Raise your hand

If you asked a group of people to raise their hand if they had their dream job, I’m guessing less than half would do it.

Let’s be clear here. I don’t mean these people aren’t happy doing what they do or they don’t enjoy their day jobs. Maybe it’s the best job they’ve ever had.

No, I’m talking about whether they have their ultimate, one-in-a-million, wake up every day and pinch yourself kind of jobs.

Okay so this isn’t based on any kind of scientific research, call it anecdotal observation.

And this is so much more the case for creative people.

How many poets do you know who only write verses to pay the bills? What percentage of artists can afford to live off their canvas?

I don’t think it’s a high number. Otherwise where did the term ‘struggling artist’ come from?

This is where PoV magazine steps in. It’s a place where creatives everywhere – be they journalists, photographers or sketch artists – can get their stuff published without their bosses sticking their noses in.

It’s a quarterly free online magazine based on a different theme each time and the first issue is out now.

Take a look below, enjoy and if you’re a creative person with something you want the world to see, why not get involved?

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Why our culture is priceless

Last week I got talking to a friend about a popular Twitter feed I’ve starting following.

MetPoliceCO11 isn’t a real life crime fighting message board. Instead the spoof account tweets about amusing and often implausible incidents.

After guffawing at the genius of a tweet about catching a drunk Brian Blessed with a large net, my friend replied, ‘But what’s the point of it?’.

At first I wasn’t sure how to respond.

Because it’s funny, I thought.  It lights up my otherwise dull day.

Then I got thinking. You could ask that question about almost anything.

What’s the point of music, of poetry, or fine dining? Why go to the cinema, play sport or watch the X Factor?

Whatever your views on reality TV these things exist because in one way or another they give us pleasure.

From watching a play that moves you to tears, to listening to an Adam and Joe podcast, none of these things are strictly ‘necessary’ but they’re what make life interesting.

While a joke twitter feed or a televised karaoke contest aren’t exactly Orwell, most people get that art has a vital role to play in our society.

The UK Government however doesn’t seem to share this opinion.

Its cuts to arts council funding and humanities education feel like an attack on the desire to create something beautiful or imaginative. (OK I know this is a bit of a jump but bear with me.)

According to most politicians it seems the only thing that matters is business and making money. Who cares if university courses in the likes of philosophy, English literature or history have to close or ramp up their fees to survive?

The Government seems to have forgotten that for every £1 invested in arts and culture £3.50 is put back into the UK economy.

Despite this more than 200 organisations up and down the country are losing Arts Council Funding.

At the same time universities only offering courses in arts and humanities will have their funding cut to zero.

I’m not saying cutting cultural funding will somehow stop people from creating funny and whimsical twitter feeds.

But it’s this attack on the idea of creating something just for the sake of creating it that I find depressing.

The impression that if something doesn’t have a strict purpose and isn’t there purely to make money, it’s somehow redundant or unnecessary.

This view is short-sighted and simply untrue. We should be embracing our diverse and colourful culture, not stifling it.

So next time you find yourself wondering why on earth someone has bothered to build a life-size bear out of Lego, or painstakingly hand-make millions of ceramic sunflower seeds, give yourself a mental kick and embrace it.

Go on, open your mind.