e-artnow

e-artnow
design ***
information (?, not yet)
One more visit? YES
Meanwhile I am waiting the reply from e-flux (something prompts to me in vain) I got an invitation from the new on-line art service – e-artnow, sponsored by Nordic Culture Point. I was contemplating how did they get my old e-mail address but then I saw that their partner is journal “Umelec” to which I wrote several years ago an article. So maybe they donated their e-mail list to e-artnow.
This is actually is not bad because with e-artnow letter I got a hint to one of my questions to e-flux:
2) How much does it cost for e-flux clients to become e-flux clients (senders, not receivers, of course)?
E-artnow plans to charge 100 euro per each announcement.
(I heard from people from Optica e-flux charges 10 times more but since I did not get e-flux reply – I do not know for sure). Anyway if it is true many e-flux clients can move to e-artnow.
E-artnow also announced they have more subscribers than e-flux. Which can also be the reason to change the e-service provider.
51.563 e-artnow versus 40,116 of e-flux.
If these initiatives are not connected somehow.
It could be. Just compare what they write:
E-flux: e-flux is read by 40,116+ visual arts professionals: 47% in Europe, 42% in North America, and 11% Other (South America, Australia, Japan, etc.) 18% writers/critics, 16% galleries, 16% curators, 15% museum affiliated, 12% artists, 10% consultants, 8% collectors, 5% general.
E-artnow: 51.563 visual arts professionals: 53% in North America, 43% in Europe, and 4% Other (Asia, South America, Australia, etc.) 16% writers/critics, 18% galleries, 16% curators, 14% museum affiliated, 20% artists, 6% consultants, 5% collectors, 4% general

Or e-artnow studied e-flux web-site carefully?
Some study is worth its time. E-news service seems to be a profitable business.

e-flux

e-flux
design ****
information *****
One more visit? YES

One of the most effective on-line news services for contemporary art. I subscribed for it few months ago and even if they send 3-4 press-releases every day – it is worth it.
On e-flux web-site I found interesting interview of Hans Ulrich Obrist, famous curator, with the founders of e-flux – artists Anton Vidokle and Julieta Aranda.
Some quotes:
“there was no business plan, no strategy, just the pure pleasure of improvization and mass communication, like running a small radio station or something. Surprisingly it turned profitable, and this enables it to stay fully independent of normal power structures that are just killing everything these days: the market, government funding organizations, collectors and sponsors.”
“we are not at all interested in public service, but by addressing our own needs and interests, we sometimes find ourselves touching on certain things commonly lacking”.
Starting with this interview I wanted to know more about how everything is functioning and took a courage to send e-flux few extra questions. Here they are:
1) How many people are working now in e-flux, who is responsible for what?
2) How much does it cost for e-flux clients to become e-flux clients (senders, not recievers, of course)?
3) You are writing about ”selective approach to the information we choose”. What is a selection criteria?
4) Why do you need to organise off-line events? In what way do they support on-line e-flux?
5) Whom do you consider to be e-flux competitors?

As soon as I will get the reply, I will publish the answers. Really looking forward to it!

Helping Hand

www.helping-hand.ru
This web-site has something to do with art and marketing but most important with despair and hope. It is the story of Russian 20 years old boy Alexey who has leucaemia, and this web site is made by his friends and friends of friends, and just those who wanted to help – to rise money for his operation which costs 250 000 euro and can save him.
They wanted to tell story which appeal but not like a beggar on the street. And decided that art – drawings and essays – would be the best way to talk about the desease.
Web-site, blog cross-posting, posters, letters, publications… The life is at stake in this PR campaign.
Photograph of the people who made the site and essays from it is here.
Can support Alexey? – read here how to do this: http://www.helping-hand.ru/en/howtohelp/money.

Andy Warhol, Moderna Museet

Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms
design *****
information ****
One more visit? YES

Big exhibition with lots of documentary video material on Andy Warhol at Moderna Museet goes together with extra information on the museum web-site: a biography by Benjamin Meyer-Krahmer (the same as the one in the exhibition but with much less photographs), descriptions of films, 20 most notable books on Warhol (from Moderna shop? even if so – good anyway) and story of 1968 Warhol exhibition at Moderna initiated by at that time the museum director Pontus Hultén. What I miss – on-line as well as off-line – is a text why is this exhibition important to be presented now, except that it is obviously an anniversary of 1968 show.
Andy Warhol is not just an artist. He is a media person, media genius. It is impossible just to show his works without problematisation… well… of many things: media, artist position, self-cult, New York, time, television (exhibition presents lots of TV programs made by Warhol), etc. Very hot themes right now too. So I would need a bit of “being with Warhol in dialogue”.
It is in a way boring to follow Warhol’s self-pr and talk about him as about another media star who just happened to make art: just pay attention at the exhibition design! To be more critical and less historical – glamourous-celebrity-New York scene – would be better for Warhol as an artist: a good drawer in his early period and profound thinker in his late period.

INPEX DIY Video festival

http://www.youtube.com/inpexness
design (Youtube)
information ***
One more visit? Maybe later

International Performance Exchange (INPEX) is a Sweden based operation working for expanded international exchange in performing arts. One of its recent initiatives is INPEX DIY Video Festival (happened from 15 Jan to 15 Feb 2008 in reality) and exists in YouTube.
Festival background information written in a very “professional” way. It gives well formulated questions “How important is it in performance to maintain contact and input from abroad?”, “What can a short lo-res video do? Can we maximise the opportunities available to us during an information and communication revolution?” etc.
But the project in YouTube is more or less far from well described ideal. And there is a reason for that. If before creative people had to struggle to get into public events, nowadays curators and managers have to struggle to get creative people into their initiatives. One can always ask – “why should I make my input into someone else initiative (for free) if I can start my own?”
With contemporary Internet tools anyone can provide a platform for other people to contribute. In this competitive situation the first question to ask is “Who really needs that and why? What do I provide for others?” Without a clear answer an initiative will turn into “friends and collegues only” format.
INPEX dance, example. You also can dance it – remember “INPEX DIY Video Festival is open for everybody – also the smallest contribution is life saving” (from press release).

CYland

http://www.cyland.ru
design **
information ****
One more visit? YES

My old wish that The National Center of Contemporary Art, St.Petersburg branch, would start to build up the collection of Russian video art was realised in the frame of NCCA new media center which is based in Kronshtadt in reality and on Cyland.ru (and in LiveJournal) in Internet.
This project made a good start: lots of information was published during its first months of existance, the web site even has Eng version (I hope it will be updated regulary). The tactics is good but I would say the initiative lacks clear strategy which is visible in the way how material is organized – or dis-organized. The authors of this project should answer the questions: who needs thier initiative, why and in what form; focus on some of the aspects more and separate CYland own projects from other material which is published on the website.

Sorry, out of Gas

http://www.sorryoutofgas.org
design *****
information ***
One more visit? NO

This on-line exhibition accompanies the exhibition “!973: Sorry, Out of Gas” presented at the Canadian Center of Architecture (CCA) 7 Nov 2007 – 20 Apr 2008. The point of interest is the architectural innovations influenced by the 1973 oil crisis.
The graphic design is extremly nice. A project-in-project – children story “An Endangered Species” drawn by Harriet Russell – also can be found in exhibition catalogue.
The information presented on the site is limited. Just to give a tast of the real exhibition. But the msg is very clear. The site can be considered as extended exhibition e-flyer.
Website created by Bluesponge.