I took an oblique path to Amanda Palmer’s fandom, though I know I’m not the only person to have done so. I had admired Neil Gaiman’s work for some time. When he mentioned her book on social media, I asked for it for Christmas. I read it a little over a year ago and was impressed with the way Amanda approached her art and fan base, so I decided to follow her on Twitter (warning: she occasionally swears) and become one of her Patreon patrons. I was interested in observing the way she approached the business side of her art. I’ve also wanted to be a patron of the arts since I was a young teenager, and since I’ve never become a fabulously wealthy woman who can donate thousands of dollars — or more — to artistic organizations, being one of Amanda’s patrons was an affordable way of attaining my dream.
Amanda creates beautiful work for her patrons on a regular basis. I’ve been treated to her cover of “Purple Rain,” her humorous dance song “On the Door,” and many other things. In one of her posts to patrons, she included a link to a song she had performed several years ago with Jason Webley: “Evelyn Evelyn.” As soon as I’d seen it, I decided that one day I would write about the beautiful videos that sometimes accompany her work.
Amanda enjoys collaborating with other artists — both musical and visual. As a result, some of the most gorgeous music videos I’ve ever seen have come from artists she has worked with to illustrate her songs. Not long after I became a patron, she released the video “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” with art by David Mack.
The song comes from an album she recorded with her father, You Got Me Singing. That album inspired more than just the David Mack video. Amanda released not one but two videos for “Wynken, Blynken & Nod.” The official video stars Amanda and Neil’s son, Ash, and involved a nightlong shoot while he was sleeping. The other video is a stop-motion animation done by Chiara Ambrosio, who also created the video for “Evelyn Evelyn.” It reminds me a little of In the Night Kitchen.
For Christmas, Amanda sent patrons a video for the Basque carol “The Angel Gabriel.” It was filmed in Havana and was created with a host of actors, dancers, and artists. I know that my readers have different religious views and different sensitivities to things like nudity. Amanda is not at all shy about nakedness, and that definitely shows up in this video: there are lots of bare breasts. Some people may find that offensive in general or may simply be bothered by nudity in a video with religious references. Although it’s not the best analogy, I’d say if you saw Jesus of Montreal and were uncomfortable with it, you may want to skip this, but if you were moved by it, you’ll probably enjoy this video as much as I did.
Amanda is generous with her work, so it should be no surprise that she has a robust YouTube channel that includes music, spoken word performance, interviews, and more. I feel bad about sprinkling warnings throughout a post about an artist’s work, but because I want to be sensitive to my readers’ viewpoints, I need to be clear that Amanda is very frank about sex and sexuality. For example, in the discordantly cheery “Oasis” she plays a young woman who was raped and had an abortion. I found it thought-provoking; other people might be disturbed by her approach. I certainly wouldn’t advise anyone to sit down with their six-year-old and roam freely over the site. If you would rather not view what you would not share with your child, then Amanda’s work is probably not for you. And that’s okay. But if you are intrigued by what I’ve shared with you, check out more of her work, and consider joining me as a patron.