Never Give Up!
Today's Chainman Banner Brought to you by
Fight Club,
Cinnamon Vox,
Crowdfunding and
Scrapbook: a story of art.
Looking back over the rise of information technology, the home computer and instantaneous global communication we discover that there was a time when artists faced specifically arbitrary barriers to expressing their own unique taste.
Imagine living in the middle ages when artists were beholden to royal or theological patrons.
Imagine being an impressionist when impressionism was looked down upon because it didn't conform to the fantasy standards of the Salon at the time.
Or imagine being an independent film maker, author or illustrator from the 1960's who longs to create their own original artwork but runs into nothing but marketing decisions from corporate jerks.
Whom, controlling production, distribution and advertising also have the ability to force you as the artist to compromise your own ethos if you want to survive.
Ever heard of the dreaded casting couch? "Sure darling, I'll give you the world, but first you got to do something for me..." Can you imagine not only your career, but literally your ability to eat that night hinging on selling not only your creativity but an intimate relation to your body?
Let's just say that the abuse of creative individuals by a fundamentally jealous system has a very long history indeed.
Not that challenges aren't vital for the evolution of creativity and the arts, just that there came a day when "desktop publishing" became a thing, then digital video editing and eventually more and more tools for "professional amateurs" to express themselves without permission of the "big guys."
Then something even larger came along - the Internet. Artists were now armed with the ability to circumvent everything traditional and connect directly to your audience. Finally - big-badda-boom - everything traditional is shaken to it's core with crowdfunding - the world's first truly democratizing platforms - where anybody can be a backer and transparently support creative entities* directly.
*Plus technology and a million other social entities who have been waiting to flourish outside capitalistic antics.
So, what's all this reminiscing about? Well, from the artists point of view I'd have to say the direct abolishment of tyranny and slavery when it come to individual creativity.
Is there any wonder that today artists like myself and my family would fight tooth and nail for the freedom to be authentic and independent?
