Bed Song Project - The long overdue write up

   So, last month I posted about my Bed Song Collection - A set of 20 portraits of Amanda Palmer, each featuring lyrics from 'The Bed Song'. It has been one month exactly since stage 3 of the Bed Song Project and its still going!



The Day
   The day itself was so much fun - I arrived at the venue early in the afternoon and spent the best part of the day in the company of many great people, all chatting, playing uke, singing and sharing art, in spite of the unusual roasting heat and lack of shade. During this time I made friends with a number of wonderful folk, including but not limited to - Nick, first to donate for a piece of the set and selfless protector of the remaining pieces during the gig (as no cloakrooms were available), Cookie, biggest spender and capturer of 'the' moment, Olivia of ShatterJapan (more on that later), Dexter, newspaper skirt and pirate hat wearer and Jade and Emily, photographers and sharpie place holder providers, to name but a few.


Dex recreating the 'Lick my legs' image with my art as a reference - art imitating art imitating art

   The gig itself was out of this world, by far the best live show I have ever been to - which is not faint praise, as I go to gigs frequently and have seen some amazing acts. I really could go on about the show at length, but I wont as I want to focus on the project and I am by no means a professional writer or reviewer so it would probably end up being very gushing and disjointed. All I will say is Amanda really knows how to work an audience, and well, basically if you haven't seen her live before, go, you wont regret it.


Amanda in front of me, holding Nick's hand while performing

left - Jherek Bischoff, photo curtsey of Emily Ember, right - Georgia Train of Bitter Ruin with Amanda performing 'Delilah', photo curtsey of Tish Jarret for Shatterjapan


Me with my usual 'enigmatic' smile and first piece in the set, signed by Amanda

   After the show Amanda came out and signed at the merch stand (which was amazing of her as she really must have been exhausted after her performance and had hit her head toward the end) so I got to meet her briefly. I got the first piece of the set signed (pictured above) and gave her the final piece of the set (which she is holding in the picture below). She really seemed to like the art and later sent me this tweet -



'The' Moment

The Experience
   As I have said before, the point of this project was to create connections and to experience a 'Pay what you want', trust based way of selling my work, which is exactly what I did. It really was something else to have people approaching me about my art, complimenting me on my work and then backing up those compliments by giving me money for my art, at a price set by them, without me having to really broadcast myself or vie for attention in anyway.
   The thing I loved most about this was the interactions I had with people - I am not particularly good at socializing and generally, meeting new people is not an experience I tend to enjoy so going to Birmingham and spending the day among people I have never met before is very out of character for me. But I did it without trepidation because of what I had seen online of Amanda's fan base. And they did not disappoint. Throughout the day I had conversations with people about all kinds of things, ranging from my art to Doctor Who and plenty in between, enjoyed lots of uke covers, traded art for shade, hugs and a flower and met people who not only wanted to pay me for my art but also wanted to help promote me, without me having to ask them to do so.
   And, although it was more about the experience than the money, I had set a rough goal in my head for how much I would need to average at to break even. Even thought at no point in the day did I set a price or turn down an offer I still made a not inconsiderable profit, all through people paying what they could afford. I even had people approach me and tell me they would love a piece of the set but didn't have the money they felt it was worth, and even after I explained that it wasn't about the money and any amount would do, they still didn't take a piece as they felt it would be unfair to me. I also had a few people give me the little they could afford and adamantly tell me they would pay me more later online.
   While I understand this isn't likely to be typical for most none Amanda Palmer events/venues, it has shown me that a 'pay what you want' structure is both more rewarding than a conventional method of selling and that it can be monetarily viable for me, so I will be trying to incorporate it in some way into my future endeavours.


Ross & Stephani with Jherek and my art, photo curtsey of Emily Ember

Stage 4
   As I said in my last blog, stage 4 of this project was to reunite the pieces of the set online and I am still in the process of doing so but below you can see the images I have received so far.


   I have really loved seeing pictures of people with my art, thank you all for donating to me and sharing my art.
If you are one of the 20 owners of the set and would like to be put in touch with the others, let me know and I will pass on the details I have been given to share
   I still have a couple pieces of the set left, I can take donations online and can post them so if you are interested in owning a piece of the set, let me know.

Revolution - Pussy Riot Festival
   One thing which came about as a direct result of this project and was completely unexpected was that I met Olivia of ShatterJapan. ShatterJapan is an international webzine featuring interviews, photographs and videos of artists in edgy music, film and culture.
   They are launching an event - REVOLUTION: PUSSY RIOT SENTENCING COMMEMORATION FESTIVAL on the 18th & 19th of August, taking place at KRAAK, Manchester. The event itself features a huge array of performers and will also feature an auction, with all profits from the event going to Pussy Riot.
   On the day of the Amanda Palmer gig I donated a piece of the Bed Song Collection to this event, for auction on Sunday 18th August. This piece is signed by both myself and Amanda
   I will be attending the Sunday and I hope to see you all there!