I feel such a mixture of emotions in sitting and committing to the written word my experiences earlier this month in New York.  It has taken a few weeks to recover from what I have come to describe to friends and family as a defining experience in my life – A critical, vital moment in my artistic and personal development.  But before I get too grand perhaps it helps to follow convention and give a little context…

My name is Alex Evans and I am an Visual Artist, Director and Educator based in London. In my Visual Arts practice from my studio in Rotherhithe I draw complex geometries and explorations of mathematic space, rendered as meticulously detailed cities and architectural patterns.  I have been making and exhibiting work since 2011, and in 2014 I started to film myself drawing these delicate and time consuming pieces to document and bring people closer to my artistic process. I began posting them as 6 second looping videos on the social media platform ‘Vine’ and soon enough my Vine account ‘Alex Draws’ became a digital space in which I sought to create an ongoing, interactive and engaged exploration and celebration of my drawings.  It grew from simply being a place to document work in the studio to being an artist lead space worthy of documentation in itself and a conduit for me to make connections with my audience and fellow creatives across the world.

To my surprise in January 2016 I was selected as a nominee in the category ‘Best Vine Artist’ by the Shorty Awards, and after 5 weeks of campaigning and galvanising my existing networks to vote through my Blog, Twitter, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Vine and Mailchimp accounts I had been well and truly swallowed by the social media machine.  The making of my new works ceased and the strategy of my 2016 shifted sideways into the marketing and promotion of my work.  I was successful in my campaign in making it to the finals and all my concentrations then shifted onto the pressing issue of how to get to New York for the awards ceremony without bankrupting or killing myself.  It became essential that I capitalise on this amazing turn of events and continue to build on the confidence and connections I had instigated and nurtured over the last months of campaigning, not to mention that New York had always been a place of significant personal and artistic influence ever since I was a child.  This was my first opportunity to take a bite of the Big Apple.

I made an application and to my surprise was successful in gaining funding from A-N’s 2016 Travel Bursary.  The annual travel bursary fund is specifically designed to aid artists in creating new networks and connections.  The funds I gained enabled me to budget for flights and 10 nights accommodation as I undertook this self-initiated research and development residency across Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn exploring the networks, groups, organisations and communities who could provide me with a New York perspective in making, selling and experiencing art in North America. I created a new 1/50 Limited Edition giclée print to generate funds to cover my food, activities and other associated costs such as printing a substantial portfolio of my work to take with me.  This print was sold to my existing and emerging audiences who wanted to support me on my journey whilst owning a beautiful piece of art.

I started planning the 10 day period according to my existing networks and connections in New York who I knew were interested in my work and who I hoped would want to develop a relationship.  This included a mixture of organisations and individuals involved in Fine Art, Engagement, Social Media, Technology and Urbanism according to the applied areas of my practice.  When I flew to New York on April 2nd I had a number of confirmed people and places to meet, enough leads to ensure that I was going to be very busy if everything came together but also enough space to make new and spontaneous connections when I was there.

What surprised me was that I had a boldness and creativity in making these connections.  I’m not sure that I would have contacted London or UK organisations so confidently and with the same determination to ‘tell my story’ – Its easier to be rejected by someone in another continent than it is to be rejected by someone in the same postcode I guess.  But somehow having a ‘story to tell’ became an essential in this strange turn of events… I was practicing the art of being able to excite and provoke interest in my artistic journey and it felt wonderful.  I have learnt from this experience that I need to have faith and celebrate my story, tell my story in an engaging way and actively seek who wants to engage.  Not everybody does and thats fine but someone definitely will.  There is a network out there that will be interested and if there isn’t? Then make one.

It synthesised my learning: that networks are not something that exist outside of you, they are OF you.  We are all the centre of our own networks and in order for anything to happen we must exercise generosity, interest and participation  to keep those networks active and thriving for all.  Networks require reciprocity and engagement.  How can your network nourish and inspire you to strengthen connections and increase collaboration? How do you create a network? What qualities of your network do you enjoy and wish to expand? It seemed explicit to me as I boarded the plane that this whole trip was a chance for me to explore exactly these areas of my thinking.

