I first came across Hugh McLeod’s ‘Gaping Void’ blog about 6 years ago when he was still writing on the back of business cards. To me, these remain the most powerful of his work. Partly because it was a novel idea, but also because Hugh was among the first ‘artists’ to use the power of the web to share is work.

I must admit that I have lost interest in Gaping Void over the past couple of years. In some ways Hugh has ’jumped the shark.’ He has progressed beyond cards to ‘cube grenades, moleskins and large scale pieces and lost the immediacy of his smaller format work. His art has become ubiquitous in cubicle farms and co-working spaces throughout the country. It has become to entrepreneurs what tattoos hare to hipsters. I certainly don’t begrudge Hugh’s success, but I feel that his work has lost some of his earlier intimacy.

So when local social media gadfly Tyler Hurst started his Gaping Void #100ppl campaign, I was skeptical. However, when a few of my friends jumped aboard, I used the opportunity to reevaluate Hugh’s work. While I still think most of his recent pieces lacks the raw intimacy of his earlier business card sketches, there were a few that caught my eye. One in particular was #74:

I was first attracted to this piece because of its clear, stark message. It reminded me of his earlier work. The fact that it is a t-shirt design added additional appeal. But most importantly, the message resonated with me. It spoke to my motivation behind some of the more hopeless efforts that I am engaged in.

Too often we take the easy way out. We accept excuses. We compromise. We takes ‘better than nothing’ rather than pushing for the best possible. ‘die trying’ is a battle cry to fight for what you believe in no matter how hopeless it may seem. Even if you ultimately fail, you’ll still end up further ahead than if you had settled at the first opportunity. As Hugh wrote in his description of his piece:

“Work your butt off doing something you love, something that matters, something that resonates. Don’t worry if you die trying- it’s better to be corpse that once had a go, than a sleepwalker who never bothered.”

(As an aside, 74 is ‘my’ number. I was born in 1974. Whenever possible I chose ’74’ for my sports jerseys. While I don’t believe in ‘fate’ I will admit that sometimes the world has a strange way of working out.)

What are you willing to ‘die trying’ for?

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