CREATE FOR ANYONE
EXPANSION, ITERATION, AND COLLABORATION
anyone.mp4
anyone.png
anyone.txt
It’s safe to say we don’t need more information or content, so treat this as an experiment. An experiment in presenting one idea in several ways in hope of finding one iteration effective at communicating something simple. This idea isn’t new, revolutionary, or even that special. It’s more like a sound or scene we see everyday yet often forget to recall or acknowledge. Sort of like the principle of buoyancy or the harsh reminder of the effects of spitting into the wind.
Through the course of the internet and social media we have seen the proliferation of the idea of the universal town square. A place we can exist with everyone and create work for everyone. The idea of a utopia. This is accomplished by CREATING FOR EVERYONE. Creating work that resonates with everyone and offends no one—truly a modern miracle.
The issue at hand is the notion of an imposed expectation for creatives and artists to make work for everyone. To be placed in the eye of a public court that has removed nuance in favor of quick judgements based on binary views of reality. I think of it as Concentration of Consensus. A shrinking of what can be good, tasteful or even acceptable. By appealing to everyone, we must boil down ideas and outcomes into their simplest form in order to be palatable for everyone. This Concentration of Consensus is a shrinking of a target for which we aim, where options and potential curiosities don't exist, or aren't allowed to exist.
So what does this leave us with? How can we change? What’s an alternative for creating for everyone? CREATING FOR ANYONE. Creating work which has the ability to resonate with anyone should they be curious enough that they are moved to participate or engage.
This shift from everyone to anyone helps break the constant deluge of homogeneous work and outcomes meant to spur such little feeling that it is deemed good or dare we even say great. Unlike the concentration of consensus that is spurred by creating for everyone, creating for anyone unlocks an Expansion of Possibility. The focus is less on creating work with a sole purpose of quickly finding resonance amongst the masses, and more on creating moments that spur curiosity, slowness, or even a new thought. Work that is meant to be processed over time and with intention. Some outcomes may not hit or find any semblance of mass success. That is okay. The freedom to create in the space between relevance and irrelevance is one of the most important aspects of the process. Through creating for anyone, we see an increase not only in the field of physical creation but also within the space for ideas and contemplation itself.
EXPANSION THROUGH CURIOSITY
Now in the spirit of creating for anyone it feels fitting to announce Iceberg Anthro is expanding. Austin Robey, a co-founder of Ampled and Metalabel, will be the first collaborating partner joining Iceberg Anthro in the new iteration of the newsletter.. Besides being an incredible human, Austin is one of the smartest people I've had the good luck of meeting. He will regularly be writing about solidarity economics, ownership, art, and labor. This means that Iceberg Anthro is now a shared publication between two writers, and may even continue expanding to include more voices.
The next post from Austin will be a post-mortem of Ampled Cooperative
