Buckle Up Baby on Board

I have been away from my blog for some time, preoccupied with two of the most incredible achievements of my life. My biggest independent professional project to date and a baby!

I can happily report that we did indeed receive a business loan as a result of our A Star business plan. Although we were not permitted to put this towards a property as planned. We do not yet own an arts centre or a hot tub, but I have a beautiful baby girl and Ruby has a baby boy on the way! We couldn’t be happier.

My pregnancy was discovered in March 2015. I had already moved out of my last home and I was surfing a collection of sofas whilst we awaited news of the business loan, for a very long time. When finally successful I used this to buy a Transit van and I moved into that. I was fortunate enough to score a park up at Yard Arts. A circus performers collective and land custodian in St Pauls in Bristol, with the baby’s father. Our first home together.

Baby on board we set about touring the Marie Celestial. Intergalactic mechanical circus! The tour was incredibly challenging but also a huge achievement and a veritable ski jump of a learning curve. I would like to try to retrospectively fill in some of the gaps in the professional development of Liberty Rocks, still so named so far.

The content of my blog may change a little with the new arrival demanding attention. But I would like to focus on the curious aspects of being a freelancing, working mum in the arts.

Buckle up, it’s a hell of a journey. X

The Transit towing the Marie Celestial at The Lost Carnival.

Yard Arts Collective

Lost Carnival 

Slow Motion Action Scene

Everything is up in the air. The state of Liberty Rocks is a slow motion, action scene. The smoking gun is flying high in the air while I perform flying scissor kicks below, holding every outcome in perfect poise... metaphorically at least. The next bit will either be a gravity defying victory or sudden death.

I am maintaining a calm and professional face and confident, relaxed tones reassuring that everything is underhand and on the way. All the while I am shuffling some very exciting prospects, closer to becoming reality. The seeds are planted yet there is a pressure to produce something tangible.

Big news is on the way. While we are waiting for spring to break and for summer to start taking shape, behind the scenes everything is ticking away. But let me elaborate on that crazy action packed scene I opened with.

I am the Writer and Producer behind the Marie Celestial. The mechanical, travelling, circus spaceship. Ruby Soho is building the craft. With her I am producing, marketing, business planning and administrating what could be known as the "back office". Very soon we will have to board that ship and pilot it to a host of gorgeous festival destinations. Many of which will be completely new to us!

Over the cranky Christmas period we had this bright idea to formally go into partnership together. Above and beyond creating the Marie Celestial. We propose that pooling our resources will afford us a hot tub and a cocktail deck on top of the metallic beast.

But talking seriously, we have dreamed of becoming our own arts centre. After eight years of friendship, now we can genuinely visualise this coming true. We are piecing together our respective ambitions for progressive art and hands-on education. We've written an A Star business plan to prove it.

Phase one will mean moving in together and opening a new workshop under the moniker of Liberty Soho! We were so sure in all of this plotting, that I mentioned it to my landlord and accordingly he got the builders in, who have been drinking tea when in my kitchen when I crawl through it to wash, which is now a dust ridden and crusty hovel thanks to their efforts towards a new family moving in... in ten days time.

Impending homelessness has not left the Powers That Be, feeling any particular need to hurry. Those making the decision whether we will receive the loan we need to move house, start a business and generally rock the mechanical, circus, arts world happily ever after, are slack, slow and mildly disparaging at best.

I performed an interview in request of this momentous decision over the telephone today. Sat in Olympia, at the Event Industry Expo. While a man in drag as the Queen blared out a generic year 2000 cheese, pop tune, over and over again. (Please tell me that the idea of corporate discos is finally dead??)

There was no choice as to when the phone call would arrive. I am at least busy earning my keep by talking to fellas who think it's perfectly normal to dress as a television, thank you Bearded Kitten. Buzzing about in London Town with a completely empty bank account, while I am asking for a post financial crash lender, to support my ambition to roam welly wearing, middle England, in a chicken-shaped spaceship.

But there's nothing like running on empty to make you value everything that really matters.

Watch this space!

Follow the Marie Celestial

How to Fundraise with a Kickstarter Campaign

1. Why Kickstarter?
   Kickstarter is the original and most widely recognised crowdfunding platform. They have a focus on arts based projects. There are others which focus more specifically on business, entrepreneurship and social projects. Make it work for you by choosing a platform which won’t need too much explaining to your audience, or even better has an audience of it’s own which you can mine.

