Edward asks that art bloggers answer some questions from Peter Plagens' piece on arts bloggers in the current issue of Art in America. Not that I'm a blogger of any great shakes, but hey, E_ asked and so here we go...
What's the purpose of your blog?
E_ and I met online and when we met in person he thought it would be great to get a collector's viewpoint. I've not been as diligent as I hoped, but I think that The Crionna Collection gives folks an understanding of what a collector of very modest means is thinking.
Plus, I like that the art is on display for all to see, rather than just to those who are invited to our place.
What are the boundaries of your blog?
No politics, but other than that, anything is OK. I just want to say a few things about a few things.
Tyler has cited Joy Garnett's NewsGrist blog [hyperlink added —ed.] as doing a great job of "placing art within a sociocultural and political context." What I see on NewsGrist is a magazinelike interspersing of short profiles, exhibition reviews, op-ed pieces on how other people are covering things, and Village Voice–like political takes. But what does Tyler's comment mean to you, and why are blogs in general better positioned than print to do what he describes?
No Comment
Why can't blogs go further, to the point where there's hardly any discernible difference between artist and critic/commentator, blog and work of art?
Because if I were able to create the art that I collect, I would be too busy making it to write about it.
What scope and degree of editorial control do you exercise over your blog?
Complete. Absolute unlimited power!
What about posting comments from readers, and what about anonymity?
I'll allow it. I might give someone hell who jumps into a thread to attack me or someone else from the veil of anonymity, but only if I'm cranky.
What's "trolling," and why don't some of you allow it?
Being and a** for being and a**es sake. Waste of my time, of which we all have far too little.
Is trolling really so easily identified and universally bad? Is having posters register a solution?
Comment registration isn't a solution for much anything, especially in a low-rent (i.e., low-traffic) niche of the blogosphere like art blogs.
What about liability coverage?
Like if I fall and break my rib? I don't have any. With all due respect asking a blogger whether he has liability coverage for his content betrays a Web-ignorant mentality.
What's the economic model of your blog?
Keeps me off the streets...
How do you see your blog's relation to the established print art media?
My opinions would never be published were it not for the blog.
Tyler and Regina, what's the relationship between your blogging and your work in the print media?
There isn't one.
How do you attract readers/posters other than by word of mouth?
I don't try, but some are kind enough to include me on their blogrolls.
In general, is blog art criticism more open and liberal, and print criticism more closed and conservative?
I dunno, I don't read much print criticism.
Some people say that there's a dearth of art criticism at length on blogs. Is this true? If so, does it have more to do with reading on a computer in general, or with art criticism in particular?
It has to do with the fact that print media writers are paid for length ;)
Art magazines come out once a month. Newspaper art reviews usually appear once a week. Blogs appear more or less daily, and sometimes have updates by the hour. Do you think that the faster pace of blogs will start to affect the pace of art-making.
No. And if it did, it would be because the artists were paying way too much attention to the criticism.
Tyler just said that there's more good art being made by more artists in more places than at any time in history. Is this true? And if so, what's the reason?
Yes. More people feel "entitled" to be an artist leading to more art being produced. More art = more good art.
Do blogs help correct the geographical bias in print art criticism, i.e., the tendency to think that most of the important stuff happens in New York or Los Angeles, and the difficulty of art outside those places to get national attention?
Yes—for people living outside New York and Los Angeles.
One index of a city's gravity as an art center is young artists—perhaps recent MFAs—from elsewhere coming to set up shop. Is that happening in Philadelphia and Portland?
No comment.
Is there any constructively negative edge to your blogging and, if so, what is it?
None so far, unless its the importance of a good frame...
Where will your blog be in three to five years?
Written on an iphone from Huahine? Seriously, hopefully 36 to 60 posts longer with many new posts on new art purchased.
What's the purpose of your blog?
E_ and I met online and when we met in person he thought it would be great to get a collector's viewpoint. I've not been as diligent as I hoped, but I think that The Crionna Collection gives folks an understanding of what a collector of very modest means is thinking.
Plus, I like that the art is on display for all to see, rather than just to those who are invited to our place.
What are the boundaries of your blog?
No politics, but other than that, anything is OK. I just want to say a few things about a few things.
Tyler has cited Joy Garnett's NewsGrist blog [hyperlink added —ed.] as doing a great job of "placing art within a sociocultural and political context." What I see on NewsGrist is a magazinelike interspersing of short profiles, exhibition reviews, op-ed pieces on how other people are covering things, and Village Voice–like political takes. But what does Tyler's comment mean to you, and why are blogs in general better positioned than print to do what he describes?
No Comment
Why can't blogs go further, to the point where there's hardly any discernible difference between artist and critic/commentator, blog and work of art?
Because if I were able to create the art that I collect, I would be too busy making it to write about it.
What scope and degree of editorial control do you exercise over your blog?
Complete. Absolute unlimited power!
What about posting comments from readers, and what about anonymity?
I'll allow it. I might give someone hell who jumps into a thread to attack me or someone else from the veil of anonymity, but only if I'm cranky.
What's "trolling," and why don't some of you allow it?
Being and a** for being and a**es sake. Waste of my time, of which we all have far too little.
Is trolling really so easily identified and universally bad? Is having posters register a solution?
Comment registration isn't a solution for much anything, especially in a low-rent (i.e., low-traffic) niche of the blogosphere like art blogs.
What about liability coverage?
Like if I fall and break my rib? I don't have any. With all due respect asking a blogger whether he has liability coverage for his content betrays a Web-ignorant mentality.
What's the economic model of your blog?
Keeps me off the streets...
How do you see your blog's relation to the established print art media?
My opinions would never be published were it not for the blog.
Tyler and Regina, what's the relationship between your blogging and your work in the print media?
There isn't one.
How do you attract readers/posters other than by word of mouth?
I don't try, but some are kind enough to include me on their blogrolls.
In general, is blog art criticism more open and liberal, and print criticism more closed and conservative?
I dunno, I don't read much print criticism.
Some people say that there's a dearth of art criticism at length on blogs. Is this true? If so, does it have more to do with reading on a computer in general, or with art criticism in particular?
It has to do with the fact that print media writers are paid for length ;)
Art magazines come out once a month. Newspaper art reviews usually appear once a week. Blogs appear more or less daily, and sometimes have updates by the hour. Do you think that the faster pace of blogs will start to affect the pace of art-making.
No. And if it did, it would be because the artists were paying way too much attention to the criticism.
Tyler just said that there's more good art being made by more artists in more places than at any time in history. Is this true? And if so, what's the reason?
Yes. More people feel "entitled" to be an artist leading to more art being produced. More art = more good art.
Do blogs help correct the geographical bias in print art criticism, i.e., the tendency to think that most of the important stuff happens in New York or Los Angeles, and the difficulty of art outside those places to get national attention?
Yes—for people living outside New York and Los Angeles.
One index of a city's gravity as an art center is young artists—perhaps recent MFAs—from elsewhere coming to set up shop. Is that happening in Philadelphia and Portland?
No comment.
Is there any constructively negative edge to your blogging and, if so, what is it?
None so far, unless its the importance of a good frame...
Where will your blog be in three to five years?
Written on an iphone from Huahine? Seriously, hopefully 36 to 60 posts longer with many new posts on new art purchased.
posted by crionna at 9:29 PM
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