On my arrival in New York City I was completely taken by surprise.  The layers of history, material, people and activity jostling for space and attention give the city an urgency and sense of purpose that I have never experienced elsewhere.  It is a city of steel and sweat, of rust and ruination. Broad Avenues channel people and cars incessantly and the noise of the street is a constant cacophony of voices, music, traffic and sirens. I immediately felt insignificant and overawed by the potential of my situation.  Here I was in the worlds greatest urban centre – It was my dream come true but not every step of the journey was easy or enjoyable…  I stayed in Soho in Manhattan for 4 nights, Bushwick in Brooklyn for 4 nights and returned to the Lower East Side for the remaining 2 nights, all through Air BnB which was about all I could afford.  I walked everywhere I could and totalled a distance of over 160 km (almost 100 miles) in the 10 days of my trip. I drank far too much and spent too much tipping Drag Queens.  No wonder I returned to the UK completely exhausted and broke.

My networking journey began in Crown Heights in Brooklyn where I travelled to meet Michelle Young and Augustin Pasquet of the New York online publication ‘Untapped Cities’.  I have been an avid reader of their Urbanism and Architecture online publication for a number of years and have enjoyed their focus on unusual cultures and attractions within the 5 Boroughs of NYC. During my campaign for the Shorty Awards Michelle wrote a wonderful and comprehensive article on my work so I suggested that we meet when I came to New York to say thank you in person for her immeasurable support and to find out more about their organisation.  I met them in their impressive shared workspace where Michelle had been running Untapped Cities since 2009 after graduating from an MA in Urban Planning. Our casual and meandering conversation included topics such as regeneration, the cultural and environmental legacy of London’s 2012 Olympics, the role of artists and creatives in cities and the strategic elements of creating partnerships and networks which allow creative communities to thrive. Michelle and Augustin were so knowledgeable and informed about NYC and gave me loads of guidance on where to explore throughout the rest of my stay, but most enlightening were the discussions about the networks that Untapped Cities have forged with stakeholders and governmental organisations in the running of their project.

Untapped Cities aims to both report online through reviews and journalism and also provide real experiential tours of inaccessible and unique spaces. Their business model has been closely supported by the NYCEDC – the New York City Economic Development Corporation – an organisation set up to enable communities and companies to thrive across the 5 Boroughs.  In their collaboration with this organisation Untapped Cities have been able to gain access to a wide range of disused, inaccessible and unusual spaces (before large scale regeneration projects commence) allowing them to remain the leading critical and engaged voice in discussions surrounding the regeneration and planning of these areas at a time when NYC (like London) is undergoing rapid and irreversible change.  When thinking of similar UK contexts I have struggled to recall any organisation who share the same aims and objectives as the NYCEDC in engaging people with sites of future change.  For years we have become used to the concept of artists as pioneers of regeneration through their unofficial cultural occupation of disused and abandoned spaces but I struggle think of any network which exists today to enable the interaction and engagement with our ‘to-be-regenerated’ sites in quite the same city-wide way.  Untapped Cities and the NYCEDC have a unique symbiotic relationship which seems to benefit the economic regeneration, individual urban explorer and communities undergoing change in equal measure.  It is all driven by the passion and tenacity of Michelle and Augustin who were so warm and welcoming to me during our meeting.  I don’t know how the connection that we have made will pan out in the future but I was so thrilled to have got the opportunity to meet these two lovely New Yorkers who shared my passion and intrigue for the city and all of its complexities. Thank you Michelle and Augustin for your time and insights.

Later in my trip I visited another project incidentally funded by the NYCEDC – the Staten Island Makerspace whom I had contacted ahead of my trip to see whether I could use their metalwork facilities for an afternoon.  The SI Makerspace is the brainchild of Scott and DB, another wonderfully dynamic and friendly couple who with the help of the NYCEDC set up the Makerspace after the destruction of Scott’s architectural sculpture studio in 2012’s Hurricane Sandy.  It is a community and membership space which offers fabrication workshops in metal and woodwork, 3D printing, Laser-cutting, Fabric and Hacking.  The space is occupied by number of small startup organisations and artists engaged in activities as diverse as typewriter repair, woodwork, eco toilets and sculpture.  On hand are Scott, DB, Dustin and Emily – a small team of multi talented practitioners who welcome schools and communities into the space for a range of activities, classes and events, whilst also running outreach projects across staten Island.

