What would you do if you had enough money to live and you were free to do whatever you wanted?
Two Swedish artists are offering the chance to live this unique experience.
Watch Netflix, take a walk, read, study, or spend more time on the sofa doing nothing? Two Swedish artists are looking for volunteers to be paid 2,000€ euros a month to do whatever they want. Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby’s “eternal employment” project is part of a larger art project.
The idea is to question our culture of productivity and why people earn low salaries doing uninteresting jobs. The position offers relative security as it is “for life”, except if the participant quits. There is no pressure from managers, as the employee only does what they want to do. The only condition is that the employee has to go to a Gothenburg station every day and signal their presence by turning a light on. They then have to go back again in the evening to turn it off. “This position has no tasks and no responsibilities, except what has to be done at Gothenburg," the job description reads.
“The contract is full time and permanent. Someone new will be employed if the employee quits or decides to retire," the advert says. The conditions are the same as for the public sector, including work hours, holiday allowance, pension, notice period etc. Annual pay rises will follow collective conventions”.
Those chosen will have to be patient, as the job won’t start until 2026. The artists want to recruit people who will create their own projects and adventures to fight “boredom”. “Eternal employment offers not only a different way of looking at a job and what it is to work, but also calls into question the very notions of growth, productivity and progress that are at the heart of modern society," the artists say. The Gothenburg experience should let us anticipate the world to come.
The Brussels Times
