Blog This at X-INITIATIVE January 15, 2010 Part I
James Kalm documents this panel discussion which explores the current state of art blogging and the blogosphere. Panel includes: Moderator Robin White, Kelly Shindler of Art21, Barry Hoggard of Bloggy, ArtCat, Culture Pundits, Edward Winkleman gallery owner, William Powhida artist and Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City.
---------------------------
I never though I’d see it happen. As someone whose been involved directly or indirectly with art on the internet since the early nineties (I was one of the first forty people to sign up with artnet.com, in its premagazine days, back when they were going to change the shape of the art market, and give every artist worldwide visibility), I’ve seen it morph in unexpected ways. As the expectations of it as a marketing tool have diminished (with the ever illusive search for a workable business plan) its value as a source of ready information has grown. The advent of art blogging is a fascinating development, and I’ve been one of the first and most consistent chroniclers of that occurrence in hard copy with a series of articles appearing in the Brooklyn Rail. I’ve always loved the whimsical freewheeling give and take of the blogosphere, the juxtaposition of sharp concise statements with total nut bag stream of consciousness rants, creating a virtual Exquisite Corpse. With the hard copy publishing world collapsing and a hunger for a 24/7 info fix, for someone looking for fresh news, views and gossip the online art scene keeps you wired into the world.
However, this still didn’t prepare me for what I witnessed at the “Blog This” panel discussion which was organized by ArTable and occurred at X-Initiative on Friday January 15. I’ve been to these confabs before, even recorded them and published the videos at my YouTube channel. I know most of the players and try to keep on top of the relevant issues, still this latest edition displays a major ground-shift in what we as consumers and producers of the new art media can expect to receive in the future, RESPECT.
The panel was made up of moderator Robin White, Kelly Shindler of Art21, Barry Hoggard of Bloggy, ArtCat, Culture Pundits, Edward Winkleman gallery owner, William Powhida artist and Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City. It lasted about an hour and a half and was attended by over a hundred people, many of them bloggers themselves. But the astounding part was, after the presentation, Jerry Saltz, the current dean of New York art criticism appeared out of the shadows strolled to the dais and congratulated the panel members on their presentations. This tiny gesture represents a massive change of focus. This would have never happened even a year ago. Art bloggers ain’t just a bunch of nerds at keyboards, they’re the future, and the establishment is taking notice.
To all you toiling away in the blogosphere, the old aesthetic hierarchies are crumbling, take heart, your time is coming. LONG LIVE THE NEW MEDIA.
I’m embedding a couple of vids from “Blog This” as well as two older programs “The Art Bloggers Conference New York 2008”. If you have time to view these pieces, the comparisons are remarkable.
Blog This at X-INITIATIVE January 15, 2010 Part II
James Kalm documents this panel discussion which explores the current state of art blogging and the blogosphere. Panel includes: Moderator Robin White, Kelly Shindler of Art21, Barry Hoggard of Bloggy, ArtCat, Culture Pundits, Edward Winkleman gallery owner, William Powhida artist and Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City.
The Art Bloggers Conference New York 2008 Part I
James Kalm drops in to document the goings-on at the second meeting of the "Art Bloggers" at Red Dot. We begin with introductions of organizer and MC Joanne Mattera, panelists including Sharon Butler, Carol Diehl, Paddy Johnson, Carolina Miranda and Edward Winkleman. Preconference subjects include funding, blog porn and sponsorship. Other bloggers in attendance were: Chris Jagers, Megan and Murry, Franklin Einspruch, Chris Albert, Stephanie Lee Jackson, Steven Alexander, Olympia Lambert and Andrew Robinson.
The Art Bloggers Conference New York 2008 Part II
James Kalm wraps up this report with brief excerpts from this panel discussion.
As the media matrix shifts to the World Wide Web, perhaps the greatest paradigm shift of our lifetime, traditional journalistic and critical forms are changing to fit this new mode. Issues of journalistic ethics, free use, conflicts of interest, critical responsibility and the literary motivation of art bloggers are all debated.