Gabberissue #18: Inspiration
Art by Tim McPherson and Matt Bladin.
Guest edited by Phoebe Sloane.
Coincidentally, they are all from CHE Proximity, Melbourne.
Wearing mouldy trackies and half a jar of a purple-antioxidant face mask smeared all over my face, I couldn’t be more excited to hit the publish button on this issue. Not because I’m 99.9% extroverted and fishing for any morsel of a like on LinkedIn…but rather the opposite.
I’ve never felt closer to our industry. Or prouder.
The past few months have been disheartening and challenging, but to see how everyone has adjusted has been nothing short of incredible. Gabberissue #18 is a real testament of this.
When I first pitched this theme of inspiration to Jess and Siobhan a few months ago, I had no idea how much we’d end up needing it in our lives. Those little but important moments of escapism it would provide, as we work from our dining room tables, sheds or in my case, my literal wardrobe.
Inspiration feels like one of the only ‘constants’ in our creative lives since venturing into iso.
Derived from Latin’s ‘inspirare’ meaning ‘in spirit’ or ‘divine guidance’, inspiration is a mysterious occurrence that comes to us when we least expect it. A weird conjuring of sorts that we try to summon when we feel like we’re in limbo.
To navigate this creative witchcraft, I thought it’d be best to ask some of the best about what inspiration means to them:
Our gift of the Gabberer, Jeremy Wortsman believes we can find inspiration in pretty much everything: podcasts, meditation and even your own open tabs.
In Team Talk, pop musical duo Kllo find theirs by working with each other.
North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey believes a good story can make for great art.
Keeping kids inspired is an art-form in itself according to Jess.
The other Jess, (Jess Wheeler) believes a blank page is all you need.
Or maybe even less. Sam Dickson thinks even the shittest of ideas can make for great inspiration.
Trent Hendrick loves and hates it. While Shaun and Josh mostly love it, likening it to a fickle relationship.
Ben and Nic just argue with each other to get inspired.
Oli finds inspiration a struggle in isolation. While Bec and Ben have found ways to substitute it.
Sometimes it’s in an obvious place. For author Brodie Lancaster, she finds it at the end of her nose in a good book. AWARD School student Liam reckons it is buried in the depths of the internet, while Sarah and Molly have it all mapped out.
But perhaps it’s somewhere a little more obscure. Aaron found his at the bottom of a notorious comment section. And Harry made his own InspirationTV channel to blast your brain with it.
If you’re like Siobhan or Zac, you might even get off on it.
Thank you Jess and Siobhan for letting me man the Gabberish fort and to everyone that contributed.
I hate to say it, but you’re all very inspiring.
