The last two weeks since the equinox can fairly much be described as 'photo sessions'. My Mother is getting deep into the craft of photography, so there have been quite a few excursions out and about the place both down in Taree and up here in New England. Keep an eye on her gallery for her most recent work, including some odd 'light drawing performance photography'. This has meant that I've got zero work done on any projects, save for practising guitar heavily.

Obviously my RAM has not turned up yet, otherwise I would be posting with much more joy than I have now! I have been assured, however, that it is on it's way soon: PC Case Gear stated that it would be two weeks. There are so many projects to get back into it may be a little daunting deciding which one to knock over first! If the pre-amp does not turn up beforehand then I will quickly get on with the Audiophonica Podcast - the now named release stream of old songs 1996-2000.

And speaking of giving songs away for free, the combination of NIN's Year Zero giving away the songs online for free as well as reading this article has caused me to consider doing the same myself. A possible solution may be to offer all the albums (listed up the top of this website) for free in mp3 form - and then manufacture a small batch of hard-copy CDs for commercial purchase. This could be more in line with my current small public presence and realistic for the mission of 'getting the art out there'.

Consider the issue from the point of view of people's level of consciousness evolution:

• Some people, being most people, are at the level of only needing a song or two to have fulfilling engagement with an artists work. This has always been the case with CDs and Records - buy the album or single and only really listen to or like one or two songs.
• Some people are at a deeper level where they may engage with a body of songs (traditionally 'the album'). They are fewer in number, but tend to be going through a period of evolution where the art matches their realisation process. After a short while the fascination fades as they move on. These people used to buy popular albums and rarely work from outsiders of popular culture. In these transitioning times the tech-savy will download a body of songs in a brief moment of dedication, and spend a short time studying them as a group.
• An even smaller group of people are active seekers of art within the context of their consciousness narrative. These people will 'click' with an artist after experiencing a body or bodies of work. These people will not be satisfied the songs alone. They need additional media - this used to be the sleeve art, now it is the online web experience (or other new-media content). If the artist manages to continue a body of work across the years then these people will attempt to follow. Depending on the strength of the art, the people will network the art to new people socially thus increasing the range of influence of the artist. This is the group of people who an artist is most interested in, and possibly where an artist can derive a small amount of commerce.
• An even smaller group within the above group is that of the fanatic. These people are completionists and will like the artists' work irrespective of it's strength or purpose. Therefore, they should be not taken seriously, but all the same acknowledged.

In looking at the above groups when the artist is an active online participant, then it quickly becomes apparent that coming at the project of spreading the art from a totally commercial point of view is entirely missing the mark. The project becomes more about producing consistent strong art and networking that to receptive social networks online. Only then, in favourable circumstances where enough numbers is achieved in the above third group, can commerce be taken seriously as an aspect of an artists work. In the meantime, get on with making cool genuine art with the intention of it being as strong as possible and true to yourself.

...Some things to think about.