Is Public Art a net positive to society?

Public art is a complicated issue with valid points on both sides of the discussion. The bulk of the controversy rests on the fact that it generally, but not always, costs the public money in order to exist. Often art is funded privately through grants or residencies. Though when there is an outlay of funds on the part of the public then naturally, and rightly so, people should have a say over how, why, and where it is spent. In addition to funding, there are many valid points of contention in the areas of physical location, art form, and subject matter. Many people don’t want to be forced to look at art they deem offensive or aesthetically in poor taste. Proponents would say that it serves society in a multitude of ways such as driving economic growth, improving culture and raising awareness for many issues, and is simply calming to the beholder. There are also critics of public art, from within the artist community, who feel the work is often in a diluted and “safe” form to help get funding and approval. Many in this camp would rather not see public art if it means seeing poor quality art. I personally believe art is at its best when it is thought provoking and at least slightly offensive. It should also be plentiful. The ideas and discussions that often come with art should not be bound by budgets or the desire for comfort in people. Often truth or thought on an issue draw us into conflict with our own beliefs and force us to question things. They sometimes spur a healthy public discourse. There can be no truth without scrutiny of perceived facts, logical judgements on the merits of counter arguments, and an openness to all possible positions on a topic. If public art is the stick that knocks people off the proverbial couch and encourages even a few to challenge their own beliefs, or those of others, I’m all for it.

Throughout history art has been created for a wide variety of reasons. Some work is purely to express the beauty of people, places, or things. Some work is a catharsis for the creator; resolving a question or issue within the mind. Some work is simply to convey an emotion or feeling. Yet other work is intended to provoke thought on a specific issue or topic within society. Today many cities are utilizing art to create attractive public spaces to drive tourism and economic activity. While many people will agree with the idea of public art on the surface, once the works start appearing many people feel differently.

Many people are of the feeling that art should reflect the tastes and beliefs of the people in the community in which it resides. For example in a small town in much of America artwork that is anti-Christian or pro-another religion could be deemed offensive many people. Artwork that criticizes the fossil fuel industry being installed close to a corporate campus or within a museum that receives funding from the industry could easily draw the ire of people in a community. This naturally creates a tension around the work, with many people feeling that they should not be forced to see artwork that falls outside their tastes or offends their beliefs.

Another line of criticism against public art, generally offered by artists themselves, is that the artwork frequently approved for funding or by “Art Commissions” is too generic and diluted and often results in abstract work that is considered safe. In other words something to look at, but not much to think about. Many artists feel it is important to provoke thought through their work which matters little to politicians that do not want to provoke negative sentiment in voters.

There are also some people who see public art as akin to Socialism and nothing but a ‘Make Work’ program. To be fair there is some truth to the sentiment as part of FDR’s New Deal with the formation of the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture in 1934 the first public art programs began. As a result one percent of each federal building’s cost was to be reserved for artistic decoration. This helped build morale among people and create jobs. These installations required someone to construct, install and maintain what were often enormous works. The intent was alto help reduce crime.  In a 2009 Forbes Magazine article Darren Walker, vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation and chairman of the Foundation for Art and Preservation Embassies said that “Public art is a public good, it is the embodiment of the American ideal; in spirit and deed it is a reflection of our democratic values.” (Lineri) If art raises awareness or provokes a discussion in society of any number of important topics then I feel it is a good thing. Art may start the discussion, but democracy continues it to its natural resolution.

Public art has also been a significant driver of economic growth. Take for example The Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, Massachusetts. As part of the historic Central Artery and Tunnel Project, also known as “The Big Dig,” Boston created a new public park in the place where the above ground highway system once stood. Today this space occupies 1.5 miles of beautiful downtown real estate. The Boston Globe described the space as one that snakes “along parks, open space and amenities, public art, food trucks, farmers’ markets, a fountain, carousel, and the Harbor Islands visitor center.” (Flint) It provides plenty of places to congregate and free WiFi. As someone who frequents the Greenway I can tell you that the art is always interesting, often enormous in size, and adds an inviting element to this new public space. This project greatly increased the foot traffic of this area of Boston, and really added to the utility of Boston’s North End neighborhood. The artwork and the greenspace provide an element of enjoy ability to what would otherwise might just be dinner in a local restaurant. Now people tend to stroll the park, marvel at the attractions, have dinner, go to Mike’s Pastry or a coffee shop, and grab something to consume while going back to the Greenway for a leisurely walk before going home. This has added value to the entire experience of the North End and continues to bring people in. It also makes for a great date, or family event like a birthday.

