Toca Me 2016 and what I take out of it…

Matt Lambert started it all with a must-love kind of weird, collection of films about love, intimacy, honesty and youth. Showcasing what he started to do after jumping the commercial, becoming true to yourself in your work. Always try, at least a bit, to influence society to the better. And later all this brutal honesty brought them back, the commercial clients. This time commissioned, not pitched.

So far, I'm trying it a bit with my art side projects. But there could definitely be more of my truth and a push for society in it.

After Matts brutal mix of honesty, Tom Ising brilliantly showed us how good (book) design gets fucked up. The corporate world, the marketing, not getting it. Despite those clients, as they often tend to be, we should still try to resist and not give up.

It's a good reminder for myself and working in a not design-focused environment. The perks got me in, the work is from OK to interesting. The design is missing — and it doesn't always need to be visual design.

Hungry Castle showed how they got into doing big art things. Some for festivals, and the later ones already touring places. Keep it simple, fit in a suitcase. And don't be afraid of doing silly art, just go for it. If the opportunity is missing yet, create it yourself.

Maybe I can try to get commissioned art pieces based on exposure by the LightCave. Create opportunities myself. Do more than just burns? And maybe get to the point where it's positive, money-wise.

James White aka. Signalnoise showed so much, it's hard to put it in a few lines. Basically, the same theme most of Toca Me always had. Do fun stuff, show the fun stuff, the fun stuff might lead to proper work. And also go for the silly, spontaneous ideas, they are usually the best.

I should try to get spontaneous stuff so far done, so something can be shared. Follow the passion, follow the silliness. And get off the fucking screen!

Sarah Illenberger really showed off what you can do with analog things. And she got from graphics for magazines to doing physical objects for itself.

Shop Windows! Might that be something worth considering. Doing arty led things and get paid?

Gavin Strange hit us like a train full of endless energy. His passion about the things he does, is inspiration in itself. Different speaker, different way, same message: Use your time and energy wisely.

I really should refocus my time and energy. Building the table and all the soldering stuff was really fun. And the energy, the LightCave returns through the people, keeps on coming.

Overall, it was again a great and intense dose of inspiration. The underlying theme might be the same in the talks and over the years. But that’s the point. It does work! Not just for one or two people. It works for so many that you can fill up years and years of talks from people living it. It’s the yearly reminder to pull our asses out of the daily routine and try to do it better.

I’ve made progress on that over the past year, partly. And it’s something to build upon. It might be possible to get there, I just need to keep trying.