There really is a fine balance. To be real, seeing Sydney’s number of hunted artworks on last year’s T-shirt brought me back in. Which made me think: “I was significantly part of this.” - reeled in by the gamification. I do try to strike a balance between both the quantity and quality that I upload. A lot of the research is indeed quite comprehensive and time-consuming; lots of investment is really needed with an ongoing project like this!
When this topic of adding works to a different city first came up, I was keenly waiting for a response. The whole thing about the ‘hunt-in-your-hometown’ approach I will understand, but when seeing so much of my state unmapped, it is difficult to just let it stand idle.
When I’ve asked myself the question, a few thoughts come up:
"Fantastic, I’m looking forward to working with them and hunting together. "
“Whoa, it’s so good to see so much undiscovered artworks! Crowdsourcing really works out so well. I follow many Sydney-based street art photographers and I appreciate all of them and our friendly, cooperative nature. I wish I could bring them to SAC.”
“Hmm, some of their additions are missing information. Wait, is this a third-party photo? That’s okay, I’ll edit. Maybe I’ll try to nudge them towards the right way. Hold on, why is it quite difficult to get in contact with them? They don’t have their Instagram or website linked.”
“There’s the possibility of ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. The last thing we want is to discourage new hunters by breathing down their neck and watching over them like a hawk, so I will re-evaluate my approach and rapid editing with fellow hunters to ensure they stay on the platform. Stef knows.”
As a collaborative, I’d like to remain as harmonious as possible. Mainly the reason why I’m venturing to places that don’t have many hunters or artworks. So although I love Tokyo to bits, Osaka in Japan is where I’ll focus my mapping in the end of May as a city not existing yet.
I’ve gotten Noa’s email for the research, so I will start to think of some ideas for it.
I think I’ll reach out to Andrew Haysom from Melbourne and see what their team’s best approach is to getting my Melbourne stuff added.
I appreciate your thoughts and look forward to what solutions you might bring. Balancing growth with sustainability. I will be more patient and focus more on the unmapped cities/places. Like regional NSW!