My research visit included a tour of the space and a dedicated place to work as I created a series of writing instruments from discarded CO2 canisters (A continuation of a collaboration in the UK with industrial designer Marco Monterzino) After our initial email contact I was then invited by DB to give an artists talk and so I nervously prepared a 20 minute presentation about my work and projects…

I delivered my talk to a modest but engaged audience aiming simply to outline the reasons why I found myself in that place at that time.  I detailed my journey as an artist drawing geometric patterns of architectural space, through to my creation of work on Vine, my involvement in the Shorty Awards and my current collaboration in making a series of writing instruments. I used a powerpoint presentation to illustrate my journey and afterwards there followed a lively and Q + A session with many exciting reflections raised about my work.  It was the first artist talk that I had ever delivered and an unforgettable experience to stand before a room of people on the other side of the world and share my journey with them.  Scott and DB were so enthusiastic and welcome that the whole time spent at the Makerspace was a truly special experience.

After the talk we shared a beer together as we stood and watched the sunset over Manhattan.  Talking frankly with Scott and the team I learned more about the pressures currently facing the Makerspace and the impact that the upcoming regeneration will have on the Staten Island community.  It appears that discourse surrounding the displacement of creative communities is not limited to London and that across the pond the exact same concerns about rising rent costs and networks facing disruption are rife across NYC as well.  The Makerspace has provided Staten Island with an successful economic model of community and small organisational engagement that to picture it as a threatened space is a travesty.  As the last lights turned on in Lower Manhattan, Emily spoke of her sense of gratitude to the community at the Makerspace and of her sense of belonging within the network of artists, fabricators and participants of the programmes.  It was a touching moment for me as I floated somewhere out of my London network and so temporarily in this space with these amazing people.  I was considered part of the network at the Makerspace and in just an afternoon I had found a place in New York in which my creativity could thrive. This was a network which was working and in which I could play an active and appreciated role. Thank you to all at the SI Makerspace for your incredible support.  I look forward to meeting again!

By the way before you ask I didn’t go to the Met. I didn’t go to MOMA or the Whitney or to the New Museum.  I didn’t see a Broadway show, or an off-broadway show, I didn’t take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I didn’t eat pastrami on rye. I didn’t go to the Rockefeller Centre and I didn’t go to a jazz bar…  I went go to the Guggenheim though, plus Central Park, the Empire State and WTC.  I made my first large scale wall art and sketched incessantly. I took a lot of photographs and completed more of my ongoing ‘glitch’ series (some of which feature in this blog) I did a lot of looking – constantly agape at the towering city around me as if in a dream.

On the Wednesday of my 10 days travelled to Williamsburg in Brooklyn to experience a weekly event called ‘Drink and Draw‘ at the BatHaus – a co-working events space in one of the most contested parts of Brooklyn.  Established in 2010 but in situ at the BatHaus since 2013, this event is exactly as it sounds… $10 entry fee gets you access to materials (if you didn’t bring your own), it also pays above professional fees for a life model who poses for various lengths over the 2 hour duration, theres also unlimited beer (the event is sponsored by the Brooklyn Brewery) With over 160 people in attendance I managed to speak with Joel, the leader of the project and was excited to hear his philosophy behind the event which centred on making a community of artists who could come together and drink, draw and discuss in an informal, non competitive and non hierarchical way.  The event was set to a decent playlist of music and the informality really struck a chord with me, I had managed to arrive at a space with a hugely diverse group of artists socialising and making work together.

