Really?…He’s no one. He’s a figment of an imagination; a logo; a totem; a picture of a man discovered in a garbage pile and repurposed to represent the kind face of a an alternative way of thinking within a generally selfish industry [The Music Industry].
For over 6 years, he sat above The Pitz studios in Sydney, a privately funded all-inclusive arts space, functioning as hub of connection and support for all who used it. It was a basic accommodation for touring artists, rehearsal and recording space and marxist experiment. Usage was based on cost alone with no mark-up pinched from struggling musicians. By the end of its life, the hourly rates were less than when they started through enthusiastic usage from a community of bands.
These bands would use their time to fundraise for upgrades like air-conditioning, participate in cleaning and painting and also ran a 2-night fundraiser for the demolition of the studios, when unscrupulous landlords ultimately pulled the pin.
All the while, the kind and unassuming face of Barney Collins sat above the doors, watching a network of strangers working together to make a family atmosphere in an otherwise generally dog-eat-dog industry.
Sitting dormant in a drawer since, he seemed the perfect mascot for an enterprise of artist-friendly activity – without the chagrin and menace of landlords and such hurdles.
Here he could represent the best bits of his supportive past, without the encumbered potential issues of bricks-n-mortar.
