Dear followers and supporters of Carnival Cinema and Fluke as well as my friends and community.
I hope this finds you all happy and in good health after the weirdest 3 years ever!
After an almost 3-year covid induced identity crisis/creative stagnation/mental health hiatus from the online world – I don’t feel I have to explain too much, as everyone has lived it – I am rebooting what was the Carnival Cinema Online Mag into the ‘Fluke Blog‘ and along with it The Carnival Cinema Patreon aka Carnival Cinema Membership . (Much gratitude to all those who urged me to keep this project going!)
In the spirit of being open about mental health, which Carnival Cinema encourages – I fell into a creative pit and tried to clamber out numerous times over the past few years. I applied for Ausco and Create NSW funding to keep Fluke alive but didn’t get the support and this relaunch of the Patreon is me attempting one last time to create a viable and sustainable role for myself in the arts sector, adding as much value as possible the best way I know how.
This time round the Blog will be run by me, solo, as the editor-in-chief until it is viable for me to employ some tech-savvy crew to help run the backend. As before it will celebrate and showcase a diverse and growing number of contributing photographers, videographers, and writers from within the arts community.
My dream is to also create the opportunity to bring out further editions of Fluke, the hold-in-your-hand variety, when it’s viable. I am super proud of the first edition, a love child that was born in Feb 2020 days before our world was turned on its head and the whole performing arts ground to a complete halt.
‘Fluke is an important addition to the Australian cultural landscape, both for the circus sector specifically and also those such as myself, who are not directly part of the sector but follow its growth with interest. It serves as valuable documentation of a sometimes-ephemeral art form and will certainly be of significant interest to the circus sector internationally” –
Richard Watts – Performing Arts Editor, ArtsHub
So what’s the Fluke Blog all about?
Ultimately the Fluke Blog and physical magazine are about strengthening positive culture through connecting various arts communities with each other and their audiences – we do that by telling stories via words, images, and videos.
Fluke is created by artists, about artists, and for artists and lovers of art. They are invited to go deeper into their process, what they create, why they create, what drives them, and what it is they want to say.
In the current ‘coming out of covid’ landscape and after the last three years which almost entirely decimated the performing arts community in Australia and still affects it in such drastic and ongoing ways, we need to celebrate the arts and in doing so, our humanity, more than ever.
Fluke is an ever-growing lasting archive of the community which aims to be a focal point, a figurehead blog, and a publication to highlight and support the re-building of the performing arts sector going forward.
“Fluke is another way that Carnival Cinema (Hamish McCormick) documents, celebrates and connects circus and the performing arts in a beautiful package. It gives a second and lasting way for the transient nature of live arts to be recorded and shared. Simply put, there’s nothing else like it!”
– Lewie West, acrobat, Rooke, CIRCA, Gravity & Other Myths
The Fluke Blog is an evolving beast. Since starting the online mag in 2017 it already features 100’s of:
– Candid Interviews and articles with and about performers, companies, makers, and creators.
– Galleries of still photographs from featured photographers who specialise in documenting circus & creative processes from around Australia and the world.
– The Manifesto – gentle reminders and takeaways about mindfulness and Mental Health, wellness and work/life balance in the Performing arts via counselor (and circus royalty) Kareena Hodgson.
– Articles written by members of our community.
– Various video features.
There is still our World Circus Map which you can add to. It’s a fabulous user-driven resource that shows Youth + Social circus classes, Big Circus Schools, companies, Agents & Production houses, set builders, lighting, sound & Rigging companies and Physical & Mental health practitioners – All specialising in Circus and Physical performance.
“In the same way that the census is a vital quantitative demographic record that informs important research, a publication like FLUKE provides a valuable longitudinal record of physical performance in Australia.
Culture’s impact is propelled by its continuity. What was done yesterday is the building block for tomorrow’s achievements, so a record of them is a critical tool for professional development across the sector. Pandemic recovery compels our industries to “build back better”; for this reason, the creative sector needs consistent documentation like FLUKE to help it springboard into a strong future”.
