An Extended Branch of the Conversation

In 2006, I launched a website called Artomaton for the express purpose of participating in a conversation about art. It was marginally successful. It got me involved in the world I'd worked so hard to be a part of. Post-New York and freshly re-rooted in Seattle, it opened the door to meet other artists and art writers. To that end, even though I lost the site (long story); it motivated me to renew myself as an artist who writes because that very conversation is integral to the process of art. And we need each other, we need this community. Without it, we shout into a void.

Artist/writer Susanna Bluhm asks on her blog Getting to Know You Better why writing is the introduction we all have to one another, rather than our art. Because this is Seattle, and writing is safe. We can gauge one another before we meet to say "ah, you won't hurt me." We're tender shoots and flowers in the Northwest, a precarious balance of loud and soft.

And have you ever tried to approach artists during a First Thursday art walk? It's not impossible, but it can be discouraging. Not that it's stopped any of us, but I'm sure we can all recount a time we approached a hosting artist and turned away with the thought "perhaps next time."

Writing about art is one way we can talk to each other on level ground. We're not social climbing here. We're getting a point across, and we're reaching for feedback. The problem is we've been doing it in solitary confinement. However, the last Klatch held by Scott Lawrimore this past Tuesday showed us all how much we want to talk to each other -- and to the rest of the world as well.

Emily Pothast and Joey Veltkamp regularly contribute to this conversation. We read them because they're not critics, because they're actually artists talking about art on the level we see it. That is to say, art as life. They talk about art in a keenly observant but approachable manner. We get what they're aiming at.

It's not that Jen Graves doesn't; she does quite often. But despite her eloquence and focus on some profoundly amazing art, her approach isn't the sort one takes unless they're entrenched. Perhaps this is a testament to the success of Regina Hackett's blogging career; like her or not you have to admire the finesse in which she distributes her criticism. It's on the table, just the way you like it, no bones about it.

The fundamental point of what these writers have in common is dynamic conversation, a volley of thoughts and ideas. Back and forth. You and me. As Jen challenges us to comment more frequently on her blog, she turns the conversation over to our corner and says, "now you." And so now us.

As always, we'll be careful what we ask for. If any of us in Seattle have anything to do with it, we'll get it in spades.

propelled mobilisation begins with the simple motion of a lever, applied acutely