godspeed you young artblogger
Post #76 • August 6, 2003, 7:16 AM
The Sacramento Art Project describes itself thusly:
This thesis research project seeks to quantify, in an empirical account, the visual arts criticism and reporting of the five major US art markets outside of New York (Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, DC). Through this site I will attempt to keep track of all local and national reporting about artists regional and local to these markets, in an attempt to determine the seminal impact, if any, of the media on a regional artist’s career.
An intriguing idea. Author Joaqin Klinsman gave my writing high marks in a July 16 post that praised my unsparing treatment of Rocket Projects and made this observation:
I’ve noticed that when many critics write, the human interaction between the critic and artist is missing. ... Why? I think it’s a human thing and critics are chicken shit scared of shaking a hand, chatting with a person, laughing, etc. and then writing something negative later on. This is cowardice.
It may also be diplomacy, something I can manage under duress but to which I have no natural inclination. Again, I associate courage with actions that could result in bodily harm. The worst thing that can happen to me in writing what I write is that I’m going to look like an idiot in public and make the people around me not like me. Since that’s how I spent grades seven through twelve, I’m used to this scenario.
Also, it occurs to me that artblogging, compared to printed criticism, sanctions a greater range of emotion when responding to art. In other words, it is a good format for the authors of the Sacromento Art Project, The Tears of Things, and the site you’re reading now, who get really pissed off about matters of art and its world.
Best of luck to Mr. Klinsman and thank you to the alert reader (Hovig) who brought his post to my attention.