Fit For Work Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Jan 1 2018

Location: 

England

Graffiti art is particularly viewed as a powerful form of social protest, and the (illegal) act of defacing can be as important as the message itself. Artist Void One has been arrested on numerous occasions for his politically-charged interventions.

“I didn’t set out to make political art but art is a platform where I can vent my frustrations” – Void One.

He is best known for his ‘Fit for work’ campaign, which appeared at 5 job centres in the UK in 2018. It came about because his friend and mum were struggling through the Universal credit system.

“I see people suffering and their health getting worse, when it’s solvable. It’s a form of eugenics. 43% of disability claimants attempt suicide a year. I want to get that into the national conscience”, he explains.

His art protest consisted of the following: he turned the entrance to 5 job centres into murder scenes, painting the outline of a body surrounded by blood. In bright red paint ‘fit for work’ was scrawled across the job centres’ windows, walls and doors.

He was arrested for hitting the head office of the Department for Work and Pensions – with his protest artworks – at Christmas last year.

External sources: 

https://ruthmillington.co.uk/12-famous-protest-art-examples/
Posted by alexanasiedlak on Apr 25 2023

Staff rating: 

0

Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.
Does nothing (at all)Doesn't really have an impact, beyond possibly expressing the artist-activist's dissatisfaction with the world.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear long-term goal. Long-term goals tend to be things like: end racism; end homophobia; make the sun stand still in the sky. A campaign with a long-term goal also needs to have some kind of theory of change.
Bringing disability suicide rates down, getting the Universal credit system in England ameliorated,

Notes

It's bringing attention to the problem with jobs and the Universal credit system in England; however the art part is a bit disconnected from the messaging. It seems like the artist wants to do too much in one go. It's shocking, and forces people to talk about him, but it needs a lot of context to understand.