Mutantspace
Skills Exchange and DIY Arts Festival

Mutantspace.com is a skills exchange made up of a loose online co-operative of people who want to play, make, create, experiment and fail on their own terms in a world in which exploration is indistinguishable from creation.

To do this we’ve had to be autonomous and that means we’ve had to create a new way of doing that is not dependent on funding, the state or corporate sponsorship.

So what we’ve done is create a gift economy that enables all people, of all ages, from all places, walks of life to share their skills and experience for free with other members of mutantspace. This principle of collective sharing gives all members more time and space to play around in. It also gives everyone the opportunity to meet new people, have new experiences and perhaps come across something weird and wonderful that they never thought of before.

On a practical level we give people the opportunity to try something out, give something a go, experiment with a new idea, give people free access to creative skills, technical help, marketing support, management advice and production expertise. We provide members with designers, sound engineers, venues, directors, dancers, actors, artists, writers, musicians, computer programmers, photographers, marketers, administrators and filmmaker and more all for free. Why? Because every member has one thing in common, they all believe that by working together we can achieve autonomy and creative independence.

Mutantspace.com works by using our own skills rather than money in exchange for goods and services. In practice this means that every time one person joins we get stronger, more viable, closer to the point where we can operate completely independent of the current cultural economic model that is based on capital, funding, bureaucratic structures and state intervention.

We currently run:
-A skills bank for all our members to use whenever they need it.
-A members blog for members to publish reviews, essays, poetry, short stories, recipes, music, videos, promo pieces, profiles, whatever they’re interested in.
-A DIY Arts Festival called The Trash Culture Revue which is held twice a year and is entirely produced through our skills exchange and is open to all members to participate in.

EVENT

DIY arts festival, The Trash Culture Revue, is set to hit Cork City with an eclectic mix of art, literature, theatre, gigs, slam poetry, film, food and workshops. It’s like no other arts festival in the country as it’s all produced on a zero budget by members of Ireland’s only free online arts skills exchange, mutantspace.com.