2. Ask for what you need.
   Have a realistic budget for your entire project before you start. Smaller targets are easier to reach. Try to fundraise from a variety of sources which added together will make up the full budget. Check the deadlines for grant awards and schedule back up options to cover unsuccessful bids. Kickstarter is a great place to start because it creates a webpage for you which will remain after the deadline has passed. A successful campaign is a strong marketing tool.

3. Remember to consider the cost of making, producing and delivering your rewards. It works best to keep them closely related to the project your are fundraising for. i.e. tickets to the performance, a copy of the finished article, artwork, keepsakes. Most backers will be altruistic and will select no reward in return for their donation. Most feel shy about taking part in experiences so offer them a group activity if you can.

4. Build momentum. Remember if you ask your long lost friends directly and impersonally for a cash payout, they may be offended. However it is great opportunity to reconnect and show them what you are doing now! Just be personal about it. Talk to people, don’t over sell. If they like what you’re doing they will be receptive about sharing your good news.

5. Be real. Show your gratitude and be positive. Even if you don’t make your target, running a crowd funding campaign is a great way to talk about your aspirations. Try to share lots of news and photos throughout your campaign to keep it fun and interesting.

6. Be confident. Affirm your supporters and keep things rolling with good news and developments. Use local media and create a buzz, by giving back to your local community by sharing other people’s news and ask for as much help as you can in return.

The Stats: You will pay 10% in fees to Kickstarter and Amazon, so make sure you have accounted for this. Remember also to account for costs associated in fulfilling your pledges including postage and packaging fees. Keep your pledges simple. For the most part backers are feeling philanthropic and want to see you succeed. Giant rewards trigger guilt, so small rewards work wonders. Think momentos and keepsakes.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/714020266/the-marie-celestial

Royal de Luxe and Coca-Cola Tête-à-Tête

Royal de Luxe, who are responsible for the Sultan’s Elephant, which visited London from their base in Nantes in France in 2006 and Liverpool in 2014, have launched a legal battle against Cola-Cola. 

They accuse the multi-national of plagiarising it’s “giants”. 

Director Jaques Leroy states that he is “not afraid” of taking on such a powerful opponent, stating that it is a “moral issue”.

A complaint was filed against Coco-Cola in June  for an advertising campaign screened at the end of 2012 in 61 countries, featuring a giant puppet Santa Claus. He is manipulated by “Lilliputian” people and mimics the “watchful eye, wink and same scenery” all trademarks of the Royal de Luxe's iconic puppetry.

It is reported that ahead of releasing the campaign, Cola-Cola communicated with Royal de Luxe in numerous emails offering a partnership deal. This was declined on grounds of “refusing to serve a brand”. 

Royal de Luxe accept only private sponsorship which is responsible for 80% of it’s funding. One of these emails even states that Royal de Luxe are in fact “the inspiration for this beautiful idea”. Coca-Cola denies plagiarism and the case continues.

This is gravely concerning for independent arts, on behalf of the power, scale and the dangerous lack of integrity Coca-Cola demonstrates.

Photo credit: Royal de Luxe

Source:

Culturebox

Royal de Luxe

What's Hot at Boomtown Fair

Boomtown Fair is set in a curious natural bowl in the Hampshire hillside, formed long, long ago by glacial procession.

But that’s another story…

This is a festival unique in it’s objectivity of itself. It knows what it is. It’s the summer of seasons. It’s the crop top of fashion. It’s shaking it’s stick gloriously without shame. It’s boom and bust baby!

It’s whole agenda is reflective of it’s self-awareness. Like the temporary settlements of the gold rush. It’s set-like, city scape is an experiential binge in a quick flourish.

Akin to the British summer, it’s short-lived but we’ll be damned if we waste a second of the sunshine! In case you are unfamiliar, summer time in Britain is commonly celebrated with the charring of animal  legs on ‘quick-light’ boxes of questionably flammable material, accompanied by toasting one’s own milky pins to a flattering shade of lobster. It’s over in a flash, so come as you are and party all the way!

Thankfully BBQs are not allowed at Boomtown, leaving us free to enjoy not only shit-hot cooking from the expert vendors, but with that a breath of fresh air and some serious body and head space, as we all require once in a while! 

Boomtown promises it’s ‘residents’ no legacy, no tin-pot idealism. It is truly a crucible for creative experimentation. It’s one of the most sincerely progressive artistic events currently taking place in the United Kingdom. More traditionally formatted festivals are practically dinosaurs by comparison.

