The sun is out, the pavement
is too bright and that strange itch has begun to occur to obtain that fictional avatar of desire so accurately refereed to by Bernard Black as "The Summer Girlfriend".In all honestly, I don't really care to be with anyone at the moment and I'm not at the point where desperation takes over and I start rubbing myself up against anything (animate or inanimate) that can take my weight but seeing all these smiling women walking around in polka dot dresses with flowers in their hair just makes me want to grab one, eat strawberries, skip through fields, have romantic polite kisses then "dump her in Autumn".... or perhaps the heat is just making me a bit horny.
Aside from misguided lust, the last couple of days have been quite fun and productive. A couple of gigs in the form of MC improv night Freestyle Fictionary and acoustic night SBH: Live have impressed me, a few more drawings done (will scan soon!) but the most poignant event was meeting the people at Open Space... which brings me back to the free red wine.
I was having a couple of pints with an experienced cartoonist and illustrator I know and asked whether he could have a look at my work for some feedback to which he ended up inviting me to what I thought was a drawing workshop / crit group.
But it wasn't.
I arrived at a studio with desks and computers with a table full of wine and nuts. It was a hot, humid day and I was wearing a jacket like a fool. Sweating and confussed, I stuck a name tag on my chest with the simple name "Dom" written on it.
Over the few hours I was there I quickly gleamed what the meeting was. It wasn't a crit group, it was a networking event hosted by the co-operative Open Space. In the past I have been very skeptical about hardcore networkers and networking social events... when I was more entrenched in the art world (and film for that matter) I saw alot of this with all it's lies, ego and blag.
However, this was different. There was so many people there from different backgrounds with different aspirations. From high end business consultants and biologists to political activists and illustrators, it was astounding. Each person quickly introduced themselves and without fuss pretty much laid out what type of people and resources they needed to continue a project as well as what they themselves could offer others.
By the end of the evening I was not only meeting people who could easily enrich the projects I'm involved in but also, with my own resources and contacts, I was doing the same for others. I just wish I had more time as there was so many people I wanted to talk to.
And here lies the difference, I believe, between the crass networking I have experienced in the past and what I experienced at Open Space. Not only did it cut through the 'social guff' and had people spell out straight away the score with themselves but also it wasn't selfish. People were there looking for help as well as offering help.
Things are changing bit by bit as they naturally do. Hardly anyone has just one 9 - 5 job, debts are now just another tax that you will never see the end of, with the internet and technology people choose their own entertainment and news and it seems to be getting more common place for even the most unlikely of businesses and people to have this co-operative approach (not everyone...). Perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps these factors are just within my circles or this area. However, if these are growing trends I will be very interested to see how everything develops over the next few years.
Ok, better get on with life as well as sort out stuff for my next Film Tube night. If there's any fans out there it's on Tuesday the 14th of June with the theme of 'Superheroes and Bastards'. Yes, I know... it sounds awesome.
Oh, and to all those summer girls, if you want to apply to be my Summer Girlfriend just follow this link "and await further instructions".
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