Dave Gig...

I think there is a time that everyone gets down about what they have to do, and more-so artists can become despondent with the work they make. I think that this is how I began to feel with my work, and I needed something to kick me back into gear. This for me, ironically, is Dave. On Saturday (19th March) I went to watch him play live in Birmingham, on his Hardship Diaries Tour, on what I officially called a 'study trip'.

This gig had many different opportunities for me. The first, and maybe most important to me as a person, would be to watch Dave live again. This is an experience, and not only this, but a different experience everytime that I go and watch him. There are theorists who comment on the experience of the fan in the live environment, where there is an incomparable feeling of individuality and yet collaboration between other fans. At this gig in particular, I felt as if I knew a lot more of the words than most, and this gave me a strange sense of satisfaction, whilst also projecting my thoughts onto the strata and hierarchy of both InME, and Dave McPherson fans.

Also, there were opportunities for me, in my opinion, even before I went, to converse with Dave. You may think, well this isnt difficult? Well, think of a celebrity that you like, and how easy it is to be able to talk to them face to face for any length of time...It is difficult, and granted, Dave is a public celebrity, and he doesnt hide away at his gigs, but in the wider aspect of celebrity culture, celebrities are more distant than they first appear. It turns out that I got a massive opportunity to talk to Dave about the music, his pledge site (www.pledgemusic.com/projects/davemcpherson) and my art. Dave commented upon my art, saying that he finds it interesting rather than 'freaky', and to me, this is not only a compliment, but also a big sign of support from the person who 90% of my imagery is based on. He even let me take a few pictures of him for the degree show, and posed for a photo with me, what more could I want?