Flatstock Europe

[Drozd]

For me personally i dont expect to make money and in fact art materials in general is what most my income goes on after rent and food. But that there is the problem. It is costing me $400 dollars AT LEAST to print here at the moment and sometimes it is simply a choice of whether i eat or print...

[Scrawled]

Agree with Droid also - though personally haven't encountered a mentality of people worrying excessively about sales. For me, it's a constant weighing up of how much time and money I can throw at it whilst still being able to pay bills, and I suspect it's the same for most UK folk.

[rica]

See what you guys mean, but i can't keep on wasting money for nothing (or so).

[tanxxx]

the point is that I don't want to make money with posters, just NOT LOSING money, that's a LITTLE bit different.

[stinkbait]

Rene you are off base. Since the first Flatstock the scene in europe has grown a ton. They are making things happen.

I flat out lucked out when Kozik said "I'm starting the API and you are Vice President" I turned around and convinced SXSW , the largest music festival in the world, to take on our retarded little show. There was a HUGE leap from the first Flatstock to the second and it's all due to SXSW embracing the API. Since then I've managed, with the API board, to grow this thing internationally slowly and smartly.

The Euro artists are doing great and are way further down the road than they were three years ago. So cut them some slack. You don't make posters in any of these countries and neither do I. Maleus told me at the first Flatstock no one in Italy gives a shit about posters. That seems to be echoed by Tanxx et al. It's like turning the Queen Mary to some extent. It will take time to build.

We had the luxury of Chantry and Kozik and Coop cranking this stuff out years before Flatstock was a thought so it wasn't completely foreign to the US crowds. The first Flatstocks in every city we've gone to are all the same. People wander around wondering what we are doing there and eventually buy our crap. The repeat visits to Austin, Chicago, Seattle and Hamburg are enforcing what the show is about but it's still a huge risk. Some people simply can't afford to take it.

I have been to every single Flatstock minus last years Europe. I though about skipping Chicago and Seattle this year because expenses are double what they have ever been and there's nothing that says people will even buy our posters and we're pretty established. I can totally see how this kinda trip is intimidating to anyone considering it. I'm fully plan to loose my ass on this euro Flatstock but I'm fortunate enough to be able to do that and just write it off as a vacation to Europe.

The plus side is there are multiple shows cropping up in Europe along side Flatstock and they will continue to do so. If you had asked anyone at that first Flatstock in SF if we'd ever meet up again and do another one no one would have known the answer. We have FOUR a year now. I never expected to have four total and I know a lot of other people thought the same way. Now next Austin is Flatstock 20. That pretty fucking amazing.

So lay off because they are making things happen. I've had 6 years to fine tune this monster Europe has had two. With our help (and hopefully creating an IPI) We'll keep growing it and that's what it's all about.

[Drozd]

"and hopefully creating an IPI"

Thats the key, global networks and all that. Well put Mr. Stink. x

[swampviking]

USA! USA! USA!

That's all I have for now.

[seriplop]

i dunno , most of the euro artists i know just have tons of other shit on their plates .
zeloot just had a baby , sets up shows all the time and has a full time illustration career , bongout publish a million books , do their posters , have a t shirt line and run a gallery , the belgians seem to be getting out of doing posters and onto "art" except for elzo who's spending all his time and money running a gallery and publishing books..

these people are doing plenty to promote posters and screenprinted arts in their cities/countries.

flatstock isn't the be all , end all of the poster scene and some people really ARE too swamped or too broke.

[seriplop]

oh and as someone who's done about 20 some art shows in europe at this point + has a case o' prints out at every show my band plays , it's WAY harder to sell posters there than in the us.

the culture for screened posters is very new there , outside of the hardcore collector ebeaner types.

[ricv64]

you guys need the European copy of Firehouse crew.

a European Ron Donovan ?