we are capitalist pigs

W.A.G.E. wo/manifesto, 2008

W.A.G.E. works to draw attention to economic inequalities that exist in the arts, and to resolve them.

W.A.G.E. has been formed because we, as visual + performance artists and independent curators, provide a work force.

W.A.G.E. recognizes the organized irresponsibility of the art market and its supporting ins titutions, and demands an end of the refusal to pay fees for the work we're asked to provide: preparation, installation, presentation, consultation, exhibition and reproduction.

W.A.G.E. refutes the positioning of the artist as a speculator and calls for the remuneration of cultural value in capital value.

W.A.G.E. believes that the promise of exposure is a liability in a system that denies the value of our labor. As an unpaid labor force within a robust art market from which others profit greatly

W.A.G.E. recognizes an inherent exploitation and demands compensation.

W.A.G.E. calls for an address of the economic inequalities that are prevalent, and pro-actively preventing the art worker's ability to survive within the greater economy.

We demand payment for making the world more interesting.