Aquí producimos dinero, no arte
Admiro desde hace mucho tiempo a Régine Debatty. Admiración desde la distancia, porque no la conozco en persona. Es más, hasta leer la entrevista Interview with ‘Queen of bloggers’ Régine Debatty ni siquiera soy consciente de haber visto una foto suya (y eso que la tiene en la página). Pero su blog we-make-money-not-art me parece con diferencia uno de los mejores blogs que leo habitualmente –en ocasiones, incluso lo considero el mejor- y un lugar obligado de parada en mis agregador. Trata distintos temas de arte moderno, sobre todo arte digital, bioarte y demás tendencia. Pero como es una mujer curiosa que va allí donde la llevan sus intereses, en realidad nunca sabes lo que vas a encontrar. Si se fijan, en mis «rimeros de enlaces» pongo habitualmente referencias a ese blog.
Un momento de la entrevista:
When asking cultural operators in Europe for culture blog recommendations, Adam Somlai-Fischer (The Kitchen Budapest) rated your blog far higher in influence, immediacy and accuracy than the print magazine Wired. Also the pixel/print conference recently discussed these relationships. How would you describe the relationship between traditional print-media like these and online journalism?
That is a tough and complex question but because you’ve mentioned two people I like a lot, Alessandro and Adam, I’ll try and elaborate a bit.
I see paper and pixel as two very compatible media. They might seem different, they certainly have different rhythms and different rules but I can’t write off either of them from my life. I could say that I spend way more time with online magazines than with paper ones. But that statement applies to certain areas of my life better than to others. For example, one of my passions is beauty products. I’ve completely stopped buying women’s magazines because I find the information about cosmetics on blogs and forums far more reliable. I know some bloggers are happily copying and pasting PR blurbs but I don’t read this kind of blog. I follow the ones who talk with sincerity about the products they review. Man, I’d love to swap places with them. They’d be sent books about media art and I’d receive tons of beauty creams and mascaras. They’d go to ars electronica and I’ll be having anti-cellulite massages in a spa. On the other hand, I always pack architecture and art magazines (in particular the wonderful Volume) with me when I take the plane. I like the image spreads, taking notes in the margins, and I also enjoy the fact that most of what they write about (and the very way they write) doesn’t often has an equivalent online.
More generally speaking, I can’t live without the online edition of The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/). They do an excellent job at making screen-reading utterly enjoyable. It’s not just a question of applying a fancy design or adding sexy photo galleries like other newspaper do. Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which I otherwise like a lot, has an embarrassing idea of what the online edition of a magazine can be: articles are not very often updated, information is generally scanty and there are some vulgar galleries of women in bikinis that multiply page views but not really the credibility of the online edition. The Guardian, on the other hand, has poured an incredible amount of intelligence and energy on its website. Some of its journalists are writing opinionated and reliable blogs, the web architecture is clear and efficient, they make a smart use of videos and readers’ contributions.
But the area I follow most closely is obviously art journalism, critique and blogging. I see loads of connections and mingling here. Journalists starting a blog, sometimes at the invitation of the newspaper or magazine they work with. And bloggers asked to contribute to posh art magazines. One of the most priceless lessons that blogs have taught me is that being personal and laid-back doesn’t have to be a heresy. Actually, when some editor asks me to write a column for a magazine, a chapter for a book, or a text for a catalog, that’s always what they request: the intimate, spontaneous and personal voice they hear on my blog. What they ask for is the point of view of the blogger, who also happens to be an expert in the field. At least that’s what they seem to believe.
(vía neural)