detailed updates (Patreon)

this is my first proper write-out to thank u kind ppl for supporting my work. 

the last month has been pretty great - i’ve had the ability to focus on my own self-directed projects more than at any time in my adult life. what youse are giving me is a degree of autonomy that i don’t take lightly. i was trying to think of what that makes u, does it mean yr my bosses?! not quite, lol. but i do feel accountable to you. which is a good thing, cos it’ll encourage me to be self-aware of the projects i’m taking on, and how i’m contributing to the left and to grass-roots campaigning + organising. i won’t feel able to slack off much, while youse are giving me $, basically. at the same time i won’t be filling out any time sheets for yall :-P

on friday i headed out to the latrobe valley, to coal country, to visit the Earthworker factory - about 5 minutes drive from the recently closed Hazlewood power station. after 20 years of tireless development, the co-operative is set-up in their new space, ready to start manufacturing solar hot water systems by the end of the year. the factory is going to be worker-owned and run, and will take on the decline of manufacturing work, energy jobs (esp in that region) and climate change, as well as worker alienation. that morwell Earthworker site is just one model of the co-operative, which hopes to kinda mirror Spains Mondragon structure, in a way - with other co-ops in engineering, cleaning, hemp and even perhaps an art-workers co-op. i produced this comic for the Guardian + Internazionale a few years ago, which fleshes out a bit more of the background of the project.

i spent the day out there because i’m a member, and am excited about the project, but also cos i’m going to produce some murals and other graphic works to decorate and articulate the project to people. this art work will be collaborative, produced alongside local artists from the latrobe valley region. i’ll keep u updated on this, how it unfolds. 

because the factory isn’t up and running yet, there is no budget to speak of - so without support from u i wldnt rly be able to commit proper time to such work. Diego Rivera’s murals celebrating the dignity and intersectionality of the Detroit car industry gave me a kinda weird spiritual high when i visited them three times last year, spending heaps of hours with them, so the idea of being able to paint the internal walls of a factory with militant, optimistic industrial artwork is heaps exciting for me. 

there were some nice discussions about the possibility of art residencies taking place *inside* the factory floor, once production is up and running, perhaps on the elevated platform that overlooks the massive space.

the victorian state government is selling off massive swathes of public housing around melbourne. thousands of new dwellings will be built on the sites, but most of them will be sold off privately. and the remainder will be re-introduced as “social housing” (a far inferior form of public housing). i was asked by the organisers of the campaign opposing the sell-offs to produce some graphics for the campaign, so i made this flyer

and this stand-alone graphic:

the above image i plan to print on some large-format posters, and mount them on card, and make them available for the rally on the weekend. i will print extra copies of the poster so that thru-out the 'defend and extend public housing' campaign ppl have access to some visual propaganda. i also hope that the graphic can endure for future campaigns, as the issue wil inevitably rear its hed again. this illustrative work / mass large-format printing wld be rly difficult without patron contributions since there’s zero budget, so thnxu

i recently had 4,000 copies of this double sided piece printed in collingwood. one side is the kinda graphic thing u can stick up on yr workplace wall, or in yr house, and the other side is an attempt at a super accessible explainer / summary of where the union movement in australia is at today.

these will be sent out to every subscriber of Overland journal, and provided to every National Union of Workers delegate / shop steward, and also sent to u patreon supporters who r in australia. excellent non-profit queer party Captain Moonlite contributed to the printing costs, so i wanna thank them from the bottom of me heart. ppl shld expect the print in the mail in the next week or two. thanx for yr patience there if it takes me a lil while.

melbourne angel Ben Grant gave me a one-off bump of a donation so i could print the above ‘UNION’ graphic on sum large format mesh material. this will be hung in the main lobby area of the victorian Trades Hall next weekend, for the ‘Union History and Activism’ conference, which promises to be a excellent event. i’ll be there at sessions, and also tabling, selling some drawing stuff. i can’t recommend the conference enough + it is dirt cheap ($10 concession). if u dunno anything about unionism the conference is a great entry point, if u r curio :-)

last month our art studio in the aforementioned Trades Hall was humbled to open the space up to sum of melbourne’s Rohingya community, so that we could together produce banners, signs and placards for their rally on Collins street. the Rohingyan community has begun organising alongside the NUW for better workplace rights (they are among the countries most exploited workers - growing and picking fresh food in regional areas), to speak out against the Burmese genocide, and organise toward better visa conditions. their struggle is worth staying abreast of and lending solidarity to. this Four Corners episode is a good entry point into some of the organising taking place.

we are currently looking into repairing a large format printer we have sitting dormant in our studio, with the hopes of making it available to the broader community, for printing political street posters and other agit-prop. if a large format printer would be useful to you or any campaigns you’re involved in, pls get in touch, as we are trying to work out whether or not this is a resource worth investing $ in.

ok i think thats about all i have to say. thanks again for supporting, it’s fkn nice as, solidarity 4eva.

if u know anyone who might be interested in supporting projects like the ones outlined above, pls forward this email on to them and invite them to contribute to the Patreon - the more $, the more stuff will be able to manifest :-)

luv from sam

PS this cartoon i produced with geeniuses Carol D’Cruz and Sam Davis for La Trobe University’s ‘gender, sexuality and diversity studies’ program just went online u can have a look here if u like, it is about the concept of ‘ideology’

PPS I also launched a new website :-) it has a shoppe inside it if u wanna buy anything, and has links to most of my long-form comics, available 2 read 4 free xoxoxoxoxox