In Providence, Island the value of art has been known for a long time. The city is host to the acclaimed Rhode Island School of Design and has a vibrant art community mainly centered around AS220, which is a local nonprofit artist and performance space. There are public art installations all over the downtown area. Some are geared towards being functional art pieces, some are abstract works, and others are portraiture that often convey meaning about the subject to raise awareness of social issues. You will often see people photographing them, gathering in groups around them, or using them as a place to introspect or work. Public art for many people has a calming effect and is a great place to unwind the thoughts and minds of our always on the go lifestyle.

How as a society can we be against something that creates employment, spurs thought, often calms people, and reinvigorates the local economy? There are certainly valid concerns regarding cost and location, and even content, but the benefits to the whole of society seem to far exceed the concerns of the few. All products of humanity are at first just thoughts. Art is the physical expression of thought. By fostering a culture that helps art and artists thrive we will further our own development socially, technologically, and economically.

 

Works Cited

Flint, Anthony. 10 years later, did the Big Dig deliver? 29 12 2015. web site. 5 5 2016. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/12/29/years-later-did-big-dig-deliver/tSb8PIMS4QJUETsMpA7SpI/story.html>.

Lineri, Raquel. Why We Love and Need Public Art. 5 5 2009. <http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/05/state-of-the-city-opinions-george-rickey-public-art.html>.

 

 

This is my idea for an Argument paper. These are just a few of the topics that I think can easily be elaborated on based on various news sources of the past few years. There is ample material pertaining to this topic. I believe that this topic is generally not covered in fair way as it seems to always be presented in a one sided manner based on the interests of the source. Fox news isn’t likely to tell you what the median price for a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco is and will Huffington Post detail how a significant rise in the wage will in fact effect small businesses?

Recently there has been a move, mostly on a local and state level, to raise the minimum wage. Some jurisdictions have raised the wage to $15, while others have recently passed a phased in approach, which will occur over he next several years. The business community continuously declares that raising minimum wage is inflationary, bad for job creation, and bad for the bottom line of business in America, which they claim mainly falls on “small” businesses around the country. I will argue that the position of the business community is a hollow statement which does not take into account other factors that are also significant contributors to both inflation and lack of job creation – mainly out of control executive compensation. The pay gap between CEOs and workers has continued to rise for many years and is reaching staggering ratios. My argument is this: “Why is raising the pay for hourly workers inflationary, but executive compensation in the tens or hundreds of millions is not?” Wealth distribution in the United States has reached a ratio not seen since prior to the Great Depression.  When the actual cost of living in the jurisdictions that have raised minimum wage to $15 is analyzed, one cannot help but ask if that level even comes close to supplying what working people actually need to survive, let alone thrive.

Another possible related subtopic/question:

Are there any unintended consequences of raising the wage? In other words, will a rise in minimum wage be reflected in Government inflation numbers and therefore be interpreted as “a hot economy” which could lead to interest rate increases? It is a safe assumption that if $15 were passed nation wide that retailers and restaurants of all sorts would pass along some degree of price increases to offset changes in profit margin, which should show up in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key data point used for the setting of interest rates by the Federal Reserve.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/12/the-shazam-effect/382237/

The Shazam Effect

Derek Thompson

December 2014 issue of The Atlantic

 

 

In “The Shazam Effect,” Derek Thompson details the functionality and effect of the song identifying app known as ‘Shazam.’ The app is used to identify unfamiliar songs and is said to function even in the presence of background noise. It has since caught on amongst industry executives and talent scouts to predict the “hit potential” of songs and artists by gauging how many people are attempting to identify a song in a specific geographical area. As searches for a song accumulate a virtual trail of breadcrumbs is left behind, allowing the industry to track where a song’s popularity first began to catch on and the day it peaked, at least as far as the “Shazamiverse” is concerned.

