Fitting ourselves to the world or having the world fit us.

Mayana, Keiran's wife, put this video on facebook and while I totally agree with what Amanda's suggesting as a way to live life I'm somewhat questioning of how artists, or anyone who puts themselves out there through creative work, who don't share the same popularity as Amanda might find themselves at the mercy of the givers if they worked in this way.

This then says to me, that in her case, her popularity obviously sets the level of the giving as the givers are enamoured of their proximity to said popularity and so have a default to give generously.

I do kind of work this way anyways, putting my trust in others to appreciate what I've acheived, but it would take quite a leap of faith to do it all the time as it becomes entirely dependant  then not on my ability to ask but on the givers notion of what I'm worth... which I kinda worked with whilst of the ill-fated Chinaman's Hill Bazaar and found that people readily defined their own worth against my own.

So yes, with a popular following and a product that can be reproduced cheaply then this way of doing things is, and will be, a godsend to establishing new ways to be within our modern post capitalistic societies but for the person who labours long hours on what are essentially items that can only be used by one or two persons at a time I'm afraid that in no time at all these makers would be unable to exist.

But there still is something very important within what Amanda is suggesting and for me it's the connectivity that being artists allows us. Selling art is one thing, and it's important because it allows us to keep doing what we're allowing ourselves to do, but creating the art and then being out in the public and connecting with the public with the ideas that have been brought forth is the icing on the cake.

What occurred to me at the Chinaman's Hill Bazaar  while standing around my own artworks that didn't seem to have a hope in hell of selling in that context was that I could have put out a hat for donations for the service I was providing which was spreading inspiration... being there when peoples eyes glazed over and they saw possibility for themselves to go home and start doing something.

And dare I say it that this is what I'm looking for within the Steampunk genre. That it is both worth and capable of taking the next step, which it has already in a lot of instances, and expanding itself from simply a time to play dress up and do role playing and become a way of life that features all sorts of everyday objects and needs with a perspective of being that rates longevity and a studious attitude as uppermost requirements in being in life.

So if I go to this show and put forth all I and my colleagues have made and sell nothing and just have to take all the stuff back home am I guilty of being unable to find an audience or do I count the glazed over eyes that would wish this stuff within the life looking at it, and if things go as they always have, eventually finding a way to do so, am I then giving a service worthy of remittance... even if it were just a few gold coins in a hat.

Then if someone stands before musicians and throws a few coins in the hat for the few minutes they have enjoyed the music is not standing in front of inspirational objects we might like to own and talking about such with the maker exactly the same thing?

I suppose what it comes down to is whether the artists might see their work in this way and whether or not to get behind such humble exhibitions would or would not belittle their own attempts to be in the established gallery system which relies on setting benchmarks of worth through exclusivity.