Vol 5 No 1 | Winter 2024

According to Bait/Switch Executive Director Lu Valena, if you create, you’re an artist. Full stop. When you boil it down, the only thing a person actually needs to get started is an imagination. By that definition, an artist could be anyone who makes anything. One of the most unique qualities of this project is how deliberately, dramatically interdisciplinary it is. We strive to bring together wildly diverse forms of creative expression* and see what happens when they mingle. Whatever your creative passion is, and I certainly hope you have one, we want to hear about it. Bait/Switch isn’t some elitist Manhattan gallery, only showing the work of the single most talked-about, least relatable, least accessible flavor of the month. We’re bringing art of the people to the people, by career artists and passionate hobbyists alike. Visual art, performance, fiber/textile art, writing, design, sculpture, food/drink, and all of the other categories I can’t think of right now are forms of art and belong in our pages.

I’ve heard far too many people say they can’t create anything, that they’re not artists (or not the type of artist they wish to be), and so they don’t bother trying. That is the saddest thing. Years ago, Amanda Palmer’s slogan at the time was “Stop pretending art is hard.” Possibly oversimplified, but it still prompts an important conversation. Sure, making a living as an artist is hard, or making art that is important and revolutionary is hard, but the simple act of creation requires nothing more than an idea and a drive to express it.

“Hey, if art were easy, everyone would do it.” It is, so everyone should do it. The 18 creative individuals featured in this issue are artists simply because they create. And whether you realize it or not, so are you

Last month, Bait/Switch got an official letter from the IRS notifying us that we have been approved for 501c3 nonprofit status! This project is always growing and changing, but that letter was a milestone that marks a new era for us, and opens up lots of exciting new avenues of development.

Growth is not always easy. I still remember the physical, bodily sensation of growing pains that I had as a child. But usually as an adult, growth happens on a more subtle, emotional level. In my experience, it often happens as a direct result of having my ass handed to me by some difficult situation. I have a friend who, when challenged in this way, always sighs and says, “Oh great, here comes more spiritual development.”

But on the other side of whatever tough process the path moves us through, there is the quiet enjoyment of serenity that growth offers. The same can be true for projects and organizations. Of course, the ever-present drum beat of capitalism makes us feel like we have to constantly be in a state of getting bigger, but that isn’t healthy for any living thing. We also need periods of reflection and integration. That is how we get clarity about how we want to grow, and what we need to do in order to thoughtfully do so.

Many of the contributors in this issue worked with themes that in some way address the issue of growing, and especially of working through difficult things. Releasing big feelings. Making peace with ourselves and our bodies. Breakups of all kinds. Building a family. Breaking through barriers. The message I get from this issue is this: doing the right thing is often not the easy way out, but doing it anyway is one way of saying yes to life.

Take care of each other, stay strong, and stay safe.

Map of Works in This Issue

Bait/Switch is an interdisciplinary exquisite corpse project. Every work is a creative response to a piece made by another artist. The project is divided into three branches: cyan, magenta and yellow. This map/diagram shows how the works in this issue fit together, and what came before. You can see the entire corpus on our maps page.