Shazam was created in 2002, which might as well have been the Stone Age by today’s technical standards. Originally the app sent the response to the query by text message which by today’s instant response type speeds may as well been by carrier pigeon, but it worked. Since its creation it has ditched the text message in favor of the immediate answer and grown substantially to 20 million searches daily. The app now has an interactive map which plugs in search data to create a visual representation of where and when searches occur. This shows artists and executives where the ‘hotspots’ and ‘deadspots’ are for an artist. It also shows a growth trend for artists that are virtual unknowns, revealing which are artists are most likely to have a broad appeal based on the comparison of date among songs and artists.

“The company has a team of people who update its vast music library with the newest recorded music – including self-produced songs – from all over the world, and artists can submit their work to Shazam.” In theory this sounds great but given the scale of music creation globally and the general trend of more artists self-producing music with ever increasingly fantastic audio recording technology I’d say it’s unlikely that the “team” could ever be large enough to keep up with this change in the way music is being produced in the 21^st century. I also would like to know how the company sorts out the difference in popularity of the app from a geographical standpoint. Perhaps the app is redhot in areas where the music business has a large footprint like Nashville, New York, or L.A. and is completely obscure in large swaths of territory, or simply doesn’t jive with the tastes of people in a given city. If the app itself has less than a 1% penetration rate in the population of a given city is the data really worth much for more than telling you the musical taste of the lonely Shazam user in town?

Recently I noticed an artist I love, Brandi Carlile, was on tour and that her tour was skipping Boston as of the release of the tour dates. Tour dates are often fluid and could change at any time so I tend not to read to into the initial dates, but I have to admit – I was a little miffed! I wondered ‘How is this possible?” Her shows always seem to have good turnout by very welcoming enthusiastic crowds anywhere in New England. I’ve seen this firsthand as I’ve seen her a bunch of times in the last nine years. I have to admit I wondered if something like this could have been a factor. Brandi isn’t an artist that has truly broken through to super stardom. Though her fans are often the completely rabid type her name probably isn’t on the tip of your plumber’s tongue.

My concern was that some datapoint indicated that Boston wasn’t a strong Market for her music so management opted to skip it in favor of another city. I understand that this kneejerk reaction may make sense from a business standpoint: control cost, minimize time of tour, maximize profit, and increase publicity in her most receptive locales. The problem is a place that may have been slower to respond to her, or may in fact have a lower ceiling of penetration, may now simply go dark for her. The live show is an important component to music appreciation for many fans and without it the relationship can atrophy. Many fans listen to artists in increased amounts leading up to a live show – refreshing themselves on old material and acquiring the new material so as to be able to really take in the whole experience of the live concert. At least that’s what I like to do and even at my age I still go to several concerts a year.

Another problem with Shazam is that to some degree the data is skewed in favor of the established “1%’ers” of the business. People naturally gravitate to music that they already know. According to Norbert Schwarz, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, “Things that are familiar are comforting, particularly when you are feeling anxious.” People naturally gravitate toward music, rhythms, and melodies that they already know. This creates a clustering of musical styles that, for many people, doesn’t allow much room for the new and groundbreaking experimental tracks. So if people like what they already know, or worse, like only what other people like – i.e. jumping on the bandwagon, then they aren’t likely to take an interest in a band or song until the herd has already arrived at the party. I’m not sure how much of the need for the familiar is social in nature, people not wanting to be out on a limb in terms of their taste, or how much is neurobiology – the brain prefers patterns and predictable outcomes.

In the article ‘A Hunger for Certainty’ by David Rock on the web edition of Psychology Today an interesting piece of the human mind is detailed. “Some parts of accounting and consulting make their money by helping executives experience a perception of increasing certainty, through strategic planning and forecasting” and while “the future is inherently uncertain, the one thing that’s certain is that people will pay lots of money to at least feel less uncertain.” Rock goes on to explain how prior to the 2008 financial meltdown many finance execs had spent a lot of money on data to help the feel safer, which for most ended up providing no safety at all. The main point was that uncertainty effects decision making and is directly linked to the fight or flight response within the brain. Hence, the brain prefers certainty, even when it comes to your taste in music. I personally assume that this is mainly about resource utilization. Eliminate unknowns, maximize glucose, and be prepared for quick or difficult decision making at a moment’s notice.

Which now creates two issues for analysis as far as Shazam and its various users go.

Are most music listeners simply looking for music that conforms to their previously held taste in music and ultimately are listening to the same song over and over again? Are executives just simply trying to find to tool to simplify the inherent risks of signing and pushing unknown tracks and artists so that they can sleep better and maybe keep their jobs a bit longer? Probably yes to both.

