Blogging and the Arts 2
Sponsored by Rhizome.org at the New Museum
May 16, 2005

There's a lot of art bloggers and they all seem to be related to each other, which is the point of a blog I guess. I knew two of the panelists -- Liza Sabater and Joy Garnett -- so it was a matter of being brought up-to-date on what they were up to, which I could have done by reading their blogs, but it was good to see them in the flesh. Joy recounted the famous "joywar," where she first understand just how powerful syndication and group participation can be when it is focused on a common goal. But then etoy already proved that quite a while ago with "toywar" and, well, so did ACT UP before that. Liza is forging ahead as blog-diva-in-chief and while there is a cultural slant to her work I'm not sure where there is a specific place for art. In any case, she's getting quite a lot accomplished on the political front with a new "Daily Kos" just for New Yorkers: The Daily Gotham.

The other two panelists I'd never heard of and learning what they were doing under the broad concept of art blogging was interesting even if I'm not quite ready to accept that concept. A blog is, after all, just another in a long litany of internet hyperbole athough this one does have some legs. The concept isn't new, just the software. Whether it has anything to do with art I don't know. My inclination is to go against the flow (of information), be off the grid and let people hunt me down. An attentive audience of one is better than the distracted interest of millions. So maybe that's why I never made it big in advertising?

Patrick May wrote a program that automatically uploaded whatever recent image he had on his computer so that they could be syndicated (or at least that's what it sounded like -- I was distracted). Subscribers can keep track of his work (and if he's working). A simple idea but, hey, I'd rather see his work than know what his cat ate this morning.

The other unknown panelist Chris Ashley seemed to have a very long and detailed resume, which he was presenting with powerpoint when I had to leave. He, too, uses an RSS feed so people can automatically receive his artwork made out of html, which looks sort of Peter Halley-ish and is somehow related to political issues.

I'm wondering, are we developing an alternative market, one where you subscribe to an artist RSS feed rather than buy work. Rich people buy art to be near artists so why shouldn't the less rich have that same opportunity? What if, instead of buying a Lucas Samaras "workstation" loaded with all his movies and images you paid a small fee to subscribe and received them as they were made for a year?

Since I had to leave before the Q&A at the end I'll have to rely on reports from others who will post them on their blogs. Hey, I guess that's the point, isn't it?