It was so enlightening to meet and speak with such a variety of visual artists making work in New York and hear of the same successes and struggles that artists are facing there as in London – increasing rents, lack of space, funding cuts and gender disparity being at the top of the list.  There was a feeling that whilst it wasn’t too hard to get a show in a gallery, it was difficult to make sales for the appropriate amount – an observation supported by my trip to the Affordable Art Fair NYC where I was quite shocked at some extremely low prices that artists were selling their work for.  It’s the same issue in London as a professional artist – we live and trade art in a global economy which is constantly in flux.  The very value of value is shifting as we make our work so in a way it was refreshing to hear nothing new in New York.  The artists there are playing exactly the same game as us over here.  But in spending time in the company of these artists it gave me the encouragement to know that my practice in London is going well, that I am still curious and inspired by the work I am making and I am preparing myself well to make and take opportunities as they arise in the future.  It was reaffirming to make these connections and be engaged in a network which was functioning because of the generosity and participation of the artistic community – the Williamsburg Drink and Draw is a thriving, unique and prime example of artistic resilience and ownership. Thank you to Joel and the many other artists I met that night for discussing with me.

On a number of nights in Brooklyn I also explored a completely different yet equally fascinating home grown network by delving into the wonderful and intoxicating world of Drag.  As a huge fan of drag and its transformative power I wanted to experience the world famous Brooklyn drag scene known for its bearded, queer, ratchet aesthetic and wild, creative community of friends, fans and fashionistas.

This welcoming, diverse community is thriving in New York (aided much by the global success of the incredible Ru Paul’s Drag Race) and its clear to see why.  After just one night in the company of a number of Queens and their subjects I was accepted and encouraged to join their network of incredible makers, designers and artists.  Over a number of events that I attended during my 10 days the network I made was simply incredible.  Drag attracts creativity, its an art form which is collaborative, engaged, political and entertaining – the relationship between the audience and artist is so immediate and strong and the outlet of aggression and power I found to be awe inspiring and within the New York context completely relatable – its almost a release from the energy of the urban environment. A space where the confines and constructs of heteronormative, capitalist urban life are subverted and re-appropriated in order to make sense of the difficult experiences of being in the Metropolis.  This art form is somehow pure in that I can’t say I know of many environments in which the networks of Fine Art, Fashion, Performance, Digital Media and Music overlap quite so creatively.  In Brooklyn something very real and vital is happening, instigated by a new generation of subversive and engaged performers who know their context, intention and power as artists to enrich their community.  It was such a privilege to meet so many creative people of such diverse backgrounds and artistic disciplines – thank you to all the wonderful folks that I met in these spaces especially to all the fierce Queens that are keeping their community and network alive through their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent.

Slightly hungover and really rather exhausted by this point, I travelled through Manhattan one afternoon for a last minute meeting arranged by a friend in London.  I was blown away by the conversations that unfolded in his apartment on Broadway that afternoon with Marc Balet, a creative powerhouse in the realms of art direction, social media and architecture.  Perhaps best known for his collaborations with Andy Warhol as his Art Director, Marc also has experienced huge success in his own right with exhibitions at the Whitney, leadership of major fashion campaigns and his latest venture ouihours – an impressive online luxury lingerie boutique showcasing the finest products and photography – with a strong emphasis on narrative, sensuality and user experience.  Marc was so generous with his time to meet with me and the conversation was exactly what I needed at that point in my 10 days.  Marc’s understanding of how artists can engage with the media and operate within a commercial world was unparalleled and it made me realise that for too long I have resisted something fundamental about this experience.  I was somehow ashamed to promote and celebrate my work and this achievement in particular.  What I do as an artist is unique and exquisite and if I don’t truly own that, then how is anyone else going to have the faith that my artistic practice is engaged both critically and commercially? I am be the best advocate for my work, and I must remember that is something really exciting.  Marc spoke of how he and Andy worked, how their thinking changed the interaction between art production and consumer engagement, how social media is now essential in the dissemination of the image, how ownership of art has changed and artists must be at the forefront of making those discoveries.  Trained in architecture, Marc looked at my portfolio with a keen eye.  It was a ‘hold your breath’ moment, not because I feared his rejection, but because I realised in that moment how far my drawings had taken me – all the way to New York.  To this room, with this expert.  But it also made me select on and how far I still want to go… How ambitious I am when it comes to seeking experiences through my work.  Behind my left shoulder and pinned to the wall was a photograph of Warhol in black and white.  He stared at me through time and somehow I could feel him willing me on. (I always did have an overactive imagination)

Meeting with Marc that afternoon was such a highlight of my trip and I will forever remember his apartment, his knowledge, his advice and the reassurance that being in New York as an artist making work on a social media platform was nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it was exactly where I needed to be at that time. I left his apartment bolstered and energised. I was so glad to meet him and include him in the amazing array of people who have supported me on my journey in New York.  Thank you Marc for your time and generosity.

