What is this really?! And why “Help!”?

ll Lincoln-Line ll is really just about empowerment and life improvement. I'm the Tony Robbins of art. I want to repackage self-help, like a lot of people have done. I’m certainly not the first. People have been doing this, essentially, for thousands of years: Re-packaging certain attitudes and approaches to life that help us feel better and do more.

Right now we've got guys like Tony Robbins and Dr. Phil and plenty of other names people hear and roll their eyes. It’s a shame, maybe even tragic in some cases. But I understand. While I’ve digested these gurus and respect and appreciate them tremendously for how they helped change my life, I rolled my eyes too at the face on the cover and all the connotations that “self-help” evoke.

This tour and this album is the first step (The next step: Turning the Lincoln-Log into a book). They are tools and vehicles for empowerment. The clothes, the songs, the stories are all different ways of getting there, more than just a book or an exercise. It's about forging your own culture in creative and diverse ways. This punk rock Lincoln fashion business is really just an arbitrary stage to facilitate new behavior. It's just an example--a jumping off point for people to get their own ideas and make their own stage and their own clothes or whatever. ll Lincoln-Line ll is about making vehicles and going places.

Un ll Rail |ən'rāl| verb. to let go; to overcome inhibition and feel invigoration; to get out of one's comfort zone; to change perception and experience

My projects are value driven and each focuses on certain values that fit with a simple and familiar concept. With The Bluebird of Happiness, for example, we focus on "foraging" and being resourceful. ll Lincoln-Line ll is about breaking out of your shell so you can take action and do things you might be afraid of. I’m out there doing it, performing, and Un ll Railing, even when I’m really scared and nervous. When I overcome it, though, and look at around, I see how it's contagious and that it's working.

The performance is the start. Then it’s about making as many ways as possible to get there. There is no graduate program or certificate or one step that you have to take in order to do that thing you want to do. There are many ways and many steps you can take (kind of like dancing!). We are all just trying to enjoy life and do well and keep doing better. ll Lincoln-Line ll is a line consisting of many lines or paths, constantly leading and looking for new and better paths.  

Whatever incarnation ll Lincoln-Line ll has taken so far, I’ve seen it work. I feel that charge in my chest because I sense it in the person in front me and in the people around me. There is something there and I want to develop it more. I want to see where this train is going!

I am at a point now where I cannot do this on my own. In a way, admitting that is difficult since I value autonomy and self-reliance so strongly. But I realized this is the case with anything worthwhile, anything that really contributes and serves a purpose. If you want to accomplish something bigger than yourself, you need help. 

Your support would help. On a practical level, it would help with travel expense, train passes, food, etc. More importantly, it will be sending ll Lincoln-Line ll on an incredible cross-country journey where we would really be testing out the project, gathering information and material and ideas through unimaginable experiences. We’ll have an album, more clothes and ideas, and relationships, stories and all the things we learned that we can process and translate into more tools and materials. I will write a book about this, something I can tour with too. The book, based on this journey, will be a nice foundation and reference for the whole project. 

I understand that this, on the one hand, seems a little “out there” and maybe “all over the place,” but this form, or rather, formlessness is the point. Its first impression--that slight confusion and discomfort--is the inroad and the line into ll Lincoln-Line ll. It's that initial leap of faith that will hopefully lead you to new and rewarding things.

Thank you for reading this, for taking the time, and for considering giving support or any kind of consideration at all.

Scott Bickmore

*Made with: Un-Tearable Fabric, Crazy-Thread & Cute-Button

For Pets, Etc! Custom Cut to fit yer pet's neck or whatever the heck you want to wrap this nearly weightless accessory around. Made from the untearable phenomenon of fabric TYVEK ™ Still cuttable with scissors to notch the perfect fit for your most loved one!  

I made these 'cause Skippy was wandering the building and getting bolder (hoppin' walls..into people's studios..then outside in the courtyard rootin' around the garden) I wanted him to have some kind of signifier to show he's loved and has a home. With a Sharpie I like to write right on the Tyvek: "Name" (215) 555-5555

ll Lil' Peace'm Pipe ll Back Story

ll Cape ll For Kids!

*How adorable is this!

*Caped Crusaders at the Krampus Festival Workshop

ll Kilt ll

*Braveheart meets Sid Vicious!

ll Lincoln-Line ll SHENANIGANS*

*follow the fun below :::::)

ll IN THE NEWS ll 

ll Lincoln-Line ll featured in "Designer-In-Exile," a high-traffic blog that covers socially conscious, creative and community based news. This piece talks about how we got started, our upcoming tour, and other shenanigans. Please check it out~!

http://designer-in-exile.blogspot.com/2011/10/lincoln-line-new-media-train.html

ll The REAL story* behind the latest Peace'm Series ll

*When I was collecting the rest of the tree, I met neighbors, Katie and Julian, and got the real back story behind the "birch." 

ll Rajeevfest ll Party Steve's Block Party 10/8/11

ll Lincoln-Line ll playing Party Steve's Block Party in front of THE infamous "Pink House" of South Philly. Everybody was wearing the clothes. Tony was sportin' a black blazer with white cravat as the "Muffin Man" passing around mini pumpkin muffins baked by Julia's Goods. Steve put on a little impromptu fashion show and everybody was getting into it.

ll El Bar ll Open Mic, Philadelphia 10/5/11