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OPINION: Rebirth in the Internet Age

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve logged into – let alone written anything for – my silly old blog. I'm now integrating it from my Wordpress platform to my personal website, so that's a welcomed change. Now, in some ways, I’m over my post-grad blues; in other ways, they're still very real and painfully present. Unequivocal, however, is my longing to write. I’ve been pondering for a long time, years even, the question of What-Will-I-Blog-About… the greatest of all millennial questions. Clearly rants about the workplace (however authentic) are not a sustainable or necessarily healthy topic, though I know it is nonetheless entirely too relatable. So, what to write about? What do I want this new extension of my portfolio to look like? What purpose will it serve?

The first of these questions has been revealed to me on the golden wings of over-priced paperback exhibition monographs. My growing collection of art books (the authentication of my one realizable dream to accumulate a shit-ton of coffee table accessories) has enlightened me to a theme in my own personal collection of images: the predisposition to seek out lesser-known female artists and to display their work for my houseguests. I’m not the first, nor the last, to point out the heightened gender bias in the world of fine art, but certainly arts education these days does little to overthrow or dissuade the notion that male artists represent, implicitly or explicitly, the zenith of both creative and monetary success. My specialty and interests lie in 20th century art as it extends into the 21st. I appreciate and relish new digital trends in different ways than I feel indebted to the feminist artists of the New Wave Movement, to the art education I received, to the self-possessed notion of post-modernity (whatever that means). I fell for my liberal arts education hook-line-and-sinker, so perhaps my preoccupations that stem from the desire to unearth heterodox visual narratives are just as deeply rooted in the growing need I feel to defend an holistic (and paradoxically traditional) approach to higher education.

But I digress. (Are you getting the feel that maybe I’m not over my post-grad blues as much as I’m willing to admit?)

At any rate, I want my blog to deal with themes of gender appropriation and bias in the (art) world at large. I’ve always sought to break down the guarded syntax of otherwise lofty and precocious Artforum-type artspeak; I might marginally enjoy that genre of arts writing, but my (non-art) friends look at that same text with disgust, apathy, and downright confusion. Contemporary art is a beautiful and complex thing; language reflecting these complexities, however, has a time and a place, but that time and place is really not to engender appreciation, let alone wider understanding, especially in a time when the arts seem constantly under attack in political and apolitical discourse. I want to candidly answer questions and provide some insight without stymying conversation.

So, let’s break down some barriers! Let’s deconstruct some binaries! Let’s observe Jackson Pollock (Helen Frankenthaler, anyone?) and the dreaded sofa painting, because art appreciation and art theory do not have to be mutually exclusive. Or boring. Or brash, for that matter. Your first instinct about a work of art is probably the right one, so let’s work together to gently and kindly unpack those often uncomfortable reactions in the realm of modern and contemporary (yes, those terms are different) art, and we will begin by replacing the objects central to observation with works of art by women.

But, what’s my motivation? Why this platform? What is my purpose? Well, selfishly, I’d really like to learn basic blogging software and general practice. I want to establish my voice as an online presence (see buzzword: personal branding), so this is just as much a journey through a technological education as it is through arts education. Not to say I’m making guinea pigs out of my readers; hopefully what I have to say is interesting enough to keep you along for the ride. Less selfishly, however, this is a topic that I care deeply about; as entrenched as these values have now become for me, I need to share my thoughts with a broader audience and, perhaps, find solace in the silence or reassurance in the repartee. My purpose is clear, so let the writing begin! I’ll see you next week, and don’t forget to bring a paper and pen…. class is in session.

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