Kickstarting the Possibilities

So there's this development in the creative scene called crowd funding. Many of you may well have heard about it; it's been around for a while now, someone I went to uni with has even used it. But it's come more strongly to my attention through projects by Amanda Palmer and Tom Dickins - names that have popped up once or twice in this blog before. Amanda's in particular is turning heads as it has raised well over half a million and is still going.

For those who don't know what crowd funding is, here's the basics. There are websites, two that I know of, Kickstarter in the US and Pozible in Australia, I'm sure other countries have them too, where artists from any creative medium can propose projects they are trying to get up. Using Tom as an example, he wants to make an album but has zero money and no backing from a label or anything. So, he's put up a project on Pozible and told his fans about it who have spread the word too. When they go there they can pledge a certain amount of money towards the project, there's a goal that has to be reached within 30 days. If enough people pledge enough money to make that goal they're pledges are processed and Tom will get the money (less a percentage for the website). Now, he has to explain where all the money will go etc, it's not an easy con, and most backers pledge their support for a reward which is related to the project - in this case a CD and digital copy of the album is the most logical. Tom's taking it all a bit further and every backer will have access to inside development information and is welcome to provide feedback and give ideas.



This concept is obviously an exciting one for anyone trying to produce creative works. It also puts certain responsibilities back on the artist. No-one's doing the boring stuff for you here. It sounds like a lot of money but, as Amanda Palmer has explained in her blog, it really isn't. It can provide the necessary funds, maybe a few more, but first of all you have to get the backers. And no-one's helping you find them either. Done well and with some strategy and realistic attitudes however, this really could be the future of creative endeavours. I doubt it will replace corporate entities and government funding etc, but it will allow emerging artists to be heard and seen.

Expect requests for pledges in the future. And maybe take a look at the sites to see what you can help happen. That's the other thing to remember with this, you become a part of the art, it's community and freedom all wrapped up in a confusing and exciting bubble. We really can make things happen.

Keep dreaming!

Where the Wild Things Are

As most of you will already be aware, Maurice Sendak died last night at the age of 84. There has been quite a huge outpouring of grief and reminiscence since, so in many ways it could be said I’m jumping the bandwagon here, but I want to put my two cents in. I think it fascinating that this man’s death is getting such a reaction; after all his best known work – the only one I know about – was a short children’s book written decades ago. But it’s that very book causing such a stir, because what a book it is.

I know next to nothing about Maurice Sendak; I believe he was a wonderful man with great creativity and a way of looking at the world we should probably all envy. But for me to write anything more about him would be wrong, I simply don’t know. But I do want to talk about Where the Wild Things Are. This book must have been one of the first I remember reading, and re-reading and re-reading. It’s easily one of the most important books of my childhood – even more important than the pop-up about the crocodile who tours London with a dump truck and crashes a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

This short, simple story told me some very crucial things about life. It told me I could go to fantastic places whenever I wanted. In these places I would find many things, some of them scary some of them exciting and all of them beautiful. I could be whatever I wanted to be when I got there. I could dance with monsters and be a king. I could sail seas, climb mountains, run through forests. All these things were right there, accessible at a moment’s notice – and when I’d had enough, the real world would be waiting for me, and my supper still warm.

More than that, these places, although dreamt up in my mind, were not any less true than the real world I left to visit them. So while I know so very little about Maurice Sendak I owe him a great deal. He gave my imagination credence, he told me it was good and that I should go to those places. The places are dangerous at times but I would always be safe, because those places are, in fact, part of me. Going to them validates myself, allows me to be who I am.

So today, in honour of a man you may know nothing about but who gave the world an invaluable story, go to the wild places in you. You’re supper will be waiting when you return.

Keep dreaming.