Each time I have a Birthday party, friends, acquaintances and strangers alike present me with gifts. I am deeply grateful and touched by this. Over the course of the last three and a half years that I have been producing events once more, I have had three birthday parties. I have watched the nature of what I am doing evolve, parsed down from a more general purpose- to hold Goth/Industrial events, to a more spiritual, evolved and deeply fulfilling purpose- to forward artists with a common theme- Classical Values expressed with a Gothic or Old World sensibility and aesthetic. Beauty, Love, Truth, Spirituality, Honor, Straightforwardness, Steadfastness, Loyalty... these are just some of the values depicted and infused in the works of music and art of the group of Artists that has gathered around AbsolutionNYC Productions. If I had known, starting out and throughout some of our troubled times that the result of my actions would be that I would become interwoven with this amazing group, I would have been very comforted and redoubled my activity to get to this point. But happily we have arrived. So there you see- sometimes you don't know exactly why you have been given heavy tasks to complete, until you have been in the thick of it, doing it. When you look behind you at all the ground you have covered and are sitting at the top of the mountain, THEN you can "see" what it is you were doing. It's not necessary to know exactly what you are doing when you start out, just start making the motions that feel best to you, and all will become clear when the time is right.
I was touched beyond words to see what my dear friends had brought me this year. One brought the manuscript of a book he had written, photocopied because he has yet to find a publisher. One brought me a stack of comics he has contributed to throughout his career. One brought me a prismic jewel, representative of what HE felt that we represented- beauty, through HIS eyes. One brought (really tasty) foods that she had made from scratch. And so forth. It was this moment that that these gifts made me understand that I was leading the charge toward creativity- and not just any creativity- creativity in the face of nearly crushing obstacles like the economy and the city's draconian policies against nightlife.
It is this quality that we Finnish people call Sisu, which is described in one article as "a peculiarly Finnish brand of doggedness, capable of facing down death itself..." It's a toughness that transcends just having simple "guts", there is an endurance quality to it too, and a fierce independence to it as well. This well describes all we have done, and more...I am particularly stoked that we put on about 150 band's performances last year. 150 performances says a lot about what we are capable of when we put our minds to it, and our bodies to the test. Musicians composed and performed, artists drew and painted, writers wrote, dancers danced... the New York City Gothic Revival has begun and is well underway!
I want to end by saying that the dearest and sweetest gift of all is your time, your company... by consistently focusing on this movement and coming together to lend your energy, you the patron inspire us to higher heights, greater accomplishments. By participating in the movement with your fashions, your thoughts, your dreams, you help fuel this movement, inspiring us ever onward.
