Everyone is against the thought of paying for exhibitions – I know I am. But….needs must and all that. We have decided to include the work of other artists in our Jamestown NY exhibition. To cover costs, admin, transport and the extra time the poor exhibition technician who will be putting up these additional works, we are going to charge £12. So…. you can either stop reading in disgust now…or… put a New York exhibition on your CV by pledging £12 on our Kickstarter site.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scibasecolonize/scibase-colonize?ref=search
It’s not £12 entry in the hope that you will be selected, its £12 guaranteed acceptance. To eliminate some of the more dodgy work that my come our way through this ‘ all is accepted route’, we will need to see at least 3 images of works so that we can chose one ( though we don’t need to see images yet until January ) The work will have to be small – A5 and very light.
So…. You have a week. Help us reach our Crowdfunding target, while being part of an exciting project!
‘Unfortunately, I noticed your work has been damaged’ An email I received on Friday about my work in the Warrington Contemporary open. ‘It appears to have been done by an over enthusiastic child entering the gallery before his parents.’
I was so annoyed I haven’t responded yet. I just don’t know what to say. No word about compensation – nothing. I mean, the work was delicate anyway – made of paper, so why didn’t they put it under cover?
I’m speechless.
15 days to go…. and it’s the same routine – wake up, check if there are any other backers, go to work, check again at the earliest possible chance, come home, check again, read the flurry of suggestions and ideas from the rest of the group ( hmmm…well, some of them anyway ) on how to get more backers, check again…. sigh.
In desperation I went through my LinkedIn contacts (something I don’t even look at normally, as I find it a complete waste of time) and sent out a ‘please back us’ message. Within ten mins, I got an email back from an artist stating ‘No, I won’t back you, but I would like to be in the exhibition’. Er – work on your correspondence technique matey!
24 backers and a quarter of the money raised for our crowdfunding project is not bad at all – and I’m equally impressed that there are so many ‘Artist talking’ bloggers backing us (nice to see artist supporting each other!) But we still have a way to go.
Needless to say, my own work has taken a complete back burner.
Nothing to do with the crowdfunding obsession – just that occasional blip I get when that ‘Why am I doing this?’ wave washes over me. I think it started when I picked up my installation from the Chapel Gallery. I know its normal to feel a little deflated after an exhibition – all of that intense work that you’ve put in, a few weeks of the ‘high’ you experience when you have that huge sense of achievement, and then …..nothing.
I dumped the boxes in my spare room, which doubles as a studio, storage space and occasional sleeping room for visitors and thought – ‘I don’t have the room for all this stuff!’
Need more space…..need more time…..need more money!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scibasecolonize/scibase-colonize?ref=search
I have become a complete crowdfunding bore now, with most of my social media posts plugging our Kickstarter project and nothing else. I know this will eventually turn off potential backers, but what can you do – you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, as the saying goes. Though I think I’d better take a few days break from it.
I had some correspondence with Sophie Cullinan (who had tried crowdfunding herself) while planning the campaign and she thought it might be easier to promote the project with being in a group. Maybe, maybe not. There’s always the problem with too much exposure.
At the time of writing, the video has been shared an incredible 161 times on facebook.
The trouble is, artists are not natural salespeople. Most in the group have shared the video and are just hoping that’s enough. Of course it isn’t though, as people (potential backers) needed to be asked personally before they give in and pledge some cash. It’s horrible asking for money.
I had an email back from one person that I’d asked to back us, saying ‘but you’ve got plenty of time!’. I don’t think like that. My head is still stuck in the same mode I use when making installations: I have X amount of time, thererfore X must be made by week 2 etc. Then Ican relax.
£60 has been given to us by hand and we are trying to work out how to ‘bank it’ as there is a clause that says you can’t back your own project. 20 days to go and we’re only at just over 10%.
Desperately need a plan B.
Someone in work had left a stack of books in the staffroom for us to help ourselves to. An assortment of novels – many being the type I used to read.
I couldn’t actually remember the last time I’d read a novel. These busy days made it seem too self indulgent, to sit there, coiled up and engrossed in a book for hours on end. I took a book….in fact, I took 3 of them… and then I felt a little guilty about being greedy, so I vowed to read one and then return it to the pile for others to take.
I’d actually forgotten what it was like to completely lose track of time. To not check my emails ten times in a day or to stress about what was happening on social network sites. To have two whole days of being off work and not even thinking about my own work.
I began reading yesterday afternoon and if I didn’t have to go across to Ormskirk this morning to pick up my work, I wouldn’t have moved from the chair for the entire two days.
Have I wasted time? Or have I just found new time?
When I got to the Chapel gallery this morning, they had taken most of the work down and boxes and boxes of the new work was already taking over the gallery. I could see Glittery things and Father Christmas shaped heads. I’m guessing a selling show then.
Everyone seems obsessed with sales this year as I see more and more of artist friends turn to craft fairs to show their work. One was really excited about selling cards in a high profile retail outlet, only to find that for the £2.99 they are selling her cards for, she gets 75p. I wouldn’t be bothered.
…and as for our crowdfunding video… its like sticking pins in your eyes – Completely painful. It’s been live 3 full days and we only have 4 backers. I’ve shared it on facebook and twitter, but people are just liking the posts and sharing them, not backing us. This is frightening stuff.
