May 2011
AN Magazine (page 27)
By Stephen Palmer
Ellie Harrison’s latest project Work-a-thon for the Self-Employed will take place at Toynbee Studios, London on 13 June as part of the Two Degrees festival. Commissioned and produced by Artsadmin, the project is also supported by AIR, Association of Illustrators and the Writers’ Guild - organisations that represent large numbers of freelancers in and around London.
“The idea is to attempt to set a world record for the most self-employed people working together, on their own individual projects, in the same place at the same time, over the course of a normal 9-to-5 day.
I’ve been a self-employed artist since 2004 and, despite loving the freedom of this lifestyle, I find myself suffering from its downsides: the isolation and lack of workplace solidarity as well as the unregulated and, it seems, increasingly longer working hours.
The Work-a-thon is an attempt at reversing these negative experiences by enforcing a ‘normal working day’ and creating a social working environment in which the informal conversations which we may miss out on - the ‘chats by the water cooler’ - can happen.
I see it as an opportunity for self-employed people like myself to ‘be part’ of a social activity - a world record setting attempt - without loosing out on those precious working hours!”
If you would like to register take part or find out more information see: www.selfemployed.me.uk
