The digital online environment has provided us with a slew of platforms and tools that 'should' be helping to create fantastic communities where artists can talk with each other and their audiences about their work, creative themes and ideas, in a constructive and even critical way.
I say 'should' because largely I don't see this happening very much.
This seems particularly true of social media platforms like Facebook where artist and regional art organisation pages seem to operate mostly as notice boards for events and exhibitions. The only comments you ever really see are things like 'Fantastic', 'Had a great time', 'Love your work' and such like.
You hardly ever see anyone saying why they might like an artists work, or what they think it might be about, let alone any sort of dialogue between different artists about what they do. The idea of a critical discussion seems almost impossible.
As an avid user of forums for other areas of interest like gaming and computer generated art where the dialogue is rich and open (sometimes fiery, certainly impassioned), it just seems strange to me that similar online interaction for more traditional artists and creatives is apparently far rarer.
I'm hoping that I'm just missing the location where this kind of talk is happening, but it does concern me that on a regional events level (in the Nottingham and Derby shire areas at least) it is apparently not being encouraged.
I bear witness to many art and cultural events organised for real world spaces, advertised on the online platforms with some general blurb, but then little to no follow-up or legacy content and almost no meaningful online engagement, dialogue or debate.
Whether this is perhaps a symptom of a 'tick-box' government/centrally funded cultural environment or a lack of digital engagement skills, I can't say. But it is something I have been aware of for some considerable time and something I'd like to see positively developed in the future.
If there is anyone talking about art stuff online, please let me know where you're doing it!
If you're an art organisation putting on events, please bear a thought for your legacy content and ongoing engagement.
I say 'should' because largely I don't see this happening very much.
This seems particularly true of social media platforms like Facebook where artist and regional art organisation pages seem to operate mostly as notice boards for events and exhibitions. The only comments you ever really see are things like 'Fantastic', 'Had a great time', 'Love your work' and such like.
You hardly ever see anyone saying why they might like an artists work, or what they think it might be about, let alone any sort of dialogue between different artists about what they do. The idea of a critical discussion seems almost impossible.
As an avid user of forums for other areas of interest like gaming and computer generated art where the dialogue is rich and open (sometimes fiery, certainly impassioned), it just seems strange to me that similar online interaction for more traditional artists and creatives is apparently far rarer.
I'm hoping that I'm just missing the location where this kind of talk is happening, but it does concern me that on a regional events level (in the Nottingham and Derby shire areas at least) it is apparently not being encouraged.
I bear witness to many art and cultural events organised for real world spaces, advertised on the online platforms with some general blurb, but then little to no follow-up or legacy content and almost no meaningful online engagement, dialogue or debate.
Whether this is perhaps a symptom of a 'tick-box' government/centrally funded cultural environment or a lack of digital engagement skills, I can't say. But it is something I have been aware of for some considerable time and something I'd like to see positively developed in the future.
If there is anyone talking about art stuff online, please let me know where you're doing it!
If you're an art organisation putting on events, please bear a thought for your legacy content and ongoing engagement.
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