It is Wednesday now, at 2:12 AM. There is no need to be alarmed, because as tried and tested night owl, this is when I am at my sharpest. I woke up 20 hours ago and drove myself to where I work, Temple University Hospital. I had hoped that there would be a particularly slow influx of jobs coming my way so that I could photograph my daily surroundings at the North Philadelphia campus. Over two years of employment at the hospital, I have collected several volumes of stories in my memory, many involving belligerent homeless and domestic disputes in the surrounding area. While unsavory, these experiences have served my anecdotal repertoire quite nicely. Unfortunately, today was one of those rare busy days when my boss sends me on an epic quest to find a box that doesn't exist, in a warehouse with little to no semblance of organization. My hopes of taking some North Philly snapshots were trashed as I soon needed to report to Tyler for this week's lecture.
The lecture, as I'm sure everyone knows, was about reconciling the arts with internet technology, and using the web as possibly the most useful tool for undiscovered artists. The name of the game seemed to be "blogs and social networks are your friends!" I was, until a little over a year ago, a confirmed hater of all things myspace/facebook/etc., but I was eventually unable to deny the merit of sites that help an artist get serious about displaying his/her work. One site that the Peter Hanley mentioned was deviantart.com. In March of 2007 I first discovered this site and set up an account. While it is an open forum for all who would call themselves artists, many phenomenal, many less so, it is a great place to not only display, but to connect. You can watch any artist you like and receive updates on their latest posted work. It is globally known and attracts some high profile professionals. Famous painters, illustrators, and photographers often have deviantart pages. I follow several comic book illustrators who not only post new work regularly, but also journals about the the way the business works, and step by step tutorials on their processes. Whenever I draw, paint, or photograph something I am proud of, I always post it on deviantart.com/iturnedintoamartian
I was happy to learn about more serious, and exclusive art communities like CFEVA and inliquid.com These are sites that I have since this morning looked into and would like to contribute to. While a world that is so intrinsically tied to our computer screens can be intimidating and frightening at times, it is actually a relief to know just how much I can better my visibility for future employers just by participating in an active online community life.
No comments:
Post a Comment