SITUATIONS WANTED
─ Applying for a Job in the Underground Economy
“Finnish girl with advanced English is looking for a job in housekeeping, catering, floor staff and as a job assistant”
2010-12
Media art project
Blog: www.situationswanted.wordpress.com
Guide book (700 pcs, 16 pgs, A5, B&W)
‘SITUATIONS WANTED’ is an on-going art project, creative research and re-enact- ment around the subject of the black market economy, job hunting and how to suc- ceed. It addresses issues of rising unemployment, social unrest and proposes real and playful strategies to overcome this situation. The Finnish artist Pii Anttila is using a project space as a job hunting office and agency, where visitors can find out, how the process is developing – will she find a job and of what kind?
Situations Wanted – Applying for a Job in the Underground Economy is a project about black market employment and how to find it using media. “I came up with the idea, when I was looking for a job in Ireland. I was living in Limerick and I put an ad in the local paper that Finnish girl is looking for a job… I got all kinds of dirty messages and black market people were constantly contacting me with jobs that I wasn’t looking for at all. All this happened again in Belfast, when I did it as an art project in PS² -project space in 2010. I was writing a blog about the process, job offers and people that visited the space. The blog continues whenever I am located in a new city. My overall plan is to make Situations Wanted a touring project, which reveals hidden power structures in the cities by making them visible to the public.”
Situations Wanted highlights the underground economy of different cities. It tells the story of hidden employment market and interacts with the people to make them aware about their local situations about the black market and people, who are prepared to exploit a foreign girl for money. Situations Wanted touches foreign jobseeker’s identity, viewes critically black market employment and encourage citizens towards a change. The project promotes awareness of the phenomenon and its conventions. As a result of the Situations Wanted -media art project, emancipated counterforce is aroused, since power relations shift amongst the participants creating new information for the complex power net. Situations Wanted -project proves the significance to present pub- lic media art projects in the public and media space, in order to reveal and look into a deeper level of the society’s structures.
The Project in Belfast 5−25.7.2010
“I had the exhibition in PS2 (Paragon Studios / Project Space) for 3 weeks 5-25.7.2010. I made the gallery looked like a black market jobseeker’s office. I got 23 job offers and 90 text messages all together after putting an ad “Finnish girl is looking for a job…” in the classifieds section of the local newspapers and in the Internet sites. Most of the callers were offering me a black market jobs like a masseuse, escort – services, a sexy bartender, a hot housekeeper and a stag night hostess. I was writing a blog about the process everyday during the project, where I told about the calls and people that visit the gallery. You can read the blog from: www.situationswanted.wordpress.com
Situations Wanted in Rome 
30.11−9.12.2012
“I did the research again in Rome, Italy. I put the same ad, but written in italian to the local job websites and newspapers. The project was shown in the Celeste Prize 2012 art competition that was held at the Centrale Montemartini, Rome. Situations Wanted was displayed in ‘a fair booth’ format at the exhibition. During the job hunt, I received 32 job offers and 78 text messages. These 32 job offers included 13 phone calls, 11 emails and text messages from 8 people. I was offered one seller job for cosmetics, one massaging/waxing job, 2 Chinese terapist jobs, 2 modeling jobs (one for agency, one for nude modelling), 2 waitressing jobs, 3 secretary jobs, 1 dogsitter job, 1 escort job, 1 private party hostess job, 1 leaflet distributor job, 1 personal assistant for nights, 1 tourist leisure center job, 1 ‘special job’ offer and 14 housekeeper jobs.” You can read the blog from: www.situationswanted.wordpress.com
Pii Anttila 