The cross-over, or overlap, between art and business is dicey territory. Those who are purists in either camp tend to distrust the other camp. Art never deliver on time and the outcome is never known; Business is driven by certainty of outcome and deadlines, to the detriment of purpose, meaning and impacts.

Neither of these view are those I personally hold, and I use language that helps make a point but is probably rare to find in reality. But what I have seen emerge in a number of my conversations (see Mykel Dixon) is the necessity to create fertile borderlands, where art and business can mix, cross-pollinate, and together create something that is deeper and richer for all of us.

It is this borderland that this week’s guest seems to have been playing in his whole life. Arts and Commerce at uni; poet and entrepreneur through his career: Matt Jackson straddles both worlds.

His recently published book, The Age of Affect, is representative of this, mixing original poems with stories of heartfelt business. His current business, Affectors, helps us understand how to move people’s hearts and minds rather than simply and efficiently instructing them in what to do.

I have noticed a change in my own outlook recently, from considering myself uncreative and strictly in the jock slash business camp, to considering myself a creative person with the ability to bring meaning to the world, and how this has given me confidence to create without attachment. In speaking with Matt I was able to understand and explore this even more.

In our conversation we talk about what we can all learn from doing some kind of performance art, and how the process of making one thing can apply to other aspects of our life. There is also talk of garbage, poems of garbage men, and how much reading we can actually do in ten minutes of spare time.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Matt, sitting around a fire at Melbourne’s Botanical Bistro, and I hope you enjoy listening from wherever you are.

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