I hope everyone enjoyed a Fruitful Mormon Holiday yesterday.
Now in other business,  posted something about not feeling it enough to write about art these days.
too bad, but I get it. Thanks for all the snarky fun art criticism, Artfag!
"Among our detractors, the commonest critique was the issue of our identity. We assumed this pseudonym, and its attendant anonymity, initially as a marketing ploy. The Artfag is a delightful moniker, redolent of a bit of self-ironizing humour, a weensy bit of insult. Thus, people might be prone to examine it (back in the day when we dutifully pumped out a paper version) because the name of the author was mysterious and perhaps a bit shocking. And perhaps this reasoning is disingenuous, but we believed then, and still believe now, that the absence of an identifiable name forces the reader to focus on the actual written material. If they don't agree with what's written, they do not have the luxury of dismissing it as the ramblings of an individual; they must wrestle with the material itself, and find the reasons for their disgruntlement therein. And we also enjoyed the idea that our little cahier really did emanate from the Artfag, the collective spirit of all those artfags that populate our city's arts scene, who judge far more viciously than we, but whose sense of social structure prevents the free flow of discourse. Still, our adoption of this anonymity has proven controversial in some small sense, and has given rise to critiques, most of them valid, that we ourselves cannot answer to anyone's satisfaction."
I never had a problem with his anonymity, mostly because I assumed he was an artist and knowing what his work was like would muddy the writing for me. I am curious what the main arguments were against this. ( Anonymity might be the wrong word, he has a name and it's Artfag.)
We've had discussions about anonymity before. I'm a fan if it allows more people to write about art. Depending on how dedicated they are to their art critical persona, writers are often forced to set themselves apart from the art communities they discuss. For artists who also write, anonymity, or at least this internet brand of anonymity which includes a name and an identity and a consistent voice, is an excellent (I'd even say sometimes necessary) option.
Anonymity is one thing but AF didn't leave readers the option for commentary on the website - I'm sure there's been reader response via email but following AF is kind of like waiting for a month or two at a time for an art critical proclamation of one kind or another and then what? They say they imagined readers who enjoyed their writing - but they never reached out through the comment box to actually meet those readers. A little exchange could go a long way to compensate for volunteer art critic status! As much as I've enjoyed the posts, I must also say they have appeared haltingly at best so, disappointingly, they never seemed to sustain much in the way of pace or momentum. I leave my remarks as a fan and not a detractor. Blog weariness comes to each in time. If you don't feel it - it is what it is.
J, how do you feel about bloggers that disable reader comments on their own sites but comment elsewhere. We have a lot of friends between us that do that.
(and for the record, Artfag's web site isn't a blog)
AF says it best: "Let the awkward silence resume"
And also apologies for the vague use of the vernacular - I should have written, general boredom, art fatigue, publishing ennui, affective disinterest, more to life syndrome... come to each in time. When you have the ball you run with it, toss it around or get off the court. The game is on or not. No biggie.
Myself, I enjoyed the snark as well. Though the anonymity factor annoyed me at times, I'd say the snark enjoyment definitely won out. Safe travels, Artfag.
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I hope everyone enjoyed a Fruitful Mormon Holiday yesterday.
Now in other business,
- L.M. 2-17-2009 7:10 am
too bad, but I get it. Thanks for all the snarky fun art criticism, Artfag!
- sally mckay 2-17-2009 2:20 pm
I never had a problem with his anonymity, mostly because I assumed he was an artist and knowing what his work was like would muddy the writing for me. I am curious what the main arguments were against this. ( Anonymity might be the wrong word, he has a name and it's Artfag.)- L.M. 2-18-2009 3:52 am
We've had discussions about anonymity before. I'm a fan if it allows more people to write about art. Depending on how dedicated they are to their art critical persona, writers are often forced to set themselves apart from the art communities they discuss. For artists who also write, anonymity, or at least this internet brand of anonymity which includes a name and an identity and a consistent voice, is an excellent (I'd even say sometimes necessary) option.
- sally mckay 2-18-2009 3:11 pm
Anonymity is one thing but AF didn't leave readers the option for commentary on the website - I'm sure there's been reader response via email but following AF is kind of like waiting for a month or two at a time for an art critical proclamation of one kind or another and then what? They say they imagined readers who enjoyed their writing - but they never reached out through the comment box to actually meet those readers. A little exchange could go a long way to compensate for volunteer art critic status! As much as I've enjoyed the posts, I must also say they have appeared haltingly at best so, disappointingly, they never seemed to sustain much in the way of pace or momentum. I leave my remarks as a fan and not a detractor. Blog weariness comes to each in time. If you don't feel it - it is what it is.
- J@simpleposie (guest) 2-18-2009 6:24 pm
J, how do you feel about bloggers that disable reader comments on their own sites but comment elsewhere. We have a lot of friends between us that do that. (and for the record, Artfag's web site isn't a blog)
- L.M. 2-18-2009 8:33 pm
AF says it best: "Let the awkward silence resume"
- J@simpleposie (guest) 2-18-2009 8:48 pm
And also apologies for the vague use of the vernacular - I should have written, general boredom, art fatigue, publishing ennui, affective disinterest, more to life syndrome... come to each in time. When you have the ball you run with it, toss it around or get off the court. The game is on or not. No biggie.
- J@simpleposie (guest) 2-18-2009 8:57 pm
Myself, I enjoyed the snark as well. Though the anonymity factor annoyed me at times, I'd say the snark enjoyment definitely won out. Safe travels, Artfag.
- Leah Sandals (guest) 2-18-2009 10:59 pm