Thursday, September 27, 2012

How many bricks does it take to build a fortress?

I currently have 12 completed brick panels that could be used to build with. I am making about 3 panels per day. A basic structure of 8 feet long by 16 feet wide with a height of about 8-10 feet in the center would take approximately 80 panels. This means an entire month of production is going to be required before I can build such a structure. The panels themselves cost approximately $20 each in materials without any labor cost and in my case I am using old screens, so the current cost per panel is around $9/ea. If I calculated any labor at all into the cost then the cost per panel would be a minimum of $30-40/ea, then add another $10 for assembly or around $50 per panel. This would be quite expensive for building an actual home, so this project can only be accomplished for fun. I have gotten the weight down to 5-6 pounds per frame, so the total weight of a structure would be less than 500 pounds, not counting the floor.

Removing any advantages for actual construction from the scenario since producing these brick panels for a real house doesn't seem to be a cost saving technique, then I have to have a reason for making them. It is part of an obsession that I feel I have to keep making these panels, because I haven't found a way to profitably use them and I haven't been able to sell them as art. I did make a thinner panel on canvas the other day and I liked that a lot. I'll frame it later and put up a picture for this archive. This canvas brick print could be more marketable than the completed brick panels I am making, but I don't see it as any kind of end point with this print. I was thinking that I could sell them as art and use the money that I make to fund my panels for the experimental structure. If I could sell one framed canvas brick print for $30, then it would fund the production of 3 house panels, minus the cost of the frames. Later it would be two for one if the process worked of selling prints to fund my brick panels.

The fixation on building the panels is driven partially to all of the forces I am feeling in my business and artistic struggles. I haven't really been successful at selling art over the years, besides on t-shirt designs, and so the brick panels are sort of a statement that it doesn't matter what the content is for my work, it is more the process of making something that will last. This is also the result of much of my early crappy work ends up destroyed from being stored in wet conditions or not being made out of durable materials, so I have developed a process for making brick panels that should at least endure my life cycle.

The other fact of my brick panels is that they could create a physical fortress that I think is a defense system against the financial stress that I am enduring. Every time I try to make money from my business or by expanding my real work I get stuck with more bills than I can pay and more stress than I can suffer. Things keep falling behind and no matter what I do to try and find a balance the banks and taxes keep pushing me backwards. It is like trying to sail upwind with a spinnaker. Today I saw that Wells Fargo was charging me ten dollars for each deposit for excessive activity and my wife's pay got attached by the State again for some tax debt. It's a vicious cycle of oppression that only points to one thing, which is destitution. The only way to keep from going bankrupt is to stop making money. I think the bricks are also a business version of if I can't make any money with a regular business venture then I may as well make something that is as meaningless as a brick, but at least it is a tangible measure of my efforts. I will be able to count the days by the number of bricks I've made instead of counting the days that I have been screwed by fees and bills. I like looking at my stack of finished bricks, but I don't like looking at an excel spreadsheet of expenses trying to figure out how I am being with hidden charges and bills while I eek out a small profit so that I can pay my home expenses. The tangible products just need to be turned into a physical currency with some value in order for me to find a balance that hopefully does not include fighting with a bank to make some money.

The other day calculated my odds of selling some brick stickers the other day to raise money, but by the time I added in the cost of driving to the City, $10-15 in gas, $6 in toll and some parking or coffee, it would be $25 a day just to try and make some money. This eliminated the idea of selling stickers like an art project on the streets because I would be working to break even again. The stickers don't cost that much to make, but the time it takes and cost of travel to get to a busy area would make it unprofitable. I am better off to sit at home and not move, then I won't have to eat as much or pay for gas and tolls. Without being completely negative, it does justify trying to do the same thing on the internet where my cost are lower. Either selling stickers or Canvas brick prints, I could push myself to market these as a fundraiser and at least I would not lose money by trying since I can do that type of promotion by sitting still. Links to follow.

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