Kickstarter Update: Just 2 days ago in the middle of the night, I launched a Kickstarter for a 3-week run of Object of Her Affection at Automata in Los Angeles as part of LAX Festival.
Object of Her Affection is an object and puppet-based performance centered on a woman, who in her search for true love, develops intimate relationships with inanimate objects.
I find the whole process of crowdfunding to be terrifying, BUT NECESSARY – especially in a time when traditional funding sources are eroding and ones that exist are trending towards the model of rewarding artists as unqualified social workers rather than supporting artists as actual artists. Sure there are still bright spots like The Jim Henson Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and Center Theatre Group‘s Sherwood Award, but overall support for independent artists is becoming a desert.
With crowdfunding, I’m also weary of the unhealthy aspects: all-or-nothing thinking, a toxic reliance on capitalism for validation, hustling way past bedtime, and the very real possibility of failure. And then there’s the current state of world affairs – the chance the West coast could get nuked bc someone had a bad day, the digital malaise of feeling disconnected in an overly connected world hijacked by an algorithm that incites mass-narcissism, or the possibility of randomly getting hit by a bus. I know… I’m a professional worrier.
But in just two days since launching, I can worry just a little less and focus more on the real work of producing a high quality object and puppet-based performance, because of the 34 early adopters – who have helped get us halfway to our $3,000 minimum to be funded goal. Your support goes towards urgent, necessary, and essential production costs. And you’ve also helped get us 16.5% towards our ultimate goal of raising $10,000 that would really kick up production value and ensure some project longevity.
THANKS
So I want to thank all 34 of you who have made the last two days a little more bearable (and delightful)… But there’s also a whole bunch of donors on my end who appear as anonymous (I really hope you don’t think I’m shading you, I just don’t know who you are).
Thanks for believing in me and my work, especially ROUGH TRADE: Dan Evans + Matt Wagner, VOYEURS: Kate Bornstein, Barbara Carrellas + Sharon Challenger, those who support the SAFE WORD concept: Mark Erdmann, Sylvia Ann Soares, Donor #4, Cynthia Freeman, Ryan Dillon, Zeb L. West + Christine Papalexis, DISCREET Donors: #7, #11, #18, #20, 23, 24, 27, 30 + 34, my FWB’s “Blan,” Katherine Sweetman, Jessica Massart, Melissa Dunphy, Amber West, Donor #5, Molly Allis, backers who defy categorization: The Creative Fund, Carol Bixler, Grant Baciocco, Donor #14 + Donor #32, Kickstarter for deeming “Object of Her Affection” a “Project We Love”, and everyone who is helping spread the word, creating momentum, or championing the performance in some other way.
There’s still a minimum of $1350 left to raise with 22 days to go, so the project can get any of the funding, and it would be amazing to go even further towards our stretch goal of $10,000. If you can think of anyone with deep pockets who might be interested in donating (or lots of people with little pockets), please direct them to the Object of Her Affection Kickstarter campaign. And also if you can think of any media outlets, blogs, podcasts, or people who consider themselves (throwing up in my mouth a bit here) “influencers”, who might be able to cover the campaign or performance, do not hesitate to give them my contact info (granted they don’t seem like serial killers). But also don’t feel obligated to do anything else, bc you’ve already been so helpful already.