Cultural bloggen

A reaction on the debate on blogging and art criticism, in Dutch

Door: Daphne Rieken

Kan bloggen kunstkritiek zijn?
Dat is de drijvende vraag achter het debat Cultural Blogging als kunstkritiek op Art Amsterdam. En de vraag die Ine Poppe als eerste spreker al in de voorstelronde van tafel veegt. “Het doet er niet toe, als het maar goed is.” Wanneer de grenzen in de kunst en wetenschap vervagen en interdisciplinair werken de norm wordt dan weet je dat andere concepten er ook aan moeten geloven. Kunstkritiek is al lang niet meer de recensie die in krant of tijdschrift verschijnt. Naast dat hier steeds minder ruimte voor is op de cultuurpagina’s, ontbreekt vaak iedere kritische noot en diepgang. Genres mogen dan vervagen deze twee elementen lijken me de fundamenten van iedere vorm van kunstkritiek. En om dit in veranderende kunstwereld zo goed te doen als Ine Poppe zou willen dan moeten er vele dingen samenkomen.
Het blog is hier wellicht de uitgelezen plek voor. Halverwege de jaren zeventig ontwikkelde de october group verschillende frames om de kunst te bestuderen. Vanuit een post-modernistisch wereldbeeld was het niet meer dan logisch om kunst niet langer in kunsthistorische lijnen te plaatsen, maar te benaderen vanuit verschillende (theoretische) kaders. Dus vormde bijvoorbeeld het formalisme of de psycho-analyse het uitgangspunt van waaruit kunst betekenis en gelaagdheid kreeg. De frames zijn inmiddels enigszins gedateerd, maar nog steeds van waarde voor wie nu nadenkt over kunstkritiek. Want binnen het zich steeds verder versnipperende kunstenveld (kenmerk van onze tijd op vele gebieden) zijn er plekken nodig waar al deze initiatieven betekenis krijgen en bekritiseerd worden. En dat gebeurt binnen zeer uiteenopende frames op het web.

Open Art Collection : a small step towards the art business of the future

Let us be clear: we are convinced that digital will revolutionize the art world. We are convinced that this change is happening now already and it will only become more obvious over the next years. This shift is influencing the business models along which the art industry has been working since decades and it will inevitability transfer powers between the actors in the play. Some might disappear, others will gain power, new ones will come forward; after all the art industry is a business driven by supply, demand and value creation with people making decisions and trying to optimize their portfolios. New rules create new opportunities.

So where will this digital revolution – with the availability of broadband internet, the increased penetration of mobile internet and tablets, the popularization of social media like Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and LinkedIn – take the art business? We don’t want to pretend we know the answer to such vast question, but probably it will take us much further than we can think of now. Allow us to answer instead with a famous quote by Bill Gates: “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten”.

A long introduction to finally come to the topic we want to discuss : is the Art Amsterdam Online experiment on Open Art Collection a step in this new direction?

Art Amsterdam “storified”

Talking points

KAdE

As I strolled around with a mug of red wine (you read correctly, a mug of red wine, the VIP lounge was out of glasses) at the opening of the Art Amsterdam fair, a series of talking points came to mind. I decided I could use these points as a framework to guide my coverage of the fair this year. I’ve been to many art fairs, ranging from the tiniest, most local of the local affairs (Art on the Fence in the hamlet of Ameliasburgh, Canada might be the smallest) to the really blue chip biggies (Frieze Art Fair) and so I feel like I come to Art Amsterdam with a broad perspective. While taking in the festivities of opening night, I decided I would start by investigating:

– Who and what is really selling here?
– Are there any big transactions happening, or is being here mostly just about visibility?
– Do the non-selling aspects of this fair (the No Holds Barred section, the debates, et cetera) provide enough justification to visit (and ponying up 20 Euro for a ticket) for the non-buying public?
– Is having a presence at Art Amsterdam worth it for these players who are not there to sell?