As the week started to draw to a close things started hotting up around the Shorty Awards (the main reason why I was in NYC in the first place) My liver and wallet were ready to come back to London but I had to get suited and booted and stacked out with my business cards for three more days of drinking and networking with the great and the good of the internet.  A series of fringe events spread out over the 3 days surrounding the main awards ceremony which exploded my digital alias ‘Alex Draws’ and ensured an IRL experience like no other…

The surrealism of the situation was not lost on me.  I walked into bar literally full of people who I had been watching and following on the internet for 18 months and suddenly they were in right there in 4D.  It was hilarious to ‘meet the ‘Viners” – the internet’s latest tribe of postmodern creatives – a ramshackle (and overwhelmingly friendly, diverse and talented) group of artists.  I use the term artist in the widest possible sense *Drawing, Painting, Stop Motion, Performance, Film, Photography, Design, Fashion, Comedy, Music, Intervention, Poetry, Digital Arts, CAD/CAM, Dance, Animation* all represented and co-existing in harmony.  What struck me was Vine’s ability to bring these creators together.  In a country as sprawling and diverse as America, Vine is a social media platform which is enabling connection and collaboration across artform, platform and State (and of course the world) As the random English artist included in this experience I was recognised for my vine account yes, but also for the artistic merit of the drawings I was making and my talent as a visual artist.  I was so relieved to understand that the work, the art, the critical act of making and drawing was being appreciated as the material to be enjoyed. Nothing had been lost in translation and in fact I realised my unique position within the group… once my anxiety had settled a bit that is.

The following night Vine itself hosted a party at Susan Sarandon’s Ping Pong club in Midtown Manhattan (I never thought I would write that sentence) Gathered were Viners from across the East Coast and beyond, some of whom were nominated as Finalists or Influencers in the awards and some of whom were there to enjoy the opportunity to make connections and meet up with other users of this dynamic network (there was also a free bar)  That night I met so many people that I either knew of before or not, but I was constantly surprised by the generosity and curiosity that people showed towards each other.  This wasn’t a cynical networking event but rather a live community coming together to celebrate the collective power of the network.  There was an explicit understanding that Vine had somehow and in a variety of ways changed each of our lives and a lot of discussion about the craft of the platform, about artistic intention and the potential of collaboration in order to create new and exciting pieces of work.  I spoke at length with a number of Vine and Twitter staff who outlined the aims and objectives of the platform – it became apparent that it regards itself as a digital space to celebrate creativity and self expression and where artistry can flourish.  We spoke about many Viners who are earning income from their Vines through commissions from large companies and campaigns and how this is made possible by the support and relationship management between Vine and their users.  It isn’t just a platform anymore but an organisation which places users in positions whereby economic resilience and sustainability are goals which can be achieved through careful and considered partnership working.  Artists have always worked alongside organisations through agencies, commissions and philanthropy but Vine takes this model and makes it viable to be discovered as a creative who can add value and act as an asset to a huge range of audiences.  Maybe I am straying too far into the territory of marketing here and I would never pertain to be an expert, but if I am to learn anything from this experience in New York its that as a full time artist I must exist in the real world.  There is no other option.  Locking myself in my studio and drawing all day is not what is going to feed me, clothe me or keep me connected to my networks and beyond.  I have to engage, to make new connections and nurture myself and the potential of my ideas.  No one is forcing me to relinquish my integrity by exposing my work online – I am the author and originator of my ideas and Vine is simply a space in which I can express my practice to audiences that perhaps wouldn’t ordinarily engage with Fine Art, and thats a pretty cool thing.  After the party many of my new Vine friends and I went to Karaoke – I won’t elaborate on the particular horrors that unfolded but lets just say I never knew I could tambourine so well (and somewhere online theres proof)

So the time had come. After months of planning and preparation the Shorty Awards were upon me and to be honest it came and went in a blur of conversation, applause, cocktails and good company.  By this point in the week I couldn’t imagine to have any more expectations of my New York experience – everything had far surpassed what I had hoped.  I had made contacts, friends and networks in this city and had to jump the final hurdle – either being awarded the accolade of Best Vine Artist 2016 or leaving New York with all I had accomplished already… A win win situation if ever there was.

