Donating Seminar Work

Taken from http://designseminarspring2011.blogspot.com/ :

So I decided to think long and hard about what I was going to do with my seminar pieces once the show was done and the sad truth was that they would probably sit in my parent's basement until they collected a healthy lair of dust in some box underneath Halloween decorations. So then I thought about something that might be beneficial to me and possibly others.

I've decided to sell most of the 50 pieces for the Wry, Raw Whimsical Wall during the show with all proceeds going to one of many Japan relief funds currently being run locally. Now I'm sure you might have some questions about this, so allow me to clear things up as best as I can.

1. Sell your work at the show? Are you some sort of fucking moron?

Well no good sir or madam, I am not but your concern is appreciated. No work is going to be leaving the 301 Gallery during the duration of VERGE's opening or time on the gallery wall. I will advertise at the show that these pieces are indeed for sale and that all proceeds will be going to Japanese Disaster Relief. I was thinking something along the lines of $5-$10 each and two captions with each piece sold. That sounds fair to me. Although I am going to be offering the work for buyers, I will be sure to make it clear to everyone that the only pieces for sale will me my own so that no one else in VERGE will have to deal with any unwanted nuisances.

2. OK, so you are doing a good thing. But why are you sharing it with all of us and not just your group? You some sort of attention whore?

Well the funny thing about doing a good thing is that sometimes it's not the most logical course of action. I'm posting this here because I'm curious as to whether or not I should do this and who better to ask then my peers and teachers? I personally think this can work out but if it means making things more difficult for everyone at my show then we have a problem. I want to make sure this won't make anyone else miserable.

3. Japan Relief huh? Aren't there other problems in the U.S. to worry about? Why not let the rest of the world take care of that and do something different.

Well the thought had occurred to me that this current issue in Japan is quite popular for people who get worked up for causes, only to get bored of them in a few weeks and go on to the next one as if it were some sort of fad while the ongoing crisis stays the same regardless. The reason I'm choosing Japanese Disaster Relief isn't because I'm into doing what all the cool people are doing nor is it because I'm some sort of rapid anime fanboy. I'm about to open my heart a little, I apologize in advance for the tugging of heartstrings and mushiness, I honestly am.

Last summer I stayed in Japan for a month through the school and lived with a house family who treated me kindly. A COMPLETE STRANGER WHO COULD BARELY SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE AND THEY INVITED ME INTO THEIR HOME AND TREATED ME LIKE FAMILY. Would this happen somewhere else in the world? I'm sure it could, but the fact is that it happened here. Although Niigata, the city I stayed at, wasn't hit as hard as some of the others on the opposite shore it has since taken in over 8000 displaced people from the devastated Miyagi prefecture. Now it's not like I'm giving this money to my host family alone or anything, but if there are any people like my host family that no longer have a home to return to and whatever money I make can help them then I'll send it over without question.

4. I have no real problem with this, but I think you're a fucking idiot for doing this during your show. Why not wait to sell them after the show is over so we don't have to deal with your stupidity?

We have over a 100 confirmed guests (according to facebook) coming to this show and I expect more will show up throughout the evening. People will be looking at my work, playing with captions while eating cake. THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO SHOW MY WORK FOR SALE. Passing up an opportunity where people are going to be exposed to my work and the offer of helping the greater good would be foolish. The only thing that would be bad about this is that my evening could (I'm saying could, since this is all still hypothetical) become a little less enjoyable from patrons continuously asking me for what pieces were available.

So there you have it, my proposal of what to do with my work. Like I said, if this poses any problems to any other members of VERGE then I won't continue with this any that will be the end of that (not that I'm trying to guilt anyone here). And besides, I'm still waiting to print out my images and finish constructing them for the show, I may just be planning too far ahead. We'll see how it works out and whatever outcome I reach won't mean the end of the world.