By: dotcomfreak, creative commons licence by-nc-sa (thanks!)
With the benefit of hindsight, I should really have posted something like this well over a month ago. I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet; I’m not gone, I’m just gathering thoughts and material from the last few months before I start sharing again.
To be honest I have been learning a few things about myself, my intentions with the project, and how others respond to both the idea and generally being interviewed. Turns out people are less keen to speak up on camera than I had imagined. Partly I think this has been the limited time I had in each place, that expecting moments of ‘confident outpouring off-the-cuff’ was perhaps over-ambitious. Also I think I expected more of my own confidence, both using the equipment and *wanting* to go shove a camera/mic in peoples faces. Especially people I had either never met before or not seen in years. Some stuff to work on here all round, I know. And really, this just makes me more sure of the idea of rigging the campervan with recording equipment so that we’re ‘always on’ instead of demanding the right flow of conversation on cue.
From a personal level this trip meant I was able to reconnect with old (some VERY old!) friends in several countries, which quite frankly has done my soul the world of good. On the one hand I have been berating myself for not constantly pushing myself/this mission, and on the other the last few years (moving to the other side of the world, becoming a pseudo-bureaucrat…) have taken their toll and I really needed a decent break/return to source.
From a professional level, I have reconnected with old networks and started some fantastic conversations with potential guests, collaborators and partners. Sadly I didn’t get the Myer Foundation Fellowship I was nominated for, or the pilot funding I had applied for, but that’s OK (here’s who got the Myer Fellowships and the Creative Australia grants – congrats to you all!). I’m now home and regrouping to focus on what really matters before launching into other strategies. I have also been doing a few freelance jobs and am currently looking for some casual work over Christmas to keep things ticking over (feel free to message me if you have any suggestions!).
One thing worth mentioning briefly here is how much I have been inspired (understatement!) by the Occupy movement, which was wonderfully visible almost everywhere I travelled. I have started to gather some of the most powerful links about this issue on my new delicious public feed, and have posted a handful of images from my New York visit on Flickr. Suffice to say when I started writing about it back in September I ended with three posts instead of the one. I therefore stopped, wanting to give it the attention it deserves and publish something really considered rather than rush it; so watch this space.
So. It’s Christmas at the end of this week and I’m now based in Adelaide and enjoying sunshine and freedom. If you will forgive me some *more* time, I will be back in the New Year with even bigger and better plans!
Have a wonderful holiday all, whether that’s wearing a santa bikini & eating prawns on the barbie, or huddling up with big woollen jumpers and drinking mulled wine by an open fire. Merry Christmas and every best wish for what I think will be a phenomenal 2012 x
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p.s. for your Christmas homework, why not sign a petition to veto the SOPA bill (which threatens the freedom of the internet regardless of what country you live in), or have a look at the Broadband Arts Initiative, the latest grant offering from the Australia Council.