Labouring unloved

THERE IS AN AMUSING Twitter account called @forexposure_txt which details requests that artists and designers receive from prospective “clients” expecting them to work for free — and indeed, to be grateful for the “exposure” this opportunity will give them. The demands of a stranger’s time for nothing are jaw-dropping in their audacity (as are some of the outraged responses to being told there is a price).

Obviously these are mostly random chancers, but this sort of “good for your resumé” free labour is formalised in some fields, in the form of the unpaid internship. A student or recent graduate will spend weeks or months doing basic work, in the hope that this will be their foot-in-the-door for future