Most people aren’t tastemakers, they’re consumers. This is the way it’s always been and likely the way it will always be. If more people were musicians themselves, then trends would likely be different as people would have other means by which to analyze music. Rather than simply the “it makes me feel good” metric they may be amazed at the use of syncopated rhythms by the drummer or the influence of Gregorian Monks on the vocal harmonies, or how wonderful the guitar player’s use of vintage sound effects was on his unique guitar tone.

“The top one percent of bands and solo artists now earn 77 percent of all revenue from recorded music, media researchers report.” How much of this is due to the crowning of artists as industry royalty and how much is from a legitimate judgement of quality and artistic validity on the part of the public? Trends can be made, self-reinforced, and shaped by those who hold the power of distribution and publication. More and more new artists are released with such a media blast that it no longer feels remotely organic to me, it’s starting to feel more like a coronation. It’s amazing how many artists today become mega popular before you’ve ever heard their name. How much of this is legit and how much was a large ad budget to push a good looking artist, or boy band, into mainstream acceptance simply through a mass media blitz? If I ask you if you want a strawberry soda or orange soda we aren’t even talking about your preference for a cola. Stars are all too often minted or better yet churned out like sausage today. They taste great for a few minutes and probably have a short shelf life.

Thompson mentions 1991 as the year when Billboard started using point-of-sale data, rather reports made by radio stations and record stores, as the basis for calculating chart position. Prior to this change, radio stations and record stores were on the honor system as to what was selling and in demand. When you factor in their need to manage inventories may have skewed reports and the entire “pay to play” aspect of how songs used to find their way to radio, the old way quickly looks like a sham at best, and illegal at worst. The reason that I hone in on 1991 is because it was also an important year in music history. Prior to the release of Nirvana’s hit song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” rock music was dead, or at least dying. At that time the public had had a dwindling appetite for the glam hairbands or heavy metal that had been dominating rock in the eighties. Rock was steadily losing its edginess in favor of soft rock artists that had a broader appeal. Many people had gleefully touted “Rock Is Dead” and went on to explain how demographic shifts in America were in favor or urban dance music. Though music has certainly diversified with the changes in America, the trend in rock music sales and chart positions had more to do with poor quality music and tired formulae than macro sized changes in the public’s taste. You may love chocolate cake, but how much of the same old stale chocolate cake are you willing to eat before you’re ready to try something else? Nirvana really energized rock music, single handedly changing the formula for success, and creating countless copy cats. Labels were immediately in search of anything that would have a similar out of the box appeal and they really began to take chances on new obscure artists who otherwise wouldn’t have seen the light of day, let alone made to record store shelves or MTV. I wonder how Nirvana’s Shazam searches, even at their peak, would have compared to Whitney Houston’s. How would this story unfold today in an era were MTV is of no marketing value?

More and music is found through the analysis of data, rather than the traditional way of an A&R person going out to a show and witnessing the raw live talent of an artist. Next Big Sound is a company that tracks Instagram mentions, Spotify listening trends, and other digital date to forecast songs and artists likely to breakout. By using an algorithm to filter through a half million artists a year they create list of 100 stars that are likely to break out within a year. “If you signed our top 100 artists, 20 of them would make the Billboard 200,” says Victor Hu, a data scientist with the company. This would be a great accomplishment for any label as the numbers for commercial success in music are in fact really quite dismal.

Last year Next Big Sound unveiled a search tool called Find, which is available for a six figure subscription price helps execs mine artists out of the data within just a few seconds. There are still questions about the reliability of data points like Facebook likes as an indicator of the trajectory of an artist, whereas some data points seem to have excellent powers of prediction.

In 2006 a Columbia University study showed that song rankings influence listener preference, in other words that popularity is a self-reinforcing prophecy. By inverting the rankings of previously results and displaying them to an audience that could then listen to all of the songs, they discovered that previously popular songs were ignored and that previously popular songs gained popularity.

So my question is at one point does Brandi Carlile’s Shazam start to feel like my Bamboozle?

