We Make Money Not Art
We visit art galleries, listen to conferences, cover art and design events, take a lot of pictures, interview creative people, and we document these findings in order to share them with you.
In a video, Regine Debatty describes at the PSFK Conference London how todays artists explore electronics, digital bits and even the so-called emerging technologies such as biotechnology or nanotechnology; and explains why it should matter to us?
A few excerpts from an interview (on www.crumbweb.org) with her:
"It started by chance. I had tons of time to kill at the office and met this guy, Max, who had crafted some artistic application for mobile phones that he used in performances. It was totally new to me: "What? You can make art with some tech device?" So I decided to investigate and find out who else was using technology in a creative, unexpected way. Max suggested I archive my research in a blog. You know the rest."
"It all depends on what Im interested in at the moment. It used to be interactive installations, now Im more into bioart, critical design, and sustainability. It's totally personal, there's no strategy, plan nor willingness to cover extensively a particular topic."
"I'm a totally selfish person. I care for artists and designers but not enough to write about any project that I wouldn't find exciting enough. So I ignore the pressure, I just have my own way. That doesn't mean that the method is the best nor that Im perfectly happy with it: I make errors of judgment, I hastily discard projects which are interesting, I agree to post something I don't really like just because the artist seems to be such a kind person, etc.
(...) I would never write about something I wouldn't feel comfortable about. Well, I guess I could if I were offered tons of money but it just wouldn't work over a long period of time."
"I try to stay neutral because I don't want to influence the opinion of readers. Id rather think that they approach an artwork without any prejudice and if they have any, I don't want to be the one to blame for it. I used to be a reporter, staying neutral was something I was "trained" to be and I never felt that there was anything wrong with that. Besides, I don't think my own opinion is worth that much. I'm not an expert, just an amateur. There are enough vocal amateurs on the web these days so I don't feel like adding my pinch of salt. I do believe that I still have so much to learn before daring to utter any well-argued thoughts. I am also aware that declaring that Im an amateur is a very comfortable, not to say cowardly, position. The only way I express that I don't like a project these days is by not writing about it. It won't mean that a project is bad, just that I didn't find it exciting and compelling enough."
"I guess it [my website] could be regarded as a kind of curatorial work. I make a selection and exhibit the work in my little art gallery. Olia Lialina said at Transmediale this year that some artists would rather have their work exhibited on websites like rhizome and wmmna than in galleries that no one visits. I'm not so sure about that but it sounded flattering."
(Source)