The Melbourne Artist

The Melbourne Artist

 Dear Darryl Thompson-Turner,

 

I’ve been thinking about McLuhan and his belief that the medium a message is received through is the most important question. I think you mentioned something about Baudrillard too.

When I first started Mel From Melbourne, which has morphed into Earth To Malachi, the important thing was that where possible I would make my work using free software and as cheap hardware as I could. Hence I use my phone for the microphone and the free software Audacity for my sound engineering/production. I use my phone to photograph my cover art, which is usually hand-drawn or -painted using cheap art supplies usually found in supermarkets or bargain shops. The rationale is that I as a minority worlder have so many extreme advantages in my life I should not also have better audioed-videoed art than artists working in majority world countries. The artwork should boil down to the imagination, skills and work rather than the technologies used.

This I guess is all good and well but does not answer the question of ‘how is my art experienced?’ The problem for any artist, whether an independent artist like myself or a major industry artist is that to experience our art, money is required. No problem, I make my art free (unless I am making a deliberate statement) to stream and download. I am allowing the majority of the world permission to stream and download my art. I use bandcamp.com for the most of my work which costs nothing to listen and look at. It takes the serial form of a (mostly) daily and people can drop in any time and listen to anything in any order. Additionally, certain curated works are available via YouTube and the Streaming Services. I would dearly love to make an LP, but remember I am trying to keep costs low, if for me, then also by rights, for the audience.

Of course marketing is another question I haven’t given enough thought to. Why not use paid social media ads to promote the work? Again I am trying to keep costs low out of a belief in equity.

This all sounds very post-leftist and equity sounding and virtue signaling, but the fact remains that the advantages I don’t consider are many, many more. Peace, safety, democratic freedoms, money, food, shelter, privacy, leisure time, a supportive community including radio and many others. Of these, time is undoubtedly the biggest advantage. Time not only to make art, which really is not work at all, but play. I can choose what I wish to talk about in my work because I don’t rely on it to eat and feed my family. I have time free from stress about my basic needs being met. I have time to dream, I have a richness of ideas and cultures at my disposal which I can pick and choose from according to my artistic needs of the time. I have the time to explore formal questions. I have the time to contemplate and study.

With all this free time so comes Responsibility. But of course I am an artist not a responsible person. I am bad man, I am mad man to borrow from Lee Scratch Perry. Don’t listen to what I say, it changes every day. If something I say captures your attention then great. I mean it but yunno with a gun to my head I might, like Galileo, recant. If you like something and not many others, it’s all fine. Some of it feels ‘inspired’ most doesn’t.  I make some of it to articulate the words of others who cannot speak. But relax. It’s only art. Beware of surfaces and appearances. Or you will be led astray.

Still, if it appears to be nourishing food and others are eating it happily: eat, if the dance is to your liking: dance and if her appearance attracts you: ask permission before kissing her, but kiss her if you get the chance.

 

If you’re interested check out: https://earthtomalachi.bandcamp.com/ and https://melfrommelbourne.bandcamp.com/