Patron Thoughts

[red-trillium.livejournal.com]

While I do create, I don't currently use my photography for crowdfunding. I mostly drop coins into crowdfunding-hats (both the virtual and the literal kinds). ysabetwordsmith asked some of us who are more patronly-inclined to share our thoughts on crowdfunding.

In real-life I've supported musicians and a street performer (mime) who busk on the street I work on. I sometimes go on a walk at lunch to get away from the frustrations at work and to specifically drop coins in hats along the way.

Online I've supported a film, stories, art, photography, poetry, divination, a small publisher and a start-up business. Wow, when I list it I didn't realise how much I've done in the last year and a half to couple of years being introduced to the concept of Crowdfunding!

Most of my online support has been to people I've met on LiveJournal or Dreamwidth. I start by enjoying their work and after reading/viewing for awhile realise I really want to support their efforts and show my appreciation. It's kind of a "thank you, please do something again soon!". I've also supported a couple of things over on Kickstarter. There's a lot on there and I try to keep my budget under control so I don't tend to support a lot there.

Recently I discovered a musician I really like. She's working on building a music career. She busks on Queen Street (legal if you have a license and follow a few rules), has a cd, plays at farmer's markets. I've heard her a couple times on Queen Street but don't usually get the chance to listen for very long. When I found she'd be playing at a local farmer's market I jumped at the chance!

I had a good time, felt myself relaxing as I walked around and picked up some stuff and then later sat and listened to her play. It was nice to connect and just take time to enjoy her voice and her music. I realised I wasn't used to the smaller audience and more direct contact with a musician. I don't usually sit and watch the buskers at work for very long, and other than that I haven't watched much live music in decades other than large-audience concerts and I have missed it.

Crowdfunding is like that visit. As a society we seem to become more accustomed to mass-produced things, from the food we buy to the gifts, to our entertainment. Face-to-face interactions with artists becomes less common, and I wonder if people will become uncomfortable with it or not realise it's ok, that it's a great way to influence and further be influenced by art/artists.

Comments

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

Face-to-face interactions with artists becomes less common, and I wonder if people will become uncomfortable with it or not realise it's ok

I also wonder if we become so used to "mass-produced" arts and entertainments, that later generations might not know face-to-face interactions are even an option. So there's another reason to work toward the spread of crowdfunding!

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>I sometimes go on a walk at lunch to get away from the frustrations at work and to specifically drop coins in hats along the way.<<

Yeah, back when we could afford to do events like Taste of Chicago, we'd make sure to have some single dollars and quarters for the buskers. We love buskers. Air full of music makes me feel happy and at home in a way that few things in this world do.

>>As a society we seem to become more accustomed to mass-produced things, from the food we buy to the gifts, to our entertainment.<<

Too true. I don't like that. I prefer a closer relationship (and frankly, higher quality) than mass market provides. Frex, if you look on this page I created about cooking feasts (http://greenhaventradition.weebly.com/cooking-feasts.html), you can see links to several of the places where we buy our food. Well, and one mass-market thing because I've only ever seen one ice cream maker that's worth using.

Some people are performers and some aren't. There's a restaurant near us with a sushi chef who comes out periodically to restock the buffet. If you go watch him, he'll start showing off and will happily make you a whole roll to take back to your table. He's a performer: he likes attention. There's another restaurant we frequent where the sushi chef is shy. I feel bad about standing there because I can see that it makes him edgy, but darn it, I want sushi that's just-made because otherwise I find it inedible.

Creativity is like that. Some people are inspired by attention while others are daunted by it. So as a creator, you have to think about how to arrange things to suit your own needs -- some people use crowdfunding to bring in attention while others use it to filter and control attention so they don't get overwhelmed. Then as a patron, you have to look at the crowdfunding projects you like and figure out how their creators enjoy interacting with people.

Both as a creator and as a patron, I enjoy interaction. I can learn how to organize my time and energy. I like knowing what other people are doing, what their interests and worthy causes are, what makes them go squee. I love it when we get into an inspiration loop and one idea will spark another across two or three pieces or even different projects.