On that final point, I stopped by the KAdE booth and had a chat with a very friendly and helpful woman named Adinda. I was drawn to the beautiful objects on display (pictured above) and Adinda explained that these eye-catching objects were a small sample of an exhibition concept they had devised, inviting architects to come up with cases for 18th Century porcelain objects. Was it worth it for a non-collecting, non-selling institution based in Amersfoort to come to the Art Amsterdam fair? The answer was a resounding yes, with Adinda telling me they had generated a lot of interest in the show by being there, and that as a young institution (KAdE was founded in 2008) it was essential to take all opportunities for visibility that they could.

I continued browsing:

Art Amsterdam: First Impressions as criticism?

Fast, furious, first impressions = moussism, not criticism ….

Bar at Art Amsterdam

Two nights ago was the opening of the 27^th edition of Art Amsterdam. Focused on Post-War art, there were some ghosts on the wall and plenty of pretty people walking around with bottles of Dutch champagne. Warhol made an appearance and I’ll admit being surprised to see Nobuyoshi Araki’s work displayed once again.

Most galleries seemed to have the seatbelt on and presented works in a manner that spoke of risk management. The first time I saw Araki’s wife tied up, it made me ask some questions. This time the only questions were, what relevance does this have in 2011 and where can I get myself a Heineken?

Van big business naar staatsprijs

DANIËL BERTINA

Het is een desoriënterende ervaring, dat Art Amsterdam. Loop langs die rijen en rijen van witte kubussen, volgehangen met kunst – variërend van stompzinnig lelijk tot geniaal, en zie in die kubussen de 133 galeriehouders en hun hongerige blikken. Want zelfs de meest argeloze proseccodrinkende passanten worden vanuit de ooghoeken op kapitaalkrachtigheid ingeschat. Het moge duidelijk zijn: Art Amsterdam is een kunstbeurs, en dus big business. En hoe economisch noodzakelijk het ook mag wezen, big business stinkt altijd een beetje.

De zwarte droomwereld van Max Snow

Het Parool / PSKunst (11 mei 2011)

Op Art Amsterdam en bij Serieuze Zaken Studioos is met werk te zien van de Amerikaanse fotograaf Maxwell Snow. hij is geobsedeerd door seks, magie, mythen en de dood. ‘Ik wilde de serie eerst Unicorns, lesbians, sex and cocaine noemen – want wees eerlijk: dat klinkt toch intrigerend?’

DANIËL BERTINA

Trendbeheer

Our colleagues at Trendbeheer shall also report on Art Amsterdam.
Yesterday reported on the build-up at the conference hall, today they point out what is happing at Flemish cultural centre De Brakke Grond.

Tomorrow Eelco van der Lingen of Trendbeheer shall join us in the debate on blogging and art criticism

Do read and follow them if you didn’t already or visit them at Art Amsterdam to see what their new project is all about (stickers!).

A cartoon

Thinking about the art criticism debate next Thursday, I was drawing this cartoon.

Debate Blogging as Art Criticism

Thursday the 12th of May, at 13.00 hours a debate about Blogging as Art Criticism is organised on the floor of Art Amsterdam.

Primary reason is the actual shift of art criticism from tradional media to blogging and other social media. This blog experiment is to be seen in that perspective. Secondary reason for this debate is that major fund the Mondriaan Stichting didn’t want to finance this because they have their reservations on the role of blogging in relationship to art criticism. Happily enough the fund wants to elaborate on that in this debate.

Madeleine van Lennep of the Mondriaan Stichting will talk about their arguments and visions with director of Nest/reporter Eelco van Lingen, editor-in-chief Kunstbeeld Roos van Put, curator/blogger Michelle Kasprzak and new media journalist/NRC blogger Ine Poppe. This quick and dirty debate of an hour will adress issues like blogging as a proper medium for art criticism, the dangers and the possibilities.

The debate is part of a series of lectures and events organized by De Groene Amsterdammer and Kunstbeeld.