Was reading a bit about the mammothly influential Dinosaur Designs whose altar I worship at, and world renown fash label Tsubi. No doubt, both are companies full of extremely talented, focused and driven people. And Australian! How bout that. But I was struck as I perused a book and a mag at work (one good thing about being an art teacher, reading about designers is seen to be a good thing!) is that both described their rise to meteoric fame and fortune as almost...a matter of luck. Both described the context in which their brands arrived (Dino 80s Sydney, Tsubi 2000 same I think) as being empty of similar stuff like them. There wasn't a lot of people thinking resin=jewellery and no else making jeans like Tsubi (this seemed really odd to me, I always assume Sydney is full of languishing fashionistas, that even the homeless are really just working the grunge angle). One of the Tsubi guys talked about getting a call from someone when a designer flaked on Sydney Fashion Week and they pulled together an impromptu collection and then became the now darlings of world fashion (I'm probably oversimplifying here just a little....) That Dinosaur Designs admits that they've never really done anything early on in their career to promote themselves on a big scale and simply good ol word of mouth and being out of the ordinary in a way that appealed simply ended up with them being the darling of many a stylist which saw their stuff splashed over the pages of Vogue and the like. But they also said that few others would be able to get away with it, in the way they did, that a fortuitous connection of talent and kismet I guess equalled incredible success. There also might be just a little typical Australian modesty here. Don't want to be a tall poppy..... 
If you went to art school, like I did, I think this, 'leading lady breaks her leg so the plucky understudy finally gets the spotlight' kinda thing really resonates. There's all the stories about Picasso languishing in his studio, holding onto a rolled up Demoiselles de Avignon for years until people started to get that he was THE Modernist artist of his age. People like Paul Durand-Ruel, supporter and canny marketer of the Impressionists have this huge impact, taking hapless artists from obscurity to fame with some hard work and knowledge of the market.
It's kinda never going to be like that anymore now, is it?
I remember that silly movie with Christian Slater in it, Pump Up the Volume where he exhorted kids everywhere to take to the radio waves and free up media. Well it kinda happened with the 'digital revolution'. Now it isn't a matter of trying to get your stuff out there, it's getting it seen amongst the immense sea of stuff.
Adam Arber has an interesting viral campaign going. His Roadkill Toys have been supported by little roadside memorials he's been creating to his creatures. I look at this stuff in frank admiration and think 'how the fuck could i do something like that?'
Because that's the thing. I don't make enough from teaching to support my art habit, I need to sell enough of it to at least pay for itself. And much as I wish that someone would swoop in and sell myself for millions whilst regaling me with tales of my fabulousness, it aint never going to happen.
So, I live in the middle of nowhere, produce some reasonable jewellery and toys, in a world where a lot of people create good stuff and I am promotionally retarded. What AM I going to do about it!
If you went to art school, like I did, I think this, 'leading lady breaks her leg so the plucky understudy finally gets the spotlight' kinda thing really resonates. There's all the stories about Picasso languishing in his studio, holding onto a rolled up Demoiselles de Avignon for years until people started to get that he was THE Modernist artist of his age. People like Paul Durand-Ruel, supporter and canny marketer of the Impressionists have this huge impact, taking hapless artists from obscurity to fame with some hard work and knowledge of the market.
It's kinda never going to be like that anymore now, is it?
I remember that silly movie with Christian Slater in it, Pump Up the Volume where he exhorted kids everywhere to take to the radio waves and free up media. Well it kinda happened with the 'digital revolution'. Now it isn't a matter of trying to get your stuff out there, it's getting it seen amongst the immense sea of stuff.
Adam Arber has an interesting viral campaign going. His Roadkill Toys have been supported by little roadside memorials he's been creating to his creatures. I look at this stuff in frank admiration and think 'how the fuck could i do something like that?'
Because that's the thing. I don't make enough from teaching to support my art habit, I need to sell enough of it to at least pay for itself. And much as I wish that someone would swoop in and sell myself for millions whilst regaling me with tales of my fabulousness, it aint never going to happen.
So, I live in the middle of nowhere, produce some reasonable jewellery and toys, in a world where a lot of people create good stuff and I am promotionally retarded. What AM I going to do about it!
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