Saturday, July 21, 2007

Wanted: A name

Okay, John is back from NYC. I know there was a delay in the search for the perfect name for the exhibit, so here is a list of all of the titles that received multiple positive comments --

Dashboard

Portmanteau
Blart
BL/ART
bl'art


2.0
2.0: We are They

Blart came in as an early winner, but it seemed like there were some very strong counter-arguments that have kind of knocked it out of the running. There were a few people that mentioned Dashboard. And a couple people talked about 2.0. For those of us that are unaware of the meaning, the following is from Wikipedia (the rest of the article is here.)
--

Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2003[1] and popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004[2] , refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. O'Reilly Media titled a series of conferences around the phrase, and it has since become widely adopted.

So, really, there is no consensus about the name even if there were a couple people that expressed strong opinions. Let's give this one more go and see if we can reach a real consensus. Yes, you can still suggest new titles and you can resurrect one from the previous post.

20 comments:

Cable Griffith said...

how about "Linked" ?

(as the title for the show, that is)

Cable

Lisa Call said...

Art 2.0

John Morris said...

I like linked-- the main problem with a lot of the others is that they are a little to insider. 2.0 is also pretty universaly known, I think in terms of becoming a catch phrase for the open ended format of the web. Dashboard-- is to me something pretty universaly known among bloggers but perhaps not by other people.

The other thing about 2.0 is that it trancends just blogging and and describes all kinds of potential online projects.

Marc Snyder said...

I think it will be critical to the success of the show that viewers, both online and most especially those who first encounter the show in one of its gallery settings, are encouraged to participate with the show somehow through the blogs.

Otherwise the show is vulnerable to the criticism Bill Gusky raises in a previous post, that the wide-ranging nature of the work visually doesn't justify being brought together as a single exhibition. To make the show "work" as a whole, the blogs need to play a role beyond the coincidental. The interactive/participatory nature of the web really needs to come into play.

That's where a title like 2.0, (right now I'm liking Art 2.0: You are We are They, as that "you" might be an invitation to the viewer) needs to reach out to the viewer and encourage them to seek out the blogs to complete their experience of the show. Ideally it wouldn't be enough to simply know that all of these artists blog - there should be some interaction built into the exhibition. Some encouragement to comment, and some expectation that those comments will reach the artist and receive a response. . .

Steven LaRose said...

Once a name is settled upon, a unique blog should be created and each participant can post the images they've created and then the site could be left open for future comments. It would be sort of a tombstone and beacon for the exhibits. It could be an online catalog with the text submitted by the "You, we, they's"

Mark Creegan said...

I like the interactive ideas, maybe that is something someone offsite (John and Susan got enough to handle I am sure) can work on.

I like "Linked" for a title or just "Link" as an invitation to link your own ideas. Perhaps it sets up an expectation that these works be linked conceptually or visually. The fact that they may not sets up interesting disappointments and reevaluations.

None of the other titles have grabbed me so far.

Mark Creegan said...

link

hmmm, lowercase looks good. But I am minimalist :)

Steven LaRose said...

I could live with
link
I had to try out "linking" though. . .

Lisa Call said...

When I hear/see the word linked I immediately think of linkedin - a popular social networking site for professionals that's been around for years and in some circles is going out of favor since facebook has now opened up to everyone.

In the next year or 2 I suspect one of these will emerge as the favored social networking site for the professional world.

Which is all a bit off topic - just the association I come up with as this name is tossed about.

Anonymous said...

okay, i will say... a few of these sites are barely blogs, they are rarely updated artist's websites. i can't relate...

don't like 2.0, and think that is way too obtuse. yes, i am on the internet a lot, but have no idea what 2.0 means. because this show is so blobby and amorphous, i am still liking fun and goofy stuff like "it came from the ether" and blart.

i really wish some other artist bloggers were included, like roberta fallon and libby rosof, hans heiner buhr, carol es, anna conti, warren craghead, tom moody, chris ashley, christopher reiger, zoe strauss... others.

great work + great blogs.

Steven LaRose said...

"Linking the Ether to the Blart"
a case study in 2.0

Steven LaRose said...

Dammit!
I meant to change my pic for that comment.

and just wait a minute!
Did that asshole just call me "barely a blog?". . .thems fightin' words.
Some of us have "real" lives Martin (some of us don't).

Marc Snyder said...

There's always "The Blogger Show". . .
I heard that one somewhere. . .

Mary Klein said...

Any of the forementioned titles, save bl***, work for me.

That said, what do you all think of this?

"20+ 2.0 Artists"

John Morris said...

I want to make an honest admission, that relates to the comment that some of the included artists websites are "barely blogs" First of all, it's hard to define the term bog-- I think it's part of a much larger trend towards linking and openess.

The honest fact is that--- I am doing this show without much in the way of resources, in a city that is -- in spite of having, a lot of big time art assets, and some very good artists-, not well linked to the world and sadly behind in terms of it's artist blogging culture. For practical reasons-- The shows will tilt more towards Pittsburgh than might seem fair. If this was a heavily funded series of shows, being put together by big galleries or institutions-- it would not seem fair or right. I am doing the best I can.

The other reason I am tilting towards Pittsburgh is that I am trying to give some of my local artists some exposure and interaction with the outside world.

My wish, is that this will be the first of several shows of this type and that the idea can be done better later.

John Morris said...

Warren Craighead is in this show. Zoe is someone I very much want in--if I can do it.

Part of the issue is simply one of logistics and finances-- which is why I am very eager to extend the show online.

Marc Snyder said...

Hi John and all,

John, thanks for all of the work you are putting into assembling the shows and the spaces.

I've mentioned to a couple of folks that I would be happy to put together a cyber-exhibition of all of the artwork from all of the venues, with links to all of the blogs and any other supplemental online material, on my http://www.fimp.net website - I have an "exhibition" area that includes other artist's works - the "Shock&Awe&?" portfolio is probably the most relevant example. Anyway, if people are interested in that and are willing to send me the jpgs, I'll put together the cybershow.

John Morris said...

Wow, that sounds awesome. The other thing I have to admit with this whole thing is that I am not a tech expert at all-- before, I started the gallery, I didn't have a computer.

Extending the show like that, and perhaps involving other art projects is another reason why a name that extends beyond artists as bloggers might be a good idea.

John Morris said...

By the way, Pittsburgh does have some very serious people using the medium of blogging like marc. David Grim's blog is pretty serious -- if not always about art. I will be in the show, representing the Digging Pitt blog as will be Susan Constanse etc...

Another person who I am going to be inviting is Jorg Colberg-- who lives in Pittsburgh. Has anyone seen the show he co-curated at Jen Beckman?

John Morris said...

We are going to have to be settling on the name in the next few days.

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