fun finds in the documents folder, A Manifesto of sorts

MANIFESTO- being my own cheerleader

While my degrees make me an animator, the skills of animation are equal parts drawing, painting, photography and lighting; carpentry, costuming and character design; research, copy and script writing; sound design; editing video and sound; acting, and a mammoth portion of problem solving; as a documentarian I am deeply concerned with research, experimentation, materiality, connections and cohesion.

I’m a 15 year burner, the last five of which I worked as an Art Department Manager for the organization tending to the big picture, developing, writing and maintaining safety logistics, and the creative direction of as many as 50 performance groups; and a little bit of scavenger hunt problem solving on site when resources are limited. My first 10 years as a burner are important in regards to building leadership skills, developing a creative voice as well practicing real survival skills from rallying a crew to help, to jumping in when needed for a stranger, cooperation, commitment, collaboration, communication and knowing the difference between needing a bandage or stitches. Organizing, fundraising, planning, volunteer coordination, building and rebuilding are a part of every committed burners bailiwick; I spent the rest of each year creating and participating in performances, and I made my living designing and creating costumes for other performers.

Combining my fresh college experience with my seasoned creative voice I am primed to be a well-rounded team member, creative problem solver and a tenacious go-getter.

--I’m the quiet person in the room, I listen and make notes of my thoughts and responses as ingredients for the work to come. I will never be able to, nor do I want to compete to be heard on a team or in an organization. I do not want to work with an organization that only responds to and rewards the loud guy in the room. I hope that my good work will represent my synthesis of our common goals well.  

In order to learn to fly, you have to jump to get air born, to do that you have to be willing to crash.

Always be honest, to yourself and everybody else. Keeping track of all the little fibs you tell is so much harder than just being honest in all aspects of your life, including being honest with yourself.

Show who you are, even if it hurts.

Don’t set barrier/rewards for yourself, 'when you finish this then you can think about that' is single track thinking, you can work on more than one idea at a time. Good ideas spark connected good ideas, write them down and flush them out when you have the clear thoughts – but make time for clear thinking.

Make time to make work. Set aside time that is just for working, Even if working is just cleaning the studio. Be present to read/respond to inquiries. Organizing the desk may spark new ideas. Every minute of work is work, even if it’s just one minute of good work, good work is good work.

Make the work you want to make, uncompromisingly. If a project doesn’t interest you, don’t take it on. If a project stops being interesting either find the passion in it, find a new direction, or let it find a new home.

Your work doesn’t have to be perfect. Perfect is for machines, you’re not a machine, machines are tools used to achieve work well done. There is absolutely no reason, ever, to make art devoid of fingerprints or brushstrokes.

Do it the hard way. Do the work to make it beautiful, even if there is a short-cut to getting the work done more efficiently, if it compromises the aesthetic it’s not worth the economy of time or resources.

Believe in what you’re doing, profoundly. If you don’t believe in the work, nobody will. Be passionate about the work, when the passion flags, ask yourself to dig in to find it.

Believe in yourself, profoundly. You must believe in yourself, unflaggingly. When you believe in yourself others will too.

Be on time, respect everybody’s time, they will respect yours in return. When people are late, take advantage of their tardiness, use that moment as a little private thinking time.

Fail to succeed. Flunk out if you have to, your entire career is not hinged on passing a class. Learn your strengths from your failures.

If you don’t like it change it. If it’s as small as the typeset of a page or as large as moving your house off a path of destruction, change what isn’t working. Small stuff adds up, eventually becoming a big change.

Tell your story, people do want to hear it. Your story may connect with untold others, by telling yours others will be comforted, even if the story has been told before your perspective is different and the outcome will be unique.

Be your own boss, a boss that pays well and on time, a boss that covers all the expenses and a nice office and studio with nice décor and puts aside for unforeseen needs, and future growth. Be a boss that affords you a nice life, a nice home with nice things and nice food, you deserve to be comfortable.

Baggage, we all have it, pack accordingly. If you’re not strong enough to carry it, get luggage with wheels, put it down and/or ask someone to help you with it. But don't beat yourself up for having it, we all have baggage.

Yes, and?

Don’t worry about being the first, better or the best. You and yours could all work on the same subject with the same materials and make completely different work.

Make what you make well. Don’t try to please everybody with everything. A great restaurant doesn’t have everything there ever was on the menu to please every customer. People go because they trust the chef is innovative and will give their very best with what they have, their menu may feature two offerings and they’re both awesome.

Practice. Practice. Practice. Make. Make. Make. Short. Long. Coherent. Incoherent. Contextual. Conceptual. Practice.

The devil is in the details… Leave it to other people to see the specific elements of grace in your work. You just do what you do with passion and conviction.

If you build it they will come. You don’t have to work for someone else for validation. You don’t need permission or an invitation to make work, make art you believe in because you believe in it.

90% of the audience doesn’t know how the soup is made, a small percentage think they know how the soup is made and have advice for how much salt you should put in… ignore them. They’re not your audience. Season to taste. --i think Anthony Bourdain said this

When it feels like you’ve pushed it too hard and you feel like you have no fucking idea what you’re doing, and it feels like the brink of failure, and like you should just quit…you’ve probably just pushed into the zone of really good work. When you really just want to quit, keep pushing.

It only looks like you’ve been sitting on your ass all day. In actuality you’ve been defining your dreams.

Be willing to let people see you work, to see your process. The making is as interesting as the product. It may feel like a performance, and in fact it may be, but they’re not an audience when witnessing process, they’re innocent bystanders. Don’t be afraid to be seen.

Publishing holds you accountable to your ideas.