An issue I’ve had recently with online platforms is that users are often existing within the boundaries of the larger corporations that own the platforms. Instagram, for example, is a place where it feels like it could be a good space to build and showcase a portfolio of work, and build a community around it. However, the content that is uploaded to these platforms are then governed by the rules set by the owners — the algorithmic recommendations, the incentives to stay on the platform, the pairing of the content alongside ads. These platforms don’t feel like a space that can be personalised and controlled by the users whose content fill them.

So I want this website to first and foremost be a hub for all of my creative and academic work. Housed within it will be links to all of my musical and written academic work, contact information, and a casual blog of updates and ideas. These sorts of spaces do not manipulate readers in any way by the owners of the platform.

Browse freely, read, listen, reach out — do as you please. I’m just here to share what I’m doing, and you’re just here to hear about it (I presume!)

The internet had — and still has — the potential to be an excellent space for virtual community building and sharing of work. Of course, nothing beats face-to-face contexts for this, but there are undeniably things that the net can offer that were not possible before it — primarily, the sharing of work to reach an audience globally. It’s just that currently the social media platforms that claim to be the beacons of these activities are based on goals that aren’t aligned with the values of community, artistic endeavor, and shared experience.

So that is what I’m aiming to do here: host and share my work, and attempt to embrace some of the ‘healthy’ values and goals that the internet can be used to pursue.