Last night's Art Blogging Forum at the Miami Beach Library was a good start to a conversation that artists and bloggers should be having. And, in an interesting twist to the typically cyber-world, we had the conversation in person!
It was definitely more of a panel than a dialogue and only a few audience members managed to get any words in edge wise. I think most were concerned about the strict time limitations which was made VERY clear. "The library is closing at 8:30, so we need to end promptly at that time." In fact, the library does not close until 9:00 PM. While I was unable to continue on to Parilla's for more discussion, I am glad that I went to listen in on the start of the discussion about Art, Blogging, Intention, Responsibility, Media, and more.
A few statements remained on the forefront for me, mostly because I disagree with their inherent assumptions:
1) Art is a free-for-all, and consequently art blogging is a free-for-all.
2) Blog v Print Journalism - how they are similar.
3) An artist uses the content of blogs (their own or others) to inform their art.
Today I will address #1 Art is a free-for-all, and consequently art blogging is a free-for-all.
Art is in NO way a free-for-all. I am an artist and I certainly don't feel like a kid running wild in the playground. If art was in fact a free-for-all, then art would really have no standards of quality or artistic integrity. Additionally, this statement does not take into account the systems at play in the world of art making, namely museums, critics, money, etc. These systems of power hamper the free-for-all nature which is a false belief about art making, viewing, selling.
Art blogging - not a free for all either. I don't consider myself an art blogger, as I typically write about whatever random thing I feel like. However, those that do consider themselve "art bloggers" certainly wouldn't just "have at it" with no sense of structure. Or, if they do, I am certainly not reading them because it would just be too annoying to read through poor grammar, sentence structure and incoherent thought patterns.
Where there is some freedom is in the nature of blogging. For one, it's FREE. Yup, nice perk. I can get on here and say what I want with minimal effort. So, it enables me to be more free than on my website. On the website, I have to plan and present myself well. But, again if it was just random rattlings of my mind and boring explanations, then there would be no readership. And, those that consider themselves art bloggers need to have some readership, or it becomes merely a journal.
At a later date, I will address points #2 and #3.
For a detailed account of last night's forum, visit Greener Miami. Rebecca took pictures and created a live blog for the first hour.
Other sources for thoughts on the panel:
Critical Miami
Art Blog
TNFH
Tu Miami (en espanol)
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