Sessional Office: Proposal for a new arrangement by Terra Poirier, 2018, installation outside ECU president’s office, digital toner prints.

Sessional Office exhibiting in the ECUAD faculty show

I’m pleased to be exhibiting in support of the Emily Carr University faculty in their 2020 exhibition The Work of the Work (details below).

In March 2018, I did an intervention outside the Emily Carr University president’s office to draw attention to problematic working conditions for contract faculty. At that time the president enjoyed a bright, spacious 2,000 square-foot suite shared with four administrative staff. Meanwhile, in the basement, 80+ sessional instructors shared a space about a third that size. Occupying about a quarter of this small space were over a hundred Ikea-style shelving cubicles. So I photographed the cubicles and installed the prints outside the president’s office.

A year later I reactivated the project as a photo-text installation to underline how income and labour precarity for artists and educators is connected to income and housing precarity in Vancouver. I paired the photographs with the words of contract faculty who had contributed to our artist book Non-Regular: Precarious academic labour at Emily Carr University of Art + Design which I produced for my graduating project.

I’m pleased to bring this project back to the ECU campus to continue this conversation which unfortunately is still necessary due to the administration’s continued overreliance on underpaid, contract teaching labour.

On Feb 11 at 11:30 am at ECU, I’ll be giving a talk on the intervention and on the book Non-Regular– details to follow.

THE WORK OF THE WORK
January 31st – February 14th, 2020
Opening Reception:
Thursday, January 30th, 4-7 pm
Emily Carr University of Art and Design
520 E. 1st Ave., Vancouver BC

The Faculty at Emily Carr University of Art & Design are excited to announce their first exhibition at the new campus on Great Northern Way in Vancouver. The show features a wide selection of art, media and design by the University’s distinguished faculty that explores the complex relationships between teaching, creative practice and labour.

A unique feature of this year’s exhibition is The Working Studio where faculty members will publicly share their working processes through demonstrations and pop-up studio spaces.

The theme of The Work of the Work is inspired by the challenging working conditions the faculty face as the lowest paid and highest teaching load instructors of any of the post-secondary art and design institutions in Canada. This is particularly timely as the faculty’s contract expired in April 2019 and are just now entering into the early stages of bargaining with the administration.

The show will be on exhibit from January 31st to February 14th on the second floor on Emily Carr’s campus at 520 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, January 30th from 4pm to 7pm. All are welcome.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1490533891104861/

Images:
Top: Sessional Office: Proposal for a new arrangement by Terra Poirier, 2018, installation outside ECU president’s office, digital toner prints.
2nd: Sessional Office by Terra Poirier with text by S/T, VX, NB, Lily Chester, xxx, Curious Cat, 2019, digital inkjet prints, wood, vinyl text, 65″ x 35″.