Artistic practices based on the concept of precariat

This master's thesis examines the concept of precariat coined by Guy Standing . The concept of precariat emerges in insecure, precarious work models creating vulnerability and flexibility, giving hints about the future of precarious life. Here, the concept is re-conceptualized through its application in different disciplines and artistic practices. The thesis consists of two chapters that can be read individually or across. In the first chapter Standing's account on historicity of the concept of precariat is investigated in relation to Karl Marx's concept of proletariat offering a discussion on their common points and their differences. In the second chapter the relation between precariat and art is investigated. As a subject matter that surfaces in recent years, precariat is tackled through artists who produce in relation to the subject matter and through the artistic production that accompanied the research process. Conceptualisation experiments are supported by examining precarity in the relation of art and labour as well as the language of medium that artists tackling precariat have adopted.