Artist Feature - Amanda Palmer

   Hello and welcome to my first Artist Feature! This first post is going to be a little different from future editions, as the artist I am featuring today is not predominately a visual one - She is a singer, writer, blogger, queen of social media and all round beautiful person. I speak of course of Amanda Fucking Palmer!

   I have been a fan of hers since I first discovered The Dresden Dolls, whose fun and quirky, yet dark and meaningful 'Punk Cabaret' music I've loved since the first note I heard (a love unfortunately not shared by many, if any, of my friends)



   Although the Dresden Dolls are no longer active (save for very occasional one off gigs), Amanda has released a solo album, 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' and 'Theatre Is Evil' with her band 'Amanda Palmer & the Grand Theft Orchestra' so her music has been with me for years (my memory isn't very good for this sort of info - could be about 5 years, could be longer) but it is only more recently that she has truly become a big inspiration to me, through her music, her blog, her twitter and her talks.

   Although Amanda is a bona fide rock star she has utilized her blog and social media to create a unique and intimate connection with her fans, often asking the 'Hive mind' (her fans on twitter) for advise, their opinions or simply talking with them and, through her open and honest expression on her blog, has created a community who are always willing to help each other.
   One of the best examples of this is the following blog (warning- the subject matter of this blog may be upsetting) [Link] in which she talks about how she came across the story of Amanda Todd and her feelings on hatred and bullying on the internet. The blog received over 2000 comments from people sharing their own stories and responding to others with supportive messages. Complete strangers reached out to one another to offer comfort and kindness.
   Thanks to this kind of connection she was able to successfully crowd source funding for her album 'Theater Is Evil', raising almost $1.2million, all of which was spent to create and tour the album and make the various Kickstarter rewards for her fans.



   These rewards were not limited to music related items such as digital downloads, cds and vinyls but included an art book, containing work by over 30 visual artists which she also toured around the world at various galleries and also the 'I sharpie you' in which she drew portraits of her backers in sharpie.



   In her TED talk 'The Art of Asking' she discusses the Kickstarter project and how asking, while difficult for many to do, is key to her success and touches on the stigma related to artistic work not being considered a real job. It is this talk in particular which has inspired me to attempt a project, which I will be teasing over the coming month.



   While much of this does not necessarily seem to have much relevance or perhaps seems out of place for a visual arts blog, as much of it is posed through the filter of music, the underlying message of community and creativity is what makes Amanda an inspiration to me.

   Another of Amanda's talks focuses more specifically on being an artist (of any kind) and the changes happening in how we get art 'out there' in this digital age.



   Prepare to be yelled at from my window in the coming months, and if you want to see Amanda do her thing live check out her tour page [link]. I'll be attending her gig in Birmingham by myself so feel free to come say hello if your in the area :)



Next Months Feature: Danny LuVisi!