The philosopher, art gallerist, and curator for over 30 years Hubert Thurnhofer (www.thurnhofer.cc) is organizing the virtual exhibition entitled:

OPINION & JUDGMENT

and inviting artists from all over the world to show their creativity and talents by creating artworks related to the aforementioned subject, opinion and judgment.

www.thurnhofer.cc offers the following services:

1) Publication of an article about all participating artists with their individual statements on the subject of the exhibition Opinion & Judgment on kunstsammler.at

(see e.g. themed exhibition Wissen & Schaffen / Science and Creation)

2) Publication of all accepted works of arts based on the topic on kunstsammler.at

(see for example: theme exhibition Science and Creation)

3) Publication of an article about the exhibition (at least 4 pages) in one of the most popular art magazines in Austria, VERNISSAGE, issue 353, with images of all works in the exhibition.

Release Date: July 10, 2021

Guaranteed minimum size of the illustration: 49 cm2 (7x7 cm)

One VERNISSAGE magazine for each for free

4) Promotion of the exhibition on Facebook, Instagram, XING

5) Promotion of the exhibition via the gallery's newsletter to 3,600 subscribers

6) Promotion of the exhibition on meinbezirk.at

Maximum 29 participants

Eligible: all submissions with

- Photo of the work of art (resolution 300 dpi), art in all forms, such as paintings, statues, etc.

- technical data on the work of art: title, technique, format

- Short comments on the topic: at least one sentence or more, up to maximum 200 words

sent to Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein! by May 31, 2021.

Price per participant in this exhibition: 150 euros including VAT 

LABOR & PERFORMANCE

Robots and artificial intelligence are able to execute more and more human tasks, which is why many people fear that we will in the near future run out of work. Some companies, which are able to fully incorporate robotic skills in their respective businesses, therefore, insist on a reduction in working hours for employees, while human demands a right to labor. The unconditional basic income (UBI) is repeatedly mentioned as a solution to this problem. This idea has many supporters, but also many opponents.

In the past two centuries, the concept of labor has changed enormously: from the human burden, which the labor movements of the 19th century fought to minimize, to a higher value that today's trade unions believe in a right, even a human right holds. This attitude implies the conviction that wage labor is our indispensable livelihood and that everyone has the right to an adequately paid work.

A job that secures livelihood is still the sine qua non of all social systems today. But in contrast to the generation after the Second World War, which was able to work out a better life year after year, the chances of the millenials to build up their own existence and importance through wage labor are getting worse and worse.

The burden of the workplace is no longer doing hard work - robots now do that better - but in the fight for a better position on the career ladder. Human resource managers claim that the one who performs better gets the better job. This attitude is idealistic but unrealistic. The fact is that relationship and protection are much more important for a successful career than the achievements. This does not only apply to state and state-related companies and organizations.

The deeply anchored attitude that important work is highly paid and that, conversely, low-paid jobs are unimportant - this logic of higher wages for higher performance - is not only antiquated, it is also inhuman. The classic example of low-paid cleaning staff shows how nonsensical and unworthy this attitude is when you compare these people with high-paid financial speculators. There will be no world in which one can do without cleaning staff, on the other hand one could very easily do without financial speculation. Unfortunately, this idea is "unthinkable" for politicians of our time, as they consider the existing system to be "without alternative". But that's another topic. This is about the essential questions: What is labor? What is performance?

Our existing social system equates work with wage labor. Wages presuppose dependency - either on the employer, or after a dismissal, the dependence on the state welfare system, which provides social benefits when regular work is no longer available. It is not uncommon for the unemployed to be defamed as social parasites with a lack of willingness to perform. The existing system determines this way of thinking, our way of thinking determines the system.

Helmo Pape demands: “If we expand our definition of labor, then we have to acknowledge that work is being done permanently: a) on oneself to improve or regain one's own skills, breaks are absolutely necessary for this; b) for the care of children, relatives, yes all living beings including animals and plants for which one is responsible; c) for organizations that require voluntary work - from the church to the fire brigade, from the climate group to the initiative for media independence; d) and gainful employment, i.e. the implementation of the goal of earning money with what one likes to do. ”In other words: work is any form of responsible activity.

The service of child and elderly care, if it is provided privately and with love, is not work according to today's understanding, while it naturally becomes work by a social worker. This can be extended to hundreds of examples. The employed commentator of a magazine does a job, while an unknown blogger does not earn a cent for comments of the same quality, i.e. for comparable services, and is therefore not recognized as a "service provider.“ On the other hand, do the people, who comment on blogs, must also get paid for their time, idea, and efforts to write something. In addition to social recognition, it is also about recognizing the livelihood for services of equal value.

Rethinking performance is every result of responsible activities that serve society. Anyone who contributes to the beauty, happiness and well-being of other people with good ideas or through their work must be recognized as service providers, as must traditional workers in factories or doctors, teachers and managers. The terms work and performance must be rethought in the 21st century. The idea of ​​"work in the sweat of your face" (Moses 3:19) is based on the Old Testament and no longer corresponds to the realities and possibilities of the 21st century.

Anyone, who sees free people as the ideal of an enlightened, democratic society, must ask the question: How can society, how can a state guarantee this ideal of freedom? The unconditional basic income offers an answer to this. It should not be introduced to abolish existing achievements of our social system, but to abolish them, in the dialectical sense: to raise them to a higher level. The UBI implies not only the recognition, but also the guarantee of Article 1 of the Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

“If you only see money in the UBI, you only see firewood in a Stradivarius. Anyone, who reduces the right to a UBI to the logic of consumption, ignores how liberal civil rights should be thought of in modern democracies. Freedom of the press is more than just being allowed to print letters on paper, ”said Helmo Pape, one of the initiators of the referendum for a UBI, that will run until the end of the year.

Weiter zur deutschen Fassung der Ausschreibung!