We know that trends can be self-reinforcing and that the brain prefers the comfort of the familiar. When these concepts take over the music industry and the less well funded segment of the market is simple cut away from the equation like dead flesh, what are we left with? Does the functionality of this App, and countless others, just begin to condense and limit choice into the formulae that inevitably get old? I fully understand a business needs to profit, and one could argue that they are simply responding to what the public wants, but at some point data starts to function more like a wall than the egalitarian notion of information as a liberator of people’s thoughts and needs. Think “strawberry or orange soda.” What the public “wants” is all too often a function of what they’ve been offered. Are the executives really just Shazam-ing themselves into a feeling of certainty of the outcome of their decisions?

If so, when does the Shazam Effect actually become the Bamboozle Effect?

Probably sooner then we think.

Sources:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/12/the-shazam-effect/382237/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/hunger-certainty

 

https://thehundreds.com/paris-back-to-the-future-daft-punks-creative-director-his-retrofuturistic-creations/

 

The Retrofuturistic Creations of Cedric Hervet, Daft Punk Creative Director

 

This article combines several things that really interest me – woodworking, design, and music.

You all may be familiar with the Parisian electronic-disco duo Daft Punk thanks to their recent hit song “Get Lucky,” which featured Pharrell Williams. The song “Get Lucky” is one of the greatest selling songs of all time and the album debuted at number on the Billboard 200. However, you likely did not know that Daft Punk creative director Cedric Hervet has been a part of shaping Daft Punk’s sound, image and visuals. He has created artwork used in album covers, co-produced their third album Human After All, and worked on their film projects Electronica and Interstella 5555. Considering his lengthy resume resume with the French duo I was quite surprised to learn he has time for other artistic pursuits like furniture craftsmanship that emphasizes wood and leather in what is described as a retro-futuristic aesthetic. Cedric, with cousin Nicolas Hervet who has received multiple honors for his own woodworking talents, have been designing furniture together for many years and formed the Hervet Manufacturing company.

They recently installed a body of work in a Paris gallery of their own, which consisted of pieces ranging from yo-yos and skateboards to large furniture pieces. The result is well crafted, eye catching, space age looking furniture with a strong presence of the natural elements of wood and leather. I personally thought the work was beautiful and also wondered how there may be a creative interplay between the various creative disciplines within Cedric Hervet’s mind. Does music play a role in his creative process during design or construction of the pieces? When he’s creating artwork or doing production work for Daft Punk is he simultaneously dreaming of furniture design?

Either way, his resume is great and his design approach will likely be respected beyond his years. Some artists are the result of a singularly focused genius, while others are the sum of a cross-disciplinary approach. In the case of Cedric Hervet, it’s more like the case of the chicken and the egg.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/03/04/take-magazine-fresh-look-new-england-culture/nn2ohNaw269yjaBKcBAhhL/story.html

 

I just read an article about a print magazine startup called Take. Take is a magazine devoted to the arts and culture of New England, which combines two of my favorite things – creativity and New England. Based in a single room artist space in a mill on the edge of Smith College for most of its inception, founder Michael Kusek runs the magazine much like any other modern startup. He has three full time employees and six part-time employees and freelancers who often work remotely.

I think this magazine dovetails perfectly with other trends in economics and modern urban planning as there is a school of thought today that we should fully embrace the culture makers in society as they are driving urban renewal, technology, and pop culture trends. The creative economy is also a new source of revenue for local and State governments. The New England Foundation of the Arts recently estimated that in just Massachusetts there are 110,000 people working in areas related to culture, which may include museum employees, marketers, video-game architects, and various artists.

Kusek left a career in public relations to start Take. Considering the dismal statistics for success in the print magazine industry this was either a very bold act or a quite foolish one, depending on your perspective. Fortunately his firm had some A-list clients like MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who recently praised Take in a Washington Post article about “America’s new economic optimism in small-scale local ambition.” With twenty-seven local advertisers and a successful Kickstarter campaign Kusek has been able to find investors. The magazine was also recently named one of the 30 hottest US magazine launches of 2015 by University of Mississippi professor Samir Husni, who is well known in the industry.

I have to say that as much as I love the idea of what Kusek is doing and feel a personal connection to his mission, I can’t help but have a touch of pessimism, which I prefer to think of more as “realism.” Though I’m sure he’d be quite offended by the sentiment, one must admit that the chances of success are low. The world of print media has hardly stabilized from all of the changes the internet and technology have thrown at it in the last twenty years. At the same time I find it refreshing that someone is willing to go against the grain and take on great risk to shed light on a community and sector of the economy that needs all the help it can get.

