[Field Notes] Maps

Bait/Switch has been going for a year now, and I thought I would take a moment to update you on our progress. I am so proud of everything we’ve accomplished so far, and ready to see this project lift off into something really spectacular.

At this point, Bait/Switch consists of over 65 unique pieces of work, although not all of them have been published yet. These works have been created all over the world. Although I am also CEO of a tech company (who ever saw that coming?), I am generally more of a paper and pencil person. I’m always carrying around at least one sketchbook of some size or another, and enjoy making a ritual of sharpening the gaudy gold pencils that I get from (the impulse purchase section of) the art supply store.

All this is to say, that although I keep all the submissions and related content pretty well organized in the cloud, my methods of keeping everything organized in my brain are super analog. Here is the wall map I have hanging in my studio to keep track of all the places you’ve contributed art from so far:

I have an unofficial goal to someday see a pin in every country on this map. So, if you have a creative friend living outside the US, please share this website with them and let them know we need them. How unbelievably cool would it be to span the entire world with art? While crazy, it seems possible. Let’s do it.

And, I’m going to let you in on the wild pencil diagram I’ve been steadily adding to for the past year.

Really looking forward to someday creating a interactive web version of this for actual navigation on the website. Anyone out there know how to do that? Interested in jumping into the figurative sandbox with the rest of our wild team? Hit me up at info@baitswit.ch!

What else is going on?

Last fall we quietly released four pilot episodes of our new podcast. We think it will add a lot to the landscape of Bait/Switch to have an audio component. Our pilot episodes were all about inspiration and finding synesthesia in daily life. Moving forward, we’re going to be spending more time diving directly into the web of Bait/Switch itself, and we’re psyched. You’ve created so much incredible work, and we’re excited to spend some time talking about some of it.

We’re still learning about audio mixing and other stuff- if you are a sound engineer or other audio expert and hear something funky that we should fix, please drop me a line and talk to me about it! I welcome your feedback and help as we navigate this new territory! Also, if you are a musician and would be interested in contributing one or more tiny 10 second-1 minute bits of music to be used as ‘bumpers’, let me know. We’re currently accepting tiny pieces of music from all styles and genres.

Speaking of Maps, watch this. Karen O seems to get overcome by the beauty of her own song. That’s the best any of us can hope for, right? To quote Kevin Barnes, we should all strive to create something so beautiful that we just can’t sing it.

I love you. Keep making the most exciting work of your life, and try not to be scared.