker. Klatch will conclude with a W.A.G.E. t-shirt spray paint stencil session, bring your own or we'll provide one."

W.A.G.E. advocated that fair payment practices be established for visual artists, performers, and independent curators in the United States.

Organized and moderated by Tracy Candido, a Master's candidate in Steinhardt's Visual Culture Theory program and founder of Sweet Tooth of the Tiger's Bake Sale Residency for Artists, a mini grant for artists who like to bake.

Panelists: Ruby Lerner (President, Creative Capital), Katie Hollander (Deputy Director, Creative Time), Tim Cynova (incoming Deputy Director, Fractured Atlas), Jeff Hnilicka (Founder, FEAST [Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics]), Bryce Dwyer (InCUBATE, Chicago IL), A.K. Burns (W.A.G.E.).

W.A.G.E. holds an open teach-in, an extension of CCS Bard graduate student Katerina Llanes' thesis project SESSIONS.

Several informal gatherings of disgruntled artists, arts workers, performers and independent curators