If you enjoy reading about the local culture just beyond your doorstep or you are simply interested in anything from food to a variety of arts like painting and music, museums, or theater; than Take may be the perfect new magazine for you. Take currently has a circulation of 10,000 copies per issue and nearly 1,100 paying subscribers.

I would like my ethnography assignment to be about ‘Makers’ as found at AS220 Industries in Providence, RI. AS220 has a thriving community or artists, makers, and creators of a wide range. The age range is huge and the areas of expertise is considerable. Overall it is  very diverse community of people who all have one things in common; the need to create. What drives people to need to create something?  Why their particular craft?  What about the creation moves them and stirs their spirit? Does the community at AS220 inform their overall process or creative goal? Does the community as a whole push them into to new artistic territory? Or do they largely keep to themselves and simply utilize the resources available?

Who are these people? What drives them?

“AS220 is a non-profit community arts center located in Downtown, Providence, Rhode Island, United States. AS220 maintains four dozen artist live/work studios, around a dozen individual work studios, six rotating exhibition spaces, a main stage, a black box theater, a dance studio, a print shop, a community darkroom, a digital media lab, a fabrication lab, an organization-run bar and restaurant, a youth recording studio, and a youth program (AS220 Youth; formerly named the Broad Street Studio). AS220 is an unjuried and uncensored forum for the arts, open to all ages.

AS220 Industries has a community printshop, a fabrication lab, and media arts facilities which it makes available to artists, artisans, and learners through classes, training, reserved time, and open access events.”    source – Wikipedia.

I am an As220 Industries member

1. My hometown was a rough and tumble, trash talkin’, proud-yet-broken, rusty urban core surrounded by oak trees and well-worn paths that meandered through fields like they’d never even heard of a city, like all they’d ever heard were crickets and a summer breeze blowing through the cat nine tails that traced the swamp.

2. Laci, whose personal flair was like a living kaleidoscope, was a walking shrine to the most disparate and motley places our minds could go.

3. Mr. Brown, whose lectures were like an endless battering of low C on a shaky old piano, went on with the pace of a glacier, until my head was ready to implode just to escape his endless droning, his less than crooning, momentary murmuring, and pointless musings.

4. The room was so aesthetically sanitized and devoid of any actual character that all that taupe and warmed cognac were calming to the point of sedation, the inspirational artwork so generic it almost dared you to go it alone, and the fake ficus trees were so dusty they actually looked dead.

 

 

Fourteen years ago, and roughly eleven hundred miles from here, I had a custom electric guitar made by a man I found on eBay in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I love guitars. I think about guitars and music all day, every day. I found it fascinating to be able to have a choice in the construction details of my soon to be new guitar. I got to choose the pickups, the tuning keys, neck, control configuration, and finish. All choices I made to create in interesting piece in my budget of choice, which really wasn’t much.

When I finally received the guitar I was so happy. I loved it. It was exactly what I thought it would be. But being a very mechanically apt guy, from a very mechanically apt family, I couldn’t help but say to myself “I can do this.” My family is the type that doesn’t hire anyone to work on our house. We do it all, except natural gas work, ourselves. Work is a serious word where I’m from. My grandfather, a Polish immigrant and WWII survivor, never took a sick day in his entire life and immigrated to this country with a single dollar to his name. Through hard work he did alright.

So after some time, about 6 years, I had acquired some tools we didn’t already have, read some books, and watched a TON of YouTube. I also studied every guitar I laid eyes on with an intense eye on tiny details. After building several prototypes of guitar bodies I began to accumulate a lot of scrap wood that was essentially unusable in what I was doing. The problem is wood costs money, and I really hate to waste things – food, wood, time, whatever. So my girlfriend, a talented ceramic and graphic artist, suggested we make wood jewelry with all the pieces of beautiful exotic wood. We mostly made earrings and neck pendants. Naturally it made sense to try to sell it so we opened a store on Etsy, a web site for all things handmade.

In the first year we made eight sales. We didn’t really care as it was somewhat of a novelty. Overtime we started to talk about what else could be made with the scraps of wood that were piling up in my workspace. So I began making candle holders, cutting boards, and clocks. Sales took off! Suddenly I had something that sold. Sales increased roughly 3000% in year two. Cutting boards were the hot item so we dropped jewelry altogether and just focused on the household products. Sales continued to rise for the next 5 years. I’ve become friends with other sellers, some small, some large.

