Finally, I've found my new home on the internet!
Some of my most treasured posessions are other people's junk. A particularly special one is three photographs I found in a second hand book. They are the creepiest things I've ever seen - a sunny day in a hotel garden, or maybe just a very nice cafe, with an assortment of old women smiling at the camera. I wonder who they are and where it was taken
It gave me the idea to start a website where you could trade the photos which just haven't worked with strangers, instead of cutting them up and binning them. Would make for an awesome collection. As it happens, I don't have the know how, but as I investigated the idea I ran across http://www.swap-bot.com/.
The basic principle is the same. You trade stuff with internet randomers all over the world. But the topics are much broader than merely second hand photos - sticker sets, postcards, gift-boxes, handmade crafts, basically fleur de lys (i.e. "whatever you desire..."). I don't know anyone who doesn't like getting exciting mail, ergo I don't know anyone to whom this idea would not appeal. I'm too skint to get properly involved. One of the exciting things is the international angle - your gift could end up in Venezuala, and in return you would recieve something from Budapest - but as partners are chosen at random, anything larger than a post-it note could potentially be pricey to post.
And then I came across Artist Trading Cards, and it was like The A-Team all over again: love at first sight. They are little works of art on a Pokemon-card-sized canvas. You make your own then trade them with others, for a completely unique collection. It's perfect in many ways. I have a mania for collection, but real trading cards have always depressed me for their crass commercialism. Suddenly, Panini decide that Master Regeneration is an Ultra-Rare card, so the unscrupulous can flog them for £25. In contrast, this is at once valueless and beyond value. Plus, I get so posessive over my art. I've made drawn presents for several people in the past, then been unable to give them away. Hopefully sending creations all over the globe will deal with this issue.
So I've spent a blissful week fufilling challeges set by the users on the site. I've already made four for four different themes: Water, Mascarade, City and, less pretentiously, Giraffes. I am particularly proud of the Giraffes, my favourite I've made so far. They are looking out over a sky of stars, inspired by Lewis Klahr's short film Altair which I watched for Film Studies last year. And if that sounds pretentious, well, you might as well call King Crimson pretentious. Seriously, though - I was merely ambushed by how much I love the imagery in that film while also thinking about Giraffes, and that combined to create a thing of small beauty.
My thinking is get making while I still have access to craft stuff and then posting in England, where the postage will be a bit cheaper. It's really nice having an prompt to art too. By Christmas, I should have a shiny new collection!
In other news? Variations on nothing. I'm elated that Janet Fielding has been asked to do new Doctor Who audio books, and that next year will see the first three Fifth Doctor + Tegan + Turlough + Nyssa adventures since 1982, but I'm sure you won't be. I'm feeling morose about the death of Roger Delgado. It was a nasty accident which happened some 30 years ago, cutting short his tenure as the Master, but fandom as a whole has never got over the shock of it. But I'm sure you won't be. I think I am going to make the origami cuckoo clock now...yours, fannishly.
Some of my most treasured posessions are other people's junk. A particularly special one is three photographs I found in a second hand book. They are the creepiest things I've ever seen - a sunny day in a hotel garden, or maybe just a very nice cafe, with an assortment of old women smiling at the camera. I wonder who they are and where it was taken
It gave me the idea to start a website where you could trade the photos which just haven't worked with strangers, instead of cutting them up and binning them. Would make for an awesome collection. As it happens, I don't have the know how, but as I investigated the idea I ran across http://www.swap-bot.com/.
The basic principle is the same. You trade stuff with internet randomers all over the world. But the topics are much broader than merely second hand photos - sticker sets, postcards, gift-boxes, handmade crafts, basically fleur de lys (i.e. "whatever you desire..."). I don't know anyone who doesn't like getting exciting mail, ergo I don't know anyone to whom this idea would not appeal. I'm too skint to get properly involved. One of the exciting things is the international angle - your gift could end up in Venezuala, and in return you would recieve something from Budapest - but as partners are chosen at random, anything larger than a post-it note could potentially be pricey to post.
And then I came across Artist Trading Cards, and it was like The A-Team all over again: love at first sight. They are little works of art on a Pokemon-card-sized canvas. You make your own then trade them with others, for a completely unique collection. It's perfect in many ways. I have a mania for collection, but real trading cards have always depressed me for their crass commercialism. Suddenly, Panini decide that Master Regeneration is an Ultra-Rare card, so the unscrupulous can flog them for £25. In contrast, this is at once valueless and beyond value. Plus, I get so posessive over my art. I've made drawn presents for several people in the past, then been unable to give them away. Hopefully sending creations all over the globe will deal with this issue.
So I've spent a blissful week fufilling challeges set by the users on the site. I've already made four for four different themes: Water, Mascarade, City and, less pretentiously, Giraffes. I am particularly proud of the Giraffes, my favourite I've made so far. They are looking out over a sky of stars, inspired by Lewis Klahr's short film Altair which I watched for Film Studies last year. And if that sounds pretentious, well, you might as well call King Crimson pretentious. Seriously, though - I was merely ambushed by how much I love the imagery in that film while also thinking about Giraffes, and that combined to create a thing of small beauty.
My thinking is get making while I still have access to craft stuff and then posting in England, where the postage will be a bit cheaper. It's really nice having an prompt to art too. By Christmas, I should have a shiny new collection!
In other news? Variations on nothing. I'm elated that Janet Fielding has been asked to do new Doctor Who audio books, and that next year will see the first three Fifth Doctor + Tegan + Turlough + Nyssa adventures since 1982, but I'm sure you won't be. I'm feeling morose about the death of Roger Delgado. It was a nasty accident which happened some 30 years ago, cutting short his tenure as the Master, but fandom as a whole has never got over the shock of it. But I'm sure you won't be. I think I am going to make the origami cuckoo clock now...yours, fannishly.
Comments (2)
Thanks for the awesome description of Swap-bot!
Thanks for reading :D