Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how three UK-based artists face up to hidden hierarchies in society. I argue that to deal with challenges hierarchy poses, artists supply a form of aspiration-driven labour and adopt inconsistent social practices. These reveal how the economy hinged on this labour works.

Paper long abstract:

Hierarchy persists when the discussions about it are hidden by egalitarian theoretical imaginations and their promise (Peacock 2015). This paper examines how three contemporary UK-based artists manage the issue of hierarchy in their lives.I argue that to deal with challenges hierarchy poses, artists supply a form of their aspiration-driven labour and adopt inconsistent social practices. These reveal how the economy hinged on this labour (which I term 'the economy of ambition') works. First, artists become aware of their comparative inadequacy when they perceive hierarchy in art worlds. They then embody the idea that 'aspiration is fulfillable' by avoiding certain needs and exaggerating certain eagernesses, thus manifesting 'aspirational labour' (Duffy 2017). This belief also causes problems for their sense of moral integrity and leads them to rationalise their precarious work situations. This sequence of events reveals how 'the economy of ambition' manages to sustain itself through justifying the institutionalised marginalisation and making the promise of 'privileges'.According to Taylor & O'Brien (2017), the belief that 'success is predominately grounded in meritocracy' is primarily held by those who distribute resources in the arts, culture and creative industries. It is in this climate that this paper aims to expose the blind spot of 'aspirational labour' in art worlds and question to what extent its human costs could continue to be dismissed.