Over the years I saw Etsy try new ideas, change their search engine, offer new products, and eventually, as far as I’m concerned, sell out. They opened the site up to product manufactured by third parties – meaning I could design something and have a factory in China make me a thousand of them and have them drop ship them directly to the buyer. Not exactly handmade anymore. This has essentially introduced mass quantities of lower priced product into the equation and has put massive price pressure on many sellers to the point of putting many stores out of business. Then they decided that sellers would need to pay to “Promote” your items in search results, after they altered the search algorithm to make your items more difficult to be seen.

So naturally the cherry on top of this horrible Sundae was that they then decided to go Public, which means join Wall Street. Now look, I’m all for success and capitalism – I am a capitalist by any measure. But the reality is that being publicly traded is usually bad for a company who based on a social value. Capital value doesn’t generally occupy the same space as social value. Social values would generally by categorized as “waste and inefficiency” by the bean counters, ya know?

So after losing a job and going full time on Etsy a few years ago I’m beginning to feel like yet another American rug has been pulled out from under me. Oh and did I mention I have a 2 year old son and a mortgage at this point? My sales volume declined so sharply so quickly and is completely unmoved by all attempts to reverse the trend that it is now beginning to feel like a rigged game. It also is beginning to feel more like a burden than a creative outlet. It’s a tough pill to swallow as I tend not to quit anything I’ve set my mind to.

All that being said,

Online selling is awesome.

It allows you to create, to dream, to build something of your own, and make people happy. I have awed so many people in something many cities and countries. I’ve made things that appeared on TV, in magazines, and countless websites. But the reality is it can change in an instant. The key words are ‘search algorithm.’ The algorithm can be your greatest friend or your executioner. Google, Etsy, Facebook, whoever – They all can shut you down with a keystroke.

Before becoming an online seller or entrepreneur think twice. Have a back-up plan and don’t put all your eggs in one basket. All of the talk in recent years about how the Internet is liberating people to communicate and create in ways they never could before doesn’t exactly tell the whole truth. Yes it is true that it does those things, but it doesn’t seem to bring an ounce of security with it. It can change in a second. Whether it’s the Egyptian government shutting down the entire network in Egypt during the Arab Spring, or Etsy tweaking its business model. Either way the effects can be devastating in an era where people have come to rely on these services. Imagine if the entire ATM system became unavailable.

Where would we be then?

 

I have four ideas for themes that I would consider.  I’d appreciate feedback on which might be the most interesting.  I’ll do my best to make that choice as difficult as possible.

They are as follows and in no particular order:

Theme #1: A memoir/ethnography

The Business of Music in the 21st Century. 

The theme would be explored from two perspectives; that of an artist who has been a professional musician for well over 20 years, toured in support of well known artists, appeared on national television, toured Europe and North America multiple times, and released multiple albums. The other perspective would be from that of a 20 something tech savvy budding media mogul who started a website to cleverly, and fairly, bring the arts and local food together in a way that is somewhat akin to “Fair Trade.” Her idea is that artists should be fairly paid for their contribution to society and are a vital part of the local economy. Together venues and artists can play a key role in the “Local” movement and are at the core of what the new economy will be made of.

Theme #2: A memoir/ethnography

The Uber/Etsy Economy

The concept here is what it is like to attempt to make a living in today’s online economy.  Everyone know someone today that either drives for Uber or is a maker of some type selling their products online. What are the ethics of this new way of life? Where are the lines between employee and subcontractor in the case of Uber? Can Etsy stick to its core values of being an intimate marketplace for artisans and makers to sell their handmade product while they now face the normal Wall Street pressures to grow and be profitable? And if not how does that impact the artisans?  The perspective here is my own as I have had a store on Etsy for nearly 8 years. An additional perspective would be from a friend who also has a high volume store on Etsy.  There is a significant scale between the two us. My store has been successful, but not to the degree hers has.

Theme #3: An argument

21st Century Manufacturing Tools:

3D Printers, Laser Cutting and Engraving Machines, and low cost CNC Routing/Milling Machines.

