Crowd funded "conceptual art"
I'm playing with ideas of recursion and exponential growth and exploring the absurdity of grass roots hype generation for its own sake. The visual style is intentionally rough at these low budget levels to allow for obvious stylistic improvements in future projects. I enjoy making these crude pieces but they are clearly poor quality.
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I was interested in using the Kickstarter site as the means of distributing the project funded by the campaign. This seemed to be an unexplored possibility in the system and offered a convenient way to grow the project (when it was still possible to reach new viewers as KS featured local and new projects.)
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Double Down V8 drops after a couple year hiatus from the Kickstarter scene. We spent a lot of time and a lot of money getting a Masters of Fine Art Degree from one of the top rated Universities in the world and speaking with creative professionals about art. In the spirit of seeking guidance from professionals, DDV8 reveals the expert advice we received from fiverr.com (sticking to our budget earned from DDV7) to critique the previous project.
Double Down V7 ventures into the world of video game play throughs with a game assembled by DSC from code and 3d assets purchased on the Unity Asset Store. Our Double Down HUD tests a viewer's adaptability to the frenetic info saturated world of contemporary video games. The twitch streaming aesthetic gets pushed to the extreme. As the hero of the game, Kickstarter Kid, we virtually break into our friend's homes and computers or bash them on their voxel noggins to coerce donations to the Double Down cause.
None of the other Kickstarter creators took me up on my proposal to match donation funds. I backed several projects as a gesture of good will but received zero reciprocity. Bummer, Kickstarter community...that's a bummer.
None of the other Kickstarter creators took me up on my proposal to match donation funds. I backed several projects as a gesture of good will but received zero reciprocity. Bummer, Kickstarter community...that's a bummer.
One of the things that inspired me to start this project is the often touted idea of the "community" of Kickstarter. Did that term suggest reciprocity in any way? In my experience I would have to say "no". I have, somewhat indiscriminately, donated to over 30 projects while my Double Down campaigns have been running. Not one of those project creators has reciprocated (granted, the nature of my project is off-putting to some.) It is, however, interesting how few of the project creators are also donors to more than just a couple of projects, if any. This can easily be verified by looking at the profile of each creator.
This lack of casual reciprocity has led me to be more assertive in my quest. I am now proposing to project owners who are just shy of success in their final days that I will donate a dollar to their campaign in exchange for each dollar donated to mine. As a token of good will, I donate the first dollar and select to receive no reward. The idea is that we simply help each other to reach our goals by pledging equal amounts of money. Each of our projects stand a better chance of being funded which ensures that pledges by other backers will be received. This seems like another interesting wrinkle in the fabric of the Kickstarter process and one worth exploring. I'm wondering if my sincere offers will be reported as spam, if project creators will feel as if I am attempting to scam them, and if they will feel this is like "cheating" in some way.
This lack of casual reciprocity has led me to be more assertive in my quest. I am now proposing to project owners who are just shy of success in their final days that I will donate a dollar to their campaign in exchange for each dollar donated to mine. As a token of good will, I donate the first dollar and select to receive no reward. The idea is that we simply help each other to reach our goals by pledging equal amounts of money. Each of our projects stand a better chance of being funded which ensures that pledges by other backers will be received. This seems like another interesting wrinkle in the fabric of the Kickstarter process and one worth exploring. I'm wondering if my sincere offers will be reported as spam, if project creators will feel as if I am attempting to scam them, and if they will feel this is like "cheating" in some way.
I've followed crowd funding with great interest since 2013 and found myself wanting to join in despite my lack of a product or network of people ready to support me. The Double Down Kickstarter campaign began on a whim. Making a good project video was something all the experts agree is essential. With no product to sell, my project is simply the making of a better kickstarter video to accompany yet another campaign.
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I started the funding goal at $1 and vowed to create a new and doubly good project video (subject to the subjective nature of "good", of course) with the donated funds. Each iteration will double the funding request. The first videos are intentionally strange, unpolished, even just plain bad. The accompanying gifs are tangentially, if at all, related.
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