[Field Notes] Status Update: Pruning Trees
Things at Bait/Switch have slowed a bit in the last year. Part of that is because things at my day job continue to get more and more crazy, and I have been struggling with work/life balance. But also, the Bait/Switch organism has grown in a way that is not entirely sustainable, which is why I'm posting this update.
When we started Bait/Switch, we started with three (3) branches- Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Two years later, those branches have grown A LOT, to the point where we now have fifteen (15!) branches. This has really slowed down the publishing process since we don't publish work until someone has already responded to it (to keep true to the spirit of exquisite corpse).
Because I love this project and want to see it thrive and grow, I've decided to take some aggressive measures in the name of tree health. Here is what I’m planning to do:
We are going to publish everything that has not yet been published.
We are going to prune all but three (3) of the branches, to allow for new growth in the art streams.
What if my work is the last piece in a branch?
Because Bait/Switch is a collaborative beast that is very much alive, we're going to let the content drive the project. If your work is the last piece in a branch, we will publish a 'Respond to this work' button on the page. This way, if someone out there in the world is moved to do so, they can respond to your work and effectively re-seed the branch (is that metaphor getting tired?). These responses will be a little different because they will be responding to the work in context, but it will leave the door open for the magic that seems to haunt this project.
We are so excited to see Bait/Switch grow- we truly believe the best is yet to come. This pruning initiative will kick-start a new phase, which is still in development but feeling very positive. Thank you so much for believing in this and participating with us.
With love and respect,
- Lucy Valena, Executive Director