ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected

In April of 2008, I’d come to an impasse on my screenplay and was regarding even the words I’d written on my grocery list as being poorly formed. I was still logging keystrokes on the computer daily, but a significant number of them were going to buying toys on eBay. Then fate intervened in the form of an ad my girlfriend spotted on Craigslist. It seemed a local company was seeking a designer toy writer. I got the gig. I wrote and wrote. In September, I was promoted to Editor. I wrote 1,965 posts, and now I can’t stop writing. My shopping list was recently short-listed for a Nobel.

It is with some sadness that I step down as Editor-n-Chief from ToyCyte. This has been the best job I ever had. It was so good that it seldom felt like a job at all. ToyCyte added a new voice to the blogosphere: one that’s useful, but also interesting, honest, critical, devoted, irreverent and fun. With custoMONDAYs, we shined a light on artists doing awesome work, but who are unable to get past the “namist” attitudes of other blogs. I’m incredibly proud of the 20 artists who have appeared in the series so far.

In a classic case of right idea/wrong time, the economy conspired against us, though. With ToyCyte’s parent company falling on tough times, funding for ToyCyte was severely cut. Unfortunately, my landlord won’t take Toy2R as tender.

In a little over a year, I made a lot of friends, bought a ton of toys and had an absurd number of pages indexed by Google. If there is a silver lining to this dread recession, it is that a large number of creative people are coming together to help each other. All of this dialogue has given rise to a number of exciting ideas and collaborations. I just told you about Doodlesplatter, my Jon Burgerman blogography. We’re currently at work on a new project about DIY and “disposable” art. If you’d like to get the first word on when we go live, drop a message with “subscribe” in the header to info [at] artkivers.com. If you’re an artist working in different mediums in scattered locations and you’d like a cataloged and centralized artkive like Doodlesplatter, chat me up!

As Alex Pardee notes, my biggest blogging rival is the sloth, so I’ve got to keep on my toes. While I work on my script and court an ISBN, I’ll still be representing in the blogosphere. I’m always up for new opportunities, so get in touch if you’ve got an idea. Feel free to follow me on twitter or drop me an email at jeremy [at] artkivers.com, and if you’re in the Bay Area, you’ll still see my jafro around town. This has been an utterly excellent ride. Writing for you has been a dream. Big ups to Jason and Rich and Collin (and all the other people who contributed to ToyCyte) for making it all possible. To everybody: Keep making your art, and I’ll keep writing about it.