Ian Rogers Final Blog
Well, this is it. I’m almost finished now at The Edge. Today is my last day! What to do? Normally the last days of employment are a wonderland of office revenge and ‘asset accrual’ but I’ve really enjoyed my time at SLQ. So much so I’m not stealing anyone’s stapler on the way out.
Instead, like the Gus van Sant film ‘Last Days’ I intend to reflect – slowly and without the aid of western narrative – on my journey from then to now. Expect a cameo from Kim Gordon any minute now.
What Worked:
It’s been an interesting ride. It’s always a fun/horrifying experience being one of the first people in a position, namely because no one exactly knows what that position is about (outside of the policy writers) until someone’s filled it. In a sense our ‘Catalyst role could aptly be summarised as:
Be as informative/encompassing/awesome/innovative as possible, repeat.
We found some form within that. We did workshops. I introduced people to the wonders of Ableton Live and doom metal (they love each other), to the free-ness of Reaper (and how to record sound with it) and my golden child: Demo-lition Derby, a workshop much better than the pun it wore as a title. Recording strangers, 20 minutes at a time, in the Edge’s surprisingly capable studio was a blast.
One part of the informative/encompassing/awesome position description was an emphasis on collaboration. It was easy to think, whilst in the middle of it, that I did very little of this. Looking back, it looks a little rosier. I did manage to play music with just about everyone in the Catalyst team, I organised things with them and I asked them a lot of questions. Perhaps more valuable still, I watched other self-motivated, excitable people do their thing and I worked alongside them in an environment where my ‘portfolio brain’ (musician, academic, writer) was the norm and not the exception. It made coming to ‘work’ easy.
I also got a lot of sound made. I learned about microphones and placement, about software and manipulation and about playback and re-creation. I learned some of this by teaching others.
The fruits of this work are still forthcoming. But I did complete a solo track for Sydney’s New Weird Australia, made entirely within the Edge’s studio. I took sound I made here on tour to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Toowoomba (Yes! Toowoomba!) and most places I went, people had heard about where I worked and seemed genuinely interested.
What Didn’t Work:
I could never seem to get performances right while I worked here. But I was involved in more than a few good attempts. Alongside Susan Misso I organised and oversaw the very first Show Pony event. I collaborated with resident artist Richard Byers to make a racket outside:
Sodium-Vapour
Also fun was Fete De La Musique 2010 where I curated a selection of digital musicians to play in our foyer….but still, I wish a few more people turned up. Somewhere in there I helped out with the first Brisbane Unconvention. That was a good time as well.
All considered, that’s a challenge for future Catalysts: to find a way to bring people to alcohol-free, all-ages performances without a budget. It’s difficult, no doubt, but not impossible. What’s missing is the right idea. I’m really encouraged by some of the ideas floating around here at the moment, maybe one of those is the right one.
That’s That:
So I’m taking this Catalyst hat off (it’s also a helmet) and underneath it I – luckily – have a few other hats on to pay the bills. You’ll no doubt see me around the space still but this time I’ll be a lot less preoccupied by my work. Instead I’ll be as I encourage you all to be: in there thinking up the next thing.
Thanks to the Edge staff, the VSOs and the State Library of Queensland.
Filed Under: Journalism
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