– Felicity Blake, Documentary Maker
So, Why Patreon?
I am choosing to relaunch the Patreon for a few reasons:
– I have been banging my head against the brick wall of government/arts funding and major philanthropic institutions in Australia. There isn’t a category for Hybrid Online Circus blog physical Magazine, Documentary Makers!
– I would rather tap into people power. Fluke being powered by the arts community (and arts lovers) for the arts community. If alot of people give just a little each month (think 1 beer’s worth) then it not only becomes sustainable for me to work on this full-time, it allows me to pay contributors and employ other people to help add maximum value.
– to avoid the website having to rely on random unwanted google ads bombarding people to make it sustainable.
– Our community has entrusted me for the last two decades with your stories, given me access to your process as you create and I don’t believe in having to compromise that trust by some government bureaucrat or commissioning editor telling me how my subjects should be portrayed or framed.
– It keeps it open source and free for all to access and not behind some paywall, a kid going to a social circus class in regional QLD etc can have access to this information and inspiration.
– *If I work on Carnival Cinema/Fluke full-time I can go through the ‘Carnival Cinema Archives’ and edit the 1000’s of hours of footage I have shot over the last 20 years into short n sweet entertaining videos or much longer form documentaries of companies and subjects, some of which I’ve followed for over a decade. See the video below –
How can you support?
You can think of this as my digital street performers hat – you can see what I have been creating here and on the various other Carnival Cinema platforms for the last decade or so – if you enjoy it, are entertained and informed and you feel like its adding value to the arts community and want it to continue, you can support it by becoming a Carnival Cinema Member.
The new model that I encourage is for people to join for as little as AU$8.50 per Month.
For the $8.50 + not only will you get all the enjoyment, information, and entertainment of the blog as well as the good feelings you get knowing that you are keeping it going and open access so others with less can enjoy it too – you will also get:
– Exclusive access to regular longer-form content, longer interviews, full shows that don’t exist anymore and fun ‘inhouse’ grabs from the Carnival Cinema Archives shot over the last 20 years
– 20% off all Carnival Cinema Merch
– First dibs on tix for any Film nights/gatherings I put on – now that we can do that again.
– A sweet 2-for-1 deal at Tom Flanagan’s Donut Diner – always!
– Who knows what other little treats I will think up as time goes on!
Think of this as giving up just 1 beer a month at that festival bar or a cup of coffee and a biscuit at your local cafe.
BECOME A MEMBER HERE – Patreon.com/carnivalcinema
In a nutshell, the more people become members the bigger and better this project becomes, adding as much value as possible to the arts community in Australia. So encourage your like-minded friends to sign up and you will reap the benefits!
If you were already a Carnival Cinema member/Patreon Supporter (aka legend) prior to the covid meltdown – I know this is a pain but can you check your payment details on the Patreon Site to make sure the info is all current after 3 years, there you can also change your tier amount and currency if you so desire.
That said if you no longer wish to be a Carnival Cinema Patreon member for any reason whatsoever you can cancel your membership at any time – there will be absolutely zero hard feelings from me, only much gratitude for the support you have given.
I’d like to acknowledge and thank all those past Patreon contributors/Carnival Cinema Members whether you still give or not, Thank you – it would have never got this far without you!
NB* – The way we do things around here is that regardless of Age, Gender, Sexuality or Ethnicity, Carnival Cinema’s philosophy and its logo stands for inclusion, safety, connection, and community. If you don’t agree with this statement please don’t become a member or rep the logo, there is a strict No Dickheads policy!
That’s pretty much it,
Again, Thanks for your time and attention and for becoming a Carnival Cinema Member………………………………………………………………..if ya did!
Much respect,
Peace,
Hamish McCormick
Creative Director
Carnival Cinema
Fluke Magazine
I acknowledge the people of the Bundjalung Nation, traditional custodians of the land on which I was born, I now live, work and raise my kids on and pay my respects to their elders past, present and future.
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