I’m not sure if the following illustrates a point or not, but I can’t get it out of my head so I’ll share:

At last year’s Boomtown Fair, an old buddy of mine popped up to say hello! He’d happened upon some people offering grass wigs. Honestly, bits of turf. Well in his ingenuity my, buddy had asked for a chin one. Live green grass flapping about wildly while he chattered away to me most lithely! Now that’s fresh.

But seriously; if festival programmers need to have a finger on the pulse of talent, then Boomtown makes it’s heart race. It invests in entrepreneurial ideas. Certainly in terms of providing a testing ground for artistic production that nudges boundaries with a ‘what if…’ attitude. You’ll see venues from some of the most forward-thinking producers in the industry, giving it a good go. It’s the audience which completes this ebb and flow, so remember to tell me what you think!

Get on my face(book) and tell me your favourite bits... If you show me yours I’ll show you mine!
https://www.facebook.com/libertyrockspr

So with no further ado. Here’s what’s better than sliced bread and hotter than toast at Boomtown Fair 2014!

Circo Baile

High energy, sexy circus, right over your head to high energy, stomping BPM DJs like Stanton Warriors.

10pm - 1pm Saturday and Sunday

Barrio Loco

www.basslinecircus.org

The Holy Roller
Rolling stage… the absolute best surprise stage on site… A motorised church - jump aboard for a rave with the the best DJs and performance artists of all time in total secret! Just don’t expect to know where you are when you get dropped off! Don’t you dare miss miss it!

Mouse Outfit

Super tight funk and hip-hop with on the point lyrical excursions, off the cuff.

Hidden Woods

http://themouseoutfit.bandcamp.com

wAgAwAgA 

Electronica mixed with exotica, synthesisers, live drums with an eastern influence.

Chinese Tech Shop

8pm Saturday 

https://soundcloud.com/wagawaga

John Langan Band

Celtic, gypsy, roma, flamenco with a high energy punk attitude.

Old Mines

https://soundcloud.com/thejohnlanganband

Afriquoi

Electronica take on traditional African sounds mixed with UK bass, glitch and live instruments.

Old Mines

https://soundcloud.com/afriquoi

Cheeryoke

Bearded, girl-pop kareoke. So feel good you’ll pop your socks, or your cherry. Too much fun to be missed!

Park Hotel

Bassline Circus - Cabarave

Fusion Festival - Germany 27th - 29th June 2014

Fusion Festival in Northern Germany is predominantly techno and electronic music. This is delivered with the precision of; technology meets artisan workmanship, which the nation has become well known for. This is made complete by some of the finest European circus and dynamic set building available in the world today, as we know it.

The entire festival, situated on a retired Nazi spy air base, feels like a Utopian, future environment. As designed by a benevolent creator in order to provide purposefully engineered, audio-visual input to the human experience: Enough to kindle thoughtful and resourceful, creative output, without over-blowing the fragile circuitry of the human sensory system.

It genuinely feels like something important is happening here. This festival is the tip of the iceberg of a way of life. The ethos is for a better way of life. A commitment to a collective cause. The outcome being a catalytic event. Respecting a trade system therein, which supports the workmanship of those giving their time and skills to make it happen.

It is driven by a sense of dynamism and determination to give the best you can give, for the benefit of those around you and thus receive the same in return.

The endeavour is for progression and sustainability without waste and is entirely inclusive, so long as you are giving the best of yourself. Perhaps this is enhanced by the deutsche attitude for “vorsprung dutch technik” (translated: advancement through technology.) Or moreover the locale having emerged from prior Soviet rule and developing a culture for making the best of limited resources by necessity. But the pervading attitude is “what can I do for you?” as opposed to “what is this going to give me?” It’s breath of fresh air to say the least.

The outcome is the feeling of delight that comes from a sense of achievement. We are all owners of this event. We are making this happen together. There is a culture of hope, pride and of let’s keep going as long as we are getting better at it.

It’s a far cry from what I term the “hippy safari park” that the veteran UK festivals serve up today. Having long since peaked and now deliver merely a tourist attraction. By comparison, these have lost the sense the progression and breaking boundaries, which has given way to a package experience.

The sense of wonder I experienced at Fusion was compounded by my feeling part of a Mechano playground, on a human scale. Everything was was moving, revolving and synchronised in beatific precision, as if regulated by a rhythmic, techno, momentous governor, as like that within a well lubricated engine.

