Are creatives a non valuable commodity?

The bain of every creatives life... Payment. It seems to be pretty normal for most artists; and I use that term widely meaning- musicians, painters, actors, make up artists, dancers, directors, models, stylists, art directors, photographers, graphic designers (the list goes on), that working for free to gain experience or contacts has become a complete piss take. A good friend of mine has had enough! She has been working for free for years and has more than enough experience to be able to not give a toss if she loses a contact. And sure when you are starting out the more experiences the better but there needs to come a point when we start demanding payment or at least payment in favours or at least more direct opportunities. And it's not even the arts that are suffering. Thousands of people who are out of work and on the dole through no fault of there own are being forced to 'internship' at places as corporate as Superdrug. I.e working for free or lose your payments. Bad times.

Endless amounts of students are spending summers interning at the lose promise that it may turn into a position. Yeah sure if you lucky enough to be given that one position out of hundreds of people, then great. The thing is I constantly ask people to work for free on projects, however I'm not getting paid, and I always try and repay the favour. The minute I start getting paid, so will anyone I ask to work with me. It's fair and it's what I would expect from other people. So come on everyone, lets share those opportunities and contacts and start demanding what we deserve. Otherwise in the end all we are doing is under valuing our own hard work.

Why is style an under appreciated art form?

Recently I was having a discussion with a very good friend of mine. I made the statement that style was not considered at art form which was ridiculous. She disagreed strongly with this, saying that it was not because it was not a skill or something that you could study, or even something that was very creative as it is often dictated to us by the high street or fashion houses.

I disagreed strongly. Style is a form of self expression, and is that not what art is? Something that expresses what you feel? That brings joy or evokes strong emotions from the creator and the audience. Something that takes time to develop which is constantly evolving, and growing into the next thing.

It defines cultural and political history as much as a painting or style of music. It contributes to movements in culture whether that be the hippy movement, punk, the rave scene.

It speaks out against the politics of the time and defies what people think are the "rules" as much as a controversial installation in a gallery.

Not only this but it is accessible to anyone, regardless of class, race, nationality or whatever. Good and bad style is something that you can view anytime, any place  which makes it an art form which therefore is available to anyone. We can use it to create a statement at any point we choose. Or we can just tired and want to wear pyjamas!

My friend text me the next day and said she had been thinking about what we had debated and now agreed with me, just because she didn't appreciate it in that way didn't mean that it was not a vital form of expression.

So what art will you make today? All you have to do is get dressed.