Are Artists Pushovers?
Carbonless triplicate invoice on paper, 2026
Edition 1 (blue)
Artist's Copy 1/2 (yellow)
Artist's Copy 2/2 (pink)

Are Artists Pushovers? is a text-based artwork that originated as a performative act. On 18 June 2026, during a meeting convened by the City of Reykjavík to address breaches of the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists' (SÍM) competition rules in a public art competition, the artist presented the Director of the Reykjavík Art Museum with a symbolic invoice for ISK 4,000,000. The invoice carried the statement "Visual Artists Are Not Pushovers" and was accompanied by a manifesto arguing for transparency, accountability and fairness in the organisation of public art competitions.

The amount was not arbitrary. It corresponded to the project's contingency budget and symbolically transferred the cost of procedural failures back to the commissioning body. The work challenges the systemic undervaluation of artists' labour and asks who should bear the consequences when agreed professional standards are not upheld.

Too often, the time, labour, knowledge and professional expertise of visual artists are treated as if they have little or no value. The invoice serves as a reminder that artists' work has value and that the cost of procedural failures should never be borne by those who are affected by them.

It came as no surprise that the City of Reykjavík rejected the invoice, arguing that there was no legal basis for the financial claim. Yet that rejection completed the artwork. By refusing to pay, the City transformed a symbolic invoice into the text-based artwork Are Artists Pushovers?, which asks what it means when artists' time, labour, knowledge and professional expertise are considered unworthy of compensation. What does such a refusal communicate about the value of artistic labour? Are artists pushovers?

Seven Principles for Improving the Administration of Public Art Competitions Commissioned by the City of Reykjavík

  1. The same individual should never serve on both the pre-selection committee and the jury.

  2. Anyone who has advised participants during the competition process should not simultaneously serve on the jury. Such dual involvement is incompatible with the principle of impartiality set out in the Icelandic Administrative Procedures Act and may give rise to legitimate concerns about the independence of the evaluation.

  3. The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM) should never relinquish its seat on the jury in public art competitions to a private party.

  4. SÍM's appointed competition observer must attend all meetings related to the competition to ensure that it is conducted in accordance with SÍM's competition rules and that all participants are treated equally.

  5. SÍM's competition observer must not forward emails, submissions or other communications from participants to the project manager or any other party without the participants' consent. Doing so breaches the confidentiality obligations established by SÍM's competition rules.

  6. The City of Reykjavík's project manager must have a clearly defined role and written job description specifying responsibilities and authority to ensure transparency, accountability and traceability throughout the competition process.

  7. Breaches of SÍM's rules governing public art competitions must have real consequences.

 

Sjö atriði sem þarfnast úrbóta við framkvæmd samkeppna um listaverk á vegum Reykjavíkurborgar

  1. Sami einstaklingur á aldrei að sitja bæði í forvalsnefnd og dómnefnd.

  2. Aðili sem hefur komið að samkeppni með ráðgjöf til þátttakenda á ekki jafnframt að sitja í dómnefnd. Slík tvíþætt aðkoma samræmist ekki kröfum stjórnsýslulaga nr. 37/1993 um óhlutdrægni og getur vakið réttmætar efasemdir um sjálfstæði matsins.

  3. SÍM á aldrei að gefa eftir sæti sitt í dómnefnd vegna opinberra kaupa á listaverkum í almannarými, til einkaaðila.

  4. Trúnaðarmaður SÍM verður að vera viðstaddur alla fundi sem tengjast samkeppnum til að tryggja að hún fari fram samkvæmt samkeppnisreglum SÍM og að allir þátttakendur njóti jafnræðis.

  5. Trúnaðarmaður SÍM á ekki að áframsenda tölvupósta, erindi eða önnur samskipti frá þátttakendum til verkefnastjóra eða annarra aðila, nema með leyfi þátttakenda. Slík áframsending brýtur gegn þeirri trúnaðarskyldu sem hvílir á trúnaðarmanni samkvæmt samkeppnisreglum SÍM.

  6. Verkefnastjóri á vegum Reykjavíkurborgar verður að hafa skýrt skilgreinda starfslýsingu þar sem ábyrgð og hlutverk liggja fyrir til að tryggja gagnsæi, rekjanleika og ábyrgð við framkvæmd samkeppninnar.

  7. Brot á reglum SÍM um val á útilistaverkum þurfa að hafa afleiðingar.