Where to next?
Hello!
So on Monday I lost my job, sort of. My contract at the University of Melbourne ends on June 28th, my boss and I were hoping that the University would allocate us more money and I could continue working in my job. However, as you can probably guess - they didn’t. Thus ends my time working at the Wattle Fellowship!
Initially I was quite sad - in a lot of ways this is the best day job I’ve had in a long time. It’s one of the few places I felt that I really wanted to try and push. Compared to the past 2-3 jobs, which were ok-to-bad, it was refreshing having something I wanted to do well. At the same time, as Tall Poppy and my own art life have been growing it’s been exhausting trying to do all three. The day job was often quite full on and I would regularly just be totally worn out. When I get really exhausted often my depression hits hard and I can be in a slump for a few months, so keeping some gas in the tank is a must, and I’m not good at doing that.
I felt a small amount of grief, as I feel my time in Education coming to a close. Being a High School teacher was formative and amazing, but ultimately the profession was making me exhausted, cynical, snappy and stressed. My time in Unis has been great, but the inherent insecurity of work just doesn’t feel like it’s worth the amount of effort I put in working a 9-5. If it takes this much out of me and I can still be canned with less than a month’s notice why should I keep putting tons of effort to staying in the system? It pays the bills and is stimulating, but it’s also admin-heavy, fatiguing and often insanely boring.
Over the last few days I’ve had a lot of meetings with folks in different parts of art, education and publishing and I’m feeling more excited than nervous about what next.
But! Something I’m trying NOT to do is make all the plans right now and overly-enthusiastically barrel into the Next Big Thing too fast. I want to be proactive and considerate and these things can fight each other at times. I am certainly guilty of moving too quickly rather than too slowly. I get excited quickly and excitement is a fast feeling, for me.
But, in broad strokes, here’s what I’m hoping to do while working out what next:
1. Take the rest of the year off from a full time day job.
2. Run some more workshops, publish some more books, do some casual teaching
3. Do a big dingo roadtrip in July
4. Potentially exhibit some work in August
5. Attend Photobook NZ (where I’m teaching), Singapore Art Book Fair, Taipei Art Book Fair, Polycopies, Same Page, Tokyo Art Book Fair and Bangkok - well, we’ll see which ones accept my applications! If anyone is a smooth applicator pls get in touch I want to learn from you.
If this goes through I’m hoping to be on the road selling books and hanging out from October to December.
6. Upgrade Tall Poppy’s web presence, product photos and a few other things to make the business more mature visually
7. Set up 2-3 exhibitions for 2025
8. Have a holiday in China with my girlfriend
9. Laying the ground work for the next 3-4 years
There’s a lot on - BUT there’s also so much down time. August and September for example I have like nothing really booked in (apart from Photobook NZ) - so those are casual teacher months, but also quiet time.
I’m really looking forward to coming back to Melbourne in August and looking to change my life a bit. At the moment there’s a lot of pointless down time that is fine because I’m productive in other ways. But do I want to be playing loads of video games when I’m not working that much? I think that something I’d like to change in myself is having some more routines that are small but more well-rounded. Like going for a walk every morning rather than playing some video games like I do now. I think there’ll be more space and I want to cherish that and maybe grow into a calmer place rather than what I do now which is more like manic relaxation and I think that doesn’t quite feel right if I’m not then going to the office and smashing out some great work directly afterwards.
Anyway - I hope you can sense my excitement and get a sense of where I’m heading. I was quite sad for a day or two, but it’s actually ok - I’ve been chafing at the bit for a few years now, a bit sick of fixing CRMs, negotiating project parameters or data entry with 5 teams over email, trying to get HR to clarify something, etc. I have wanted for a long time to look after myself and drive myself and build my own world. I’ve been doing it but now I have the chance to do it more.
ALSO! Some things for you!
International friends: Tall Poppy has FREE GLOBAL SHIPPING for the whole of JUNE - just use code ‘EOFY’ at checkout and get it delivered for free.
I’m teaching a workshop next weekend and someone dropped out (baby sitters!), if you’re interested pls sign up. It’s short notice and there’ll be one more this year in Melbourne.
I’ve been doing more paid writing work and I’ll be happy to share it when it’s published, but if you’re ever in need of some writing let me know, it’s honestly one of my favourite ways to earn some $$. Niche, but can’t hurt to let folks know.
Talk soon :)
Matt