Live Mic Gigs - About
Live Mic is the tradng name of Social Entrepreneur/community Artist Aisling Hudson.
It would not exist without the patience and devotions of time and effort of Kim Mobjerg and my mother and extended family and without the spiritual guidance from Mic Christopher who inspired all he knew to live life every day as if it were your last. I also draw on the memory of all the close friends and relatives I have lost over the years. x.
I have many aims and objectives with Live Mic. My plan is to tackle the downturn in our economy by promoting and encouraging the growth and development of arts and cultural activities within small and otherwise isolated communities. I want to challenge areas where I see blatant disregard for the ultimate importance of Arts and culture to society.
Every community needs an artistic outlet particularly when travel is not an option. Many towns and villages have been starved of true cultural experiences due to many things such as lack of a suitable venue or lack of apparent need or encouragement maybe this is a post colonial issue or something but its time for change. My experiences of speaking about art over the years has taught me that the reactions received can vary enormously.
For those of us privileged to either have had artistic drive strong enough to see us through our formative years or who have had exposure to the Arts see as I do how important art is for the individual. Lets face it some of us are artistically creative and some of us are not the main thing is that for those of us who are, art needs to be an acceptable line of inquiry, whatever its form.
If you like art at all then you probably have the capability of pursuing some art method whether it be playing an instrument, writing songs or poetry, painting, acting, dancing... whatever. You just have to find your talent. In large towns like Arklow for example there is no real or anyway constant exposure available for the community. We have a gallery that works hard within a tight budget to fulfill a need but general visitors are scarce possibly due to its location as the footfall grew considerably when it was located in a ground floor space. Even with this Arklow falls short.
We need a centre which can cater for community groups activities, concerts, live artists spaces, arts educational seminars, workshops and other inspirational methods of development. A huge influx of emigrants and immigrants who are accustomed to much higher standards and a choice of venue type and music genre are being forced to return to the cities each weekend for their social gatherings. Another reason why people may be discouraged from socialising in Arklow may be the fact that they don't enjoy mainstream music which leaves them with very little choice.
Another huge aim of Live Mic is to engage with the community through the arts by exposing all classes of society to art using gentle multi sensory methods. Live Mic is determined to give art back to society and remove the barriers that presently leave our exhibition spaces empty of visitors. I plan to establish a venue in Arklow with the capabilities of catering for all walks of life through the arts. It will have a performance art space for music and theatre. This space will double up as a gallery and there will be plinths available for sculptured pieces. My plan is to use music as the key to getting society together and while I have their attention expose them to visual Arts also. All my events have themes and the theme of each concert will be mirrored in some way through the visual exhibitions. This whole idea is based on the belief that making art 'ok' to study or pursue as a career will in turn save lives down the line.
It is my intention to bring Live Mic straight into the heart of our societies discord, our prison system. I want to spread the light of music in rehab centres and juvenile detention centres all over Ireland in the hope that I can give people that have been affected by drugs and crime a tool which can act as a barrier against a return to their old path. I realise that art is not the solution but I believe that it definitely is part of the solution. As the curator of Live Mic I have a 'new slate' policy. I don't have a problem with your past whatever it may be and you are always welcome to Live Mic Gigs but I do expect attendants of the gigs to have a common respect for the artists that are performing. For me a live performance is an opportunity to experience art in its creation. It is in real-time. Its like watching a painter paint. I know the songs have been written at an earlier date but the writer is live onstage performing and it is the only place in the world that this can be experienced at that time. There are a million places where people can go to chat and catch up with their friends. I don't mean to dictate and don't get me wrong I appreciate every ticket sale because without that it doesnt happen but to me its a very personal thing and it enables optimal performance.
