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The diagrammatic spectator

Introduction

This paper concerns diagrams and diagrammatic praxis. Diagrams are visual information devices that broadly comprise a range of technical genres including graphs, technical drawings and charts. These can be characterised further as visual displays or symbolic representations of qualitative information, often employing shapes connected by lines, arrows, or other visual links to present or communicate relations and ideas. In our daily lives we encounter diagrams in the form of maps, line graphs, bar charts, engineering blueprints, and architects’ sketches.

FUL’s free work

Introduction

The Free University of Liverpool (FUL) was set up in November 2010 to explore an alternative model of Higher Education. First and foremost conceived as a protest, FUL stands in direct opposition to the radical free market practices implemented by the coalition government in the UK. FUL’s protest has been joined by over eighty leading academics and artists who have signed up as ‘visiting artists and scholars’ (www.thefreeuniversityofliverpool.wordpress.com).

Locating work in Santiago Sierra’s artistic practice

Introduction

On many occasions, Santiago Sierra’s pieces have fallen under heavy criticism.[1] Accused of being unethical, exploitative or authoritative, many of his works have shocked both audiences and art critics alike. As exemplified by 245 cm3 (2006), a work that was closed prematurely due to the pressure exerted by the local media, in many cases his constant provocation has even resulted in outright censorship.

‘And if I don’t want to work like an artist...?’ How the study of artistic resistance enriches organizational studies

Introduction

And if I don’t try to live like an artist, if I don’t want to work in such a way, being a PREY, AND IN SELF-EXPLOITATION! And if I don’t even think of self-actualizing myself constantly WHAT WILL HAPPEN THEN?! (theatre play by René Pollesch)

Free work

The relationship between freedom and work is a complex one. For some, they are considered opposites: ‘true’ freedom is possible only once the necessity of work is removed, and a life of luxury attained. For others, work itself provides an opportunity to achieve a sense of freedom and authenticity. In recent years for example, advances in human resource management have promoted hard work, a deep sense of commitment to one’s job, and the acceptance of working conditions that are ostensibly exploitative, as offering the promise of freedom.

Is it written in the stars? Global finance, precarious destinies

Introduction

On AT&T Plaza in Chicago’s Millennium Park stands a giant stainless steel sculpture in the shape of an indented ellipsoid, 66 feet long, 33 feet high, weighing 110 tons and glistening in the sun like a drop of liquid mercury. Entitled Cloud Gate by the British artist Anish Kapoor and nicknamed ‘the Bean’ by locals, it cost 11.5 million dollars and immediately became what it was always intended to be, an urban attraction photographed by endless tourists, the world-renowned symbol of a creative city.

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