My first day at the Big Fag Press
My first day at the Big Fag Press (BFP)was certainly interesting. It took me two and a half hours to get there by train and light rail, and I have to admit that I couldn’t help asking myself if this internship will be worth it. Doubts started to enter into my mind about how I am going to juggle travelling up to Sydney once a week with family, study and work. I also was worried about being a mature aged student – questioning if people really could be bothered sharing their skills and knowledge with someone like me who is not young and has no experience. I had to keep telling myself to just give it a go. So I took Teo’s (my internship supervisor) advice and went in with absolutely no expectations, good advice!
I was surprised at where the Big Fag Press is located – it is in one of the archways underneath the light rail. A little hub facing Jubilee Park, it has a great outlook, with people wondering by walking their dogs, and right next to the Men’s Shed.
I met Diego Bonetto who is one of the artists who run this organisation. He poured us both a coffee and we sat down and he told me all about The BFP. Basically it is an artists’ run company, and the ‘Big Fag Press’ is an old offset lithography printing press. It is used for artist prints and is quite expensive to run, but produces an income for the organisation.
Diego was so generous with his time and sharing his knowledge and went through what I might get out of this internship. He said I would make connections in the art world, and explained how important that was. I would learn all about printing using the Press. I would meet other artists and get to see their work. I would learn about an artist run community organisation – from applying for grants to doing up press releases. He said I would also learn how to deal with the media. This all sounded great to me. I’m nearing the end of my degree and starting to panic as to what I do when I finish. So if anything, this internship will give me a taste of what it is like to be a direct me to community based artist, and I’ll no doubt find out if that is right for me or not.
Diego explained that the BFP is in the process of clearing out anything they don’t use and cleaning up, getting ready for a new renovation, after just having their lease renewed – their space is provided by the Sydney City Council for free, so to have that lease renewed is very exciting (and probably a huge relief). Diego’s girlfriend, Marnee Fox, is an interior designer who has volunteered her skills to manage the renovation with all members contributing (I think that includes me!).
For this first day, I followed Diego around a lot and felt like I was a real pain to have around, even though Diego made me feel really welcome, I had no idea of what I should be doing. It was just like my first day in a new job, and I could feel a bit of panic setting in because I wasn’t busy. I really felt like I was taking up all of Diego’s time and stopping him from working. I ended up helping Diego set up for photographs of equipment that needed to be sold and we bounced around ideas of how to word advertisements on social media that would entice people to come to the renovation sale they were having on the weekend.
On the way home I was still wondering if this is going to be worthwhile. I was tired from having to get up early and I know I am going to get sick of this travelling. I made a pact with myself to just give it a go and try and see it though. Any experience, whether good or bad, has to contribute to my learning.