I don’t remember when I started following Kim Boekbinder, The Artist Also Known as The Impossible Girl (or TAAKaTIG, for brevity), but I do remember when she first responded to one of my Tweets. I posted a picture of myself in her “Kim Boekbinder believes in me” t-shirt with commentary along the lines that I wear it whenever I feel immersed in a pit of self-doubt. Kim said, “So all the time, basically.”
Yup, pretty much, I wrote back.
I’m not one of those people who believes that everything happens for a reason. I’m more of one of those people who believes that everything happens. And yet every once in a while, something happens that makes me reconsider that pragmatic if chaos-loving stance. Becoming friends with Kim is one of those things.
We’re not close friends. We don’t call each other up or braid one another’s hair. When I have a problem or a celebration, Kim is not the first person I text. She’s not even the seventh. That’s not Kim’s role in my life, though I’d be open to it if it were. We occasionally do things together like go places and eat dinner; we’re often at the same parties. Sometimes we Gchat. We’re not close, but we are friends.
Despite my ethos of chaos cut with pragmatism, I do believe that Kim is in my life for a reason. I believe that Kim shows me that sometimes, if you work hard and are genuinely nice to people and completely true to yourself and do your best to make art that means something to you, if you do all this (and even if, or perhaps especially if, you fall down and fail and then come back again with a radical tactic and a galvanized sense of purpose), you will do something new, something wonderful, something magical, and something transcendent.
Kim may call herself the Impossible Girl, but I’ve come to think of her as the “Anything is Possible Girl.”
Last spring, Kim had a disheartening touring experience when attendance at venues was low because the club hadn’t really marketed her well, or properly, or at all. It made Kim sad, so she drank whisky, which got her drunk and in turn gave her an epiphany. She decided to create a tour based on her fans’ desires and to use Kickstarter to presell her own tour. I’ve already bought my ticket for her New York show, but if you live in San Diego, LA, San Fran, Seattle, Portland (the one in OR), Minneapolis, NOLA, Boston, or Hartford, you can also see her there. Or you can just throw money at her. She’ll catch it.
I believe in Kim Boekbinder, and not merely because my shirt says that she believes in me. She’s got this combination of artistry, savvy and grace. It’s a combination that’s unicorn rare, and it’s why I feed her dream. This and the fact that she does make some really good music.
Deep existential funks are low down dirty playing moods. But I'm hopeful hearing you may be inspired by your friend. I'm just a selfish fan, a consumer of arts and other lovely things, and so hope you're feeling true to yourself and producing art that means something to you.
Posted by: Jason Power | 30 August 2011 at 03:54 PM