The Shorties themselves were a short-form ceremony, with the acceptance speeches of the winners kept to 140 characters.  This exercise in brevity seemed to be welcomed by the audience who were encouraged to tweet and engage on social media throughout the event.  Hosted at the Times Centre off Times Square, it was essentially a huge networking event between creators, brands, organisations and audiences – an opportunity to discover the latest and greatest formats (there was lots of buzz around streaming site YouNow) and Snapchat emerged throughout as the social media platform of choice (literally everyone was on Snapchat) Often in England I find myself discussing the pros and cons of Twitter, but over there (in these millennial circles at least) twitter is old news… new technology isn’t doubted instead it is celebrated and adopted with glee.

Throughout the evening I had a number of interesting encounters and conversations with a wide range of people. I gave out my cards and accepted a number in return but by this stage in the week I was just enjoying the ride.  I didn’t win.  The guy with 2 million followers won. But as I sat next to the contestants in my category I looked down the row at my new friends and marvelled at the uniqueness of this experience and the power that the web has to bring people together.  That night we partied with the most incredible view of the Empire State Building.  We said goodbye and ‘see you on Vine’ and I felt quite emotional as I left those artists behind. Who knows when I will be in America again, gathered with these people and celebrating our mutual passion of telling short form stories?  Thanks to you Viners… You really are a wonderful bunch.

The next morning I awoke with bleary eyes and packed my suitcase – It was almost time to go home and I felt more than ready to do so.  One last call the Staten Island Makerspace however yielded probably the most surprising event in my trip.

A few days earlier at my talk we had discussed some fabrication techniques that I could employ in my work and I subsequently emailed them a jpeg of a piece which Dustin then manipulated using some software (forgive my technical inexperience here) I jumped on a train and a ferry across to Staten Island and returned to the Makerspace where under the expert guidance of Dustin, Scott and DB I laser cut in paper 3 new works of my 2014 drawing of a ‘Truncated Icosidodecahedron’

As the process unfolded over a couple of hours I realised the importance of the journey that I had taken in coming to New York.  Not only had I the opportunity to celebrate my practice on Vine through the Shorty Awards, but I had also met some inspirational people and organisations enabling creativity and expression to thrive across the city.  I had lived and hustled in the most perplexing and overwhelming city ever created and I had learnt so much about my desire and resilience as an artist and person in the process.  My sketchbook wasn’t as full as I had hoped, I hadn’t completed a huge number of tasks and goals I had optimistically set myself before leaving England but holding a lasercut of one of my drawings seemed the perfect end to my experience. The delicacy and fragility of the paper structure in my hand was a dream enabled by the network I had created across the sea.  I had connected with people and developed my practice, set goals and worked hard to persevere through a number difficult moments in the last 4 months of this surreal experience and now I had come to the end of my journey.

Thank you to everyone that I met on this trip – your generosity will be remembered for a long time to come.  To everyone at Vine and the Shorty Awards for your recognition and support and to A-N for enabling me to develop these networks that will fuel my thinking for years.  To all the people who supported me on and offline and to the brilliant people who bought a print to get me to NYC – I will remember the confidence you had in me to succeed.  To all the Viners making content – keep entertaining and sharing your wonderful work, the community is stronger because of you.  Most of all thanks to my loving family and friends – my IRL’s – I couldn’t have done it without you.  Listing this wonderful collection of connections just reminds me of the networks that I have been making this year and how much this can grow and evolve over time.  Writing this blog, though exhausting has really helped me synthesise my thinking and directly address some of the difficult things which have burdened my practice over the years.   It feels pretty good to have told this story so comprehensively, and to be encouraged by A-N to share the learning that their bursary enabled in me.  The story of course isn’t over yet and I hope there is plenty more to come, but for now I’m logging off.

Thank you for reading, I know its a really very long blog and probably unnecessarily so, but if you have any thoughts about any of my learnings then please get in touch, I would love to hear from you.

Yours,

Alex Evans

 


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