This conversation was conducted in relation to Fellowship of Citizens, Saemundur Thor Helgason’s solo exhibition at arebyte Gallery in 2018, and the book It’s Basic Income, co-edited by Amy Downes.

Saemundur and Amy discussed the feasibility of a Universal Basic Income on a large scale, summarise examples of case studies and successes of basic income, in a non-art context, as well as how Scandinavia has supported the concept of UBI.

They also spoke about the issue of unpaid work, in the context of “essential” work or unpaid artistic labour. For Amy, this is more global and linked to “home based” unpaid labour and the debate around UBI enabling a ‘capacity to consume’. And discussed ownership rights in the sense of a move away from ownership of land, property or things, and towards an ownership of our freedom to produce in the expanding advancement of automated technological workforces.