A Queen’s alum is showcasing his dedication and will to succeed by living in a 15-foot-deep dirt pit for 30 days.
Jordan Dawson, ArtSci ’17, started a 30-day livestream on Aug. 1 of him living in the pit, which served as an innovative marketing stunt. He also began a Kickstarter campaign for his upcoming feature film. The film is an Odyssey-like film which takes place in the 19th century.
Dawson said using “The Pit” instead of a conventional Kickstarter campaign—where creators present their projects through different types of media to attract pledges to fund the project— had to do with those campaigns becoming synonymous with swindling people.
According to Dawson, a more transparent, genuine way of trying to receive pledges would be to livestream living in the pit. Dawson believes this is a good way to show the extent he will go for every pledge he receives.
Originally, “The Pit” wasn’t going to be a live stream; rather, it was a personal experience for Dawson to prepare for his upcoming role in the film. He decided to livestream the affair to illustrate the depths artists can go to achieve their goals.
“It’s about trying to make sure we don’t make excuses before we even start,” Dawson said in an interview with The Journal. “Not just art, but for all aspects of life, we will find reasons to either not start something or we will find reasons that we can use if something doesn’t go the way we want,”.
“I think people should dare to fail.”
While Dawson encourages pushing boundaries to succeed, he wouldn’t advocate for what he’s doing. In the arts, technique, effort, and talent can get you 99 per cent of the way to success without living in a pit for 30 days, Dawson said. The remaining one per cent refers to artists pushing themselves and their art to the limit.
“I think most of the work that truly resonates with us, is the stuff we remember [from] our life, or is quoted endlessly, or just really moved and touched the soul,” he said. “That one per cent [that moves us] I think is made in dedicated and focused efforts. If you’re someone that wants that then maybe something like this is closer.”
Dawson is a performer who wants to push the boundaries to create that one per cent of art that makes an impact on others, even if he’s unsuccessful. He encourages artists who want to do the same to dare to fail.
So far, the livestream has raised approximately $30,000 in pledges, with a final goal of $80,000.
“I think taking a risk to fully own a failure is nothing but character growth, and I think it will lead you to more success than if you try to avoid the prospect of failure.”
Tags
actor, Film and media, Live stream, Performer, Queen's alumni
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