Hello..
I am a composer / sound artist based in Indonesia, willing to advance my career further. My work is mostly influenced by my surroundings, revealing the impression and thought he encountered from a happening. My interest in other kind of art emerged since my last year of undergraduate study, which then giving me more expanse to express myself, in addition to sound. You can find my works from this link: https://soundcloud.com/steviesutanto
Living as an artist..
The situation in Indonesia does not really support artists to earn a living. Music, in particular, is dominated by popular music demanded by the industry, leaving no room for contemporary artist. Some of them ended up opting to contribute their creative ideas abroad, while some others decided to give up and kill their ideas and shift to the industry in order to make money. These days, I rely on doing some of the industry stuffs in order to make money, however, it is far from enough; sometimes it gets really frustrating, doing something I do not really believe aesthetically. Last year, I got commissioned to write music for Frankfurt's Ensemble Modern, however, this kind of opportunity does not come so often, especially in Indonesia; the video I posted above is the performance of my work in Frankfurt.
My plan..
As a starting point, studying in a university is a good option to keep my artistic activities going on, whilst also surrounded by like-minded colleague. I have been given an unconditional offer to study as a postgraduate student at the University of Manchester in Electroacoustic Music and Interactive Media programme. The course will start on 19 September 2016. This path is going to open a lot of opportunities for me as an artist to earn a living while not giving up my aesthetic ideas in art. After I finish my education, I will put this issue to priority by providing better art educations and activities in Asia, starting from Indonesia.
Cost..
The money from this crowdfunding will be used to cover my tuition fee for a one-year master programme, which cost £15,500. For now, I am still waiting for the school funding decision, which will only cover my tuition fee in UK/EU rate (£7,700). Even if I get that, I will still need to pay for my living. I hope this crowdfunding will help me fund my study, as a starting point of my career as an artist.
As little as £1 or even a share would help me so much!
Yours sincerely,
Stevie