Hello Paola,

many artists I know ask that question. I guess, we all do the same - blog, publish, feel uneasy about 'wasted" time, and ask ourselves "what for?" Presently, my answer is: for staying informed. I generally just read other artists' and critics' blogs and find sometimes useful info, challenging theory, or simply interesting images which might inspire me, etc. I would like to believe it's worth it.

I'm not sure how useful artists really find these kind of networking / blogging tools. There hasn't been much of an uptake of this functionality on artselector - in fact, apart from the ability to share submitted posts to a users facebook and twitter walls, we are reconsidering if we really need the 'social networking' side of things at all in the next phase of artselector site development.

I think most artists are like Valery in that they prefer to read other artists' and critics' blogs rather than committing time and effort to one of their own.

If anyone has any suggestions for the future development of artselector please do let us know!

Yeah, I see what you mean. I'm currently reading 'I'd rather been in the studio' (http://www.idratherbeinthestudio.com) by Alyson B. Stanfield and she says it can be hugely beneficial to learn to talk about art in general and one's own art in specific. It's a very action oriented book with lots of practical art marketing advice.

I started painting as a kid and to be honest until now I had not given much concious thought as to why I do what I do and how I do it. I typically let my emotions and mood inspire me. I have this idea that blogging (and writing in general, including stuff like artist statements)can really help decipher those moods and emotions as well as help me put into words the whole process of how I create and why. So I've decided to give it a try and started a blog at: http://paolaminekov.blogspot.com/ Still new and still learning how to go about it.

Why Blogger and not Artselector, when Artselector has the potential of being the perfect platform for finding the right audience? Well, firstly there's a certain learning curve with Artselector. There's a lot of functionality which I really really like, and it's very useful, but it is also slightly overwhelming and confusing. I do like the visual style a lot but I still get lost once in a while.

Besides with Blogger (Wordpress, etc) I can make my blog my own. It can be customized to look like my portfolio, be a part of it, and it's all my content as opposed to posts from all different people. What Facebook does, for example, is let people import their blogs to their FB accounts or pages. Perhaps that could be a good option for Artselector too?

I've also been enjoying updating my FB page recently because people actually do interact with it and I like that. Of course everybody's on FB these days and that's a huge plus. All that said, I think Artselector is better than any other similar site for artists I've seen and would like to know what your plans for the future are.

Thanks for the feedback Paola. You raise some interesting and useful points.

I agree with you that we should enable users to import blogs and other pages into their artselector pages.

As for customising profile pages - this ones not so straightforward. If you go too far down the customisation route you end up with something akin to MySpace. Personally, I believe that contemporary art content always comes across better when shown on a neutral, consistent background - the white cube aesthetic if you like. Perhaps this is why many artists opt for the clean, consistent approach of facebook - while musicians tend to go for the visual assault of MySpace decor?

It's important to us that the redevelopment of artselector provides features that are truly useful and worthwhile to our users - so we are preparing a short email survey to get some feedback on this. The new site will be much easier to navigate and more appealing / accessible to a wider contemporary art audiences - as opposed to just artists.

Ah, I wasn't suggesting letting people customize their profiles visually, as I said I really like the visual style of Artselector (as opposed to myspace, which never really did it for me) and completely agree with you one that one. I think the visual identity of the site should be kept throughout the profiles.

I was just explaining why I chose blogger for my blog instead of posting on Artselector. My blog is personal and in this sense it becomes a part of my portfolio.

I agree about the neutral background, it is how I've designed my own portfolio as well: http://www.paolaminekov.com. I think that when it comes to art sites, the site should be a holder for the art work rather than art work itself.

It is well known that trying to please everybody all at once is virtually impossible. I belong to a multitude of sites that allow me to show an on-line porfolio. I have a Saatchi, a coroflot, an artreview, a facebook, a myspace, a wordpress, a blogspot, a flickr and a painters-online porfolio!

Artselector is my latest venture and I have to admit the standard here is higher. There are some truly fantastic artists here and though it is a little confusing to navigate initially, it soon becomes relatively easy.

I suppose it depends what the individual is looking for. Some are looking for a sense of community and communication and of course facebook and myspace are perhaps the strongest in that field. Artreview allows customisation of ones page but it seems that the artists are not to fussed about it. Painters-online is a funny one because the art on it is not really contemporary, particularly clever or dynamic and the reception one gets is hit or miss. There seems to be a strong feeling against conceptual art. The Saatchi site is pretty poorly designed and flickr isn't really geared for artists.

You're were right Paola when you talked about a blog taking up time but I think it is worth noting that it, at least for me, actually encourages me to make new work. It also makes me think in more depth about my artistic identity.

It has become apparent to me that some artists, especially the younger ones, seem to adopt certain beliefs and idiosyncrasies with regard to their artistic identities. Identity is not a fixed thing and human beings are quite malleable and suggestible. I know that I myself have adopted certain understandings or interpretations of my own work that I would not have necessarily have thought of on my own. Speaking with the public at your exhibitions, though sometimes a little tiring, is really valuable.

My own blog, I can assure you, has become something of an obsession! I update it as often as I can and I hope it has become a piece of art (at least digital) in its own right.

I think there is a certain saturation point with social networking on-line where one realises that, as you said, they could perhaps spend time more productively.

Paola, if you need any tips with your blog do not hesitate to email me at zingaromar@gmail.com

Heres mine http://www.zingaromar.blogspot.com

Regards,

Omar Zingaro Bhatia

Blogging is something I've also been thinking about getting into. I think it can offer an opportunity akin to formal study - the chance to articulate what one does and the reasons behind it in a way that meaningfully conveys your intentions to a third party. I know to my costs this isn't easy to do, so, as long as the blog incites constructive debate / feedback, I think it may be a good thing. But, I must admit I keep procrastinating, both about timing & precise content!

To blog, you really have to have some desire, passion to write, to talk about what it is you do. I agree with some of the statements above that it might seem like time that could be more well spent involved in the physical creating process. Having said that, to create something that has no voice, seems kind of pointless. As an artist who has yet to be represented, some of my time has to go into raising my profile. There is a global ocean of artists and curators out there and I somehow have to make it rain.

Clem So