Of course this is as much by chance as by design. But somehow a bio-mechanical relationship between human and the machine sets off a chain reaction. Robotic, malleable, graceful and breathtaking audio-visual installations from France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and UK, all perform in unison.

With all of this taking place, I am proud to say that Bassline Circus represented with extreme gusto. One of the most raging venues on site. The DJs and AV crew were relentless and I found it hard at times to pass by the Bigtop in search of new territory. Especially whilst the circus's Class A acrobats, clad in sexy, up-to-the-minute, lycra body suits (swoon) finished off with extreme, constructed, hair-braiding by Bela Edgar Manegan. They took to the air with athletic energy and tons of sultry, urban attitude, that only Brits can seriously pull off. 

The strength and agility on display serves to back up the sense of the body-as-a-machine mentality. This is what physical fine-tuning looks like. I couldn’t help but stare like an addict at their bodies. Sliding seamlessly between single acts to multiple, synchronised displays of humans in free flow, all in time to a high BPM while we pounded the ground with our feet and throwing our faces in the air to catch the action. It's an experience!

Accompanied by a big bar and a clean, dry, level dance floor, an impressive geometric set and some seriously eye-catching light fx, it was absolutely one of the best venues on site, for consistent, high adrenaline action.

Photo credit: www.jasminbell.com

See more photos here:

Next blog: What's hottest at Boomtown Fair.

Difficult Roads often lead to Beautiful Destinations

Cogs are turning albeit slowly. So I thought I would share some insights into my experience of setting up and sustaining an independent business.

British Art has been rocked to the core and is still suffering lag from the effects of Austerity Britain. So what possessed me, to go independently seeking financial support for other people’s art?

For the record I have an excellent relationship with my current clients. Even so, the reality is that I have very little in the way of a safety net, or tangible investment. My every move is laced with inherent risk. As tactical as you can be, there will always be illusive unpaid invoices, which you chase into the sunset, clients who never confirm and projects with ever shifting goal posts. I’m privileged to be my own boss, in what I believe in. But it’s not for the faint hearted.

News of the financial crash broke in 2008 while I was working as an Education Officer for an Arts Centre in Berkshire. I had graduated with a degree Arts Event Management from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2007.

I realised that I was unlikely to achieve a step forward in my career by targeting arts centre jobs, where there is little mobility. RFOs or Regularly Funded Organisations, would start to loose their funding over a matter of years, including ourselves.

I started to think about designing a business I could run independently, centring on my strongest abilities for communication, networking, creative writing, strategy and evaluation. My business model would also need to be flexible enough to allow for my own professional development, since just like everyone else, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

The biggest challenge I face is convincing newcomers of my abilities. So I offer free consultations, which opens conversations with new clients. This is usually enough to know if we will be able to work together. I give my advice freely, because success breeds and I have confidence in the added value I can provide to a developing project. A strong project will almost incubate itself, without need for constant recycling.

I have learned not to take on anything that I'm not very confident in. Producing live art shows requires a delicate blend of input, timing, confidence and context.

At these early stages I’m feeding myself as much as my clients.  Each new project gives me fresh, hands-on, experience. Market research is invaluable but true knowledge is hard to fake. At the moment the process teaches me what working hours to attribute to each job.

My one-woman empire requires 100% personal input. It would be a huge challenge to freelance in anything I did not genuinely enjoy. Yet I become careworn and frustrated by it. The biggest downer is the stop / start cash flow of being a start up. I take a break when I get mixed up. It's foolish to believe that because you have chosen your own professional path, that every day will be a pleasure. In fact it's much harder to discern when to stop, because there is no clocking off point.

I take risks. I make difficult decisions. I actively persuade others into and out of strategic business decisions. My income is irregular. My service is myself. If I get sick, disillusioned, confused or overwhelmed, then that is entirely my own problem. There's no training programme. There's no hard evidence yet. But so far I love it, because I can see the potential in myself that I see in my clients. It’s a two way street. I negotiate new territory every day. What excites me the most is I’m driving new work.

Art is a comment on social change. Live art is a provocation. This way I know that I am at the front creative arts movement. Living on the edge, building new platforms for expression. It’s not up to me which will gain strength and which will be forgotten. By a selective process of tuning in and broadcast, I hope our activities will give the future of British Art, more chance and more choice.