Situations Wanted

'SITUATIONS WANTED' is an installation, creative research and re-enactment around the subject of the black market economy, job hunting and how to succeed. It addresses issues of rising unemployment, social unrest and proposes real and playful strategies to overcome this situation.
The Finnish artist Pii Anttila will use PS² 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?

Pii Anttila: about the project

'I was looking for a job last year in Limerick as a foreigner. I put an ad in the Limerick Post in the Situations Wanted page saying: Finnish girl with advanced English is looking for a job in housekeeping, catering, floor staff or as a sales assistant. As a result, 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. This made me think about the situation of job hunting and ads on free local papers. What kind of market actually exists there?
I will look for a job in Belfast on July 2010. I will use media tools to find a job in the city putting ads in the local papers, web sites and information boards etc. I will keep a record of the process in PS², where people can come and visit me and see how many offers I have got.
Additionally, my job hunting office is also a place, where people can come and take a look, if they would be interested of some jobs that I have found to be available.

I have also done a guide book called ‘Situations Wanted’ –Applying for a Job in the Underground Economy, which tells you tips and advises, how to deal with this market. The guide book is made to help people interested in applying for a jobs in unofficial ways. This guide book can be found around the city during my project.

At the moment there are so many problems finding a job in every welfare country. Is the black market the only place to be working on a time of recession? Since it is so hard to find a job nowadays, will the black market become a forced option? Are jobs only available in the black market?'