Name: Ellie Harrison

Year of Birth: 1979
Lives: Nottingham
Nationality: British

Period of Employment: 26 June – 23 July 2006

Employment Undertaken:
- 1 day lecturing at Accelerator event at Angel Row Gallery
- 3 days temporary office work at Gleeds
- 5 days ushering at Broadway Cinema
- 2 days data entry and production line work at M & L Services

Job Seeking Undertaken:
- Registration and interview with Barker Ross Recruitment
- Registration and signing in with Labour Ready
- Interview and tool test with E.ON to be a meter installation worker
- Interview with Unicom to be a telephone sales representative
- Interview and training day with Endeva Advertising to be a door-to-door salesperson for charities
- Multiple-choice telephone interview with Powergen to be a call centre operative
- Registration with employment agencies: Thorn Baker, Wheatcroft Sims, Key Personnel, Manpower and Turner Stubbs

Ellie on the Union

I really identify with what the Union of Undercover Artists represents. In my area of practice I often feel as though I’m operating in an ‘undercover’ role. A lot of my projects involve the documentation of everyday events, requiring me to make notes throughout the day in everyday situations. I always do this in a covert manner – not wanting to draw attention to myself. In a more general sense, I feel most artists operate in an underground way – the majority of the population unable to understand what they do or how they make a living. UUA is a way of empowering undercover artists everywhere and creating a united voice.

Ellie on Prime

When I first agreed to take part in Part-time, I had a really idealistic vision of what it would entail – I dreamt of becoming a traffic warden and playing games to see how many cars I could ticket each day. When it came down to it, finding work was as much a part of the project as actually being engaged in employment. I experienced a lot of things that I would never have encountered had I not been looking for work and prepared to do anything. The project was an eye-opener – a reality check about how privileged I am to be an artist, to be self employed and to be my own boss.