Need a new plastic spatula or don’t like your phone case? No problem! 3D print a new one. Want to make a special wedding gift like a personalized engraved cutting board? Just use your new Glowforge Laser Printer to burn their names and that special date right onto the wood with fantastic detail and precision. Always that dream guitar kicking around the back of  your head?  No problem – there’s an app for that.

What is the net benefit to society of the proliferation of low cost manufacturing tools? Will tomorrow’s economy be one that is entirely custom, on-demand, and home-made? Are the old ideas of TV, lowest common denominator mass marketing, and bulk manufacturing dead in an age where people will be higher prices for very specific product?

And…

What about the dark side?

What about the 3D printed guns?

This new wave of technology is both liberating to many people and dangerous to others. These low cost tools help unleash the creative potential of people who might never consider following the creative passions but they also come at a price.

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Yes I know.

The title of this blog is indeed a strange title to most people, if not a downright foolish idea. Rather than assail you with why I chose it, I’ll stick to other more palatable topics. I can however say this much – I guess it boils down to how much I really love New England and the fact that I descend from two Mayflower families.

Enough about that.

I am a 41 year old father, my son is two and awesome, who decided to return to school in my late 30’s. At first I only intended to take a few classes and get a certificate in Computer Aided Manufacturing. After some time it became evident that a certificate wasn’t going to be enough to offer me a substantial career change. I also managed to fall completely in love with school. This wasn’t very difficult as I’ve always been a very open minded person and considered myself a bit of “Google PhD” type. Which is completely logical if you knew me as a kid when I considered myself a “Encyclopedia Brittanica PhD” type. To the best of my calculation I spent over 2000 hours reading the encyclopedia as a kid. But then high school came around and I found girls and rock n’ roll. College wasn’t really an option for me at that time. Fortunately I always maintained a love of reading and learning.

Today my declared program is Automation Engineering. I chose it because I love to make things. I have to make things. There is nothing like seeing a material in its raw state transform into a useful finished product that in fact may outlive its creator. I have made well over 1000 wood household items. My goal is to own a “boutique” electric guitar company specializing in original, affordable, custom electric guitars, amplifiers, and eventually violins.

If I had to narrow down my reading interests to a few areas it would be 1980’s William Gibson science fiction (He did coin the term cyberspace in the novel Neuromancer), any Buddhist texts – (Dalai Lama, Krishnamurti, Thich Nhat Hanh), any 19th Century Russian writers, any Kerouac (don’t thumb your nose at me!) or fast forward to today and it would be a lot of technical material relating to automation engineering, woodworking, and electric guitars. I also read a TON of news.

In Tips for Realizing Your Creative Potential the tip to Avoid Self Destructive Behavior struck me in a way I can’t quite define. It seems so obvious but at the same time so important. A logical thinker may say any form of intoxication would inhibit ones creativity and perhaps create work that is less than cohesive or tending towards abstract. Yet in history so many writers, musicians, and artists have at least dabbled in various forms self destructive behavior without great detriment. But conversely do any of these behaviors bring out something that was not already present within the greater? I believe not – I see the mind as a vast space capable of far more than the confinements of our humanity permit us to know. We have more potential than we realize, but we don’t know what we don’t know. If only we could truly unleash our abilities we could evolve to something greater without a tendency to be destructive on ourselves or others.

After reading the Demystify Writing Misconceptions about how Sue Lorch did not enjoy writing but was considered to be an accomplished writer, I couldn’t help but feel there is hope for my secret ambition to write at least two novels in my life. It is not that I hate writing – I feel that I’m a bit freeform in my approach, hence the Jack Kerouac.

In the section Writing is a Lonely Craft Best Conducted by Introverts I couldn’t help but feel the idea a bit outdated. It would seem if someone locks themselves away from the world for a substantial amount of time they would only detract from the experience, wisdom, and memory from which they could draw on for inspiration. It seems an old fashioned notion that a writer would sit alone in a dimly lit room, perhaps smoking a pipe and drinking port or brandy, while they toil away with a quill pen by candlelight, all while wearing a plaid jacket of course. I can’t help but feel the time in which we live is drawing more on amalgamating our experiences, technological achievements, needs, and errors into a focused path forward for society. In other words, most of our recent technologies amplify our experiences as opposed to creating them – GoPro would be nothing without skydivers, race car drivers, and other extreme sports types.

That being said I see no difference between pen on paper and the blog. The important thing is that meaning is transmitted and received. I’m sure da Vinci would agree!