Posted inArt

Jennifer Dalton Talks Social Media Consumption

This is the second in a series of interviews with artists, writers, and personalities involved with #TheSocialGraph, which opens today (November 12, 6-9p). For more information, visit hyperalleric.com/thesocialgraph.

Jennifer Dalton stepped right into the heart of New York’s social media art movements when she, along with artist William Powhida, organized #Class at the Winkleman Gallery earlier this year. The exhibition was as much a social media event producing a constant stream of Facebook content, Twitter conversations, livestreams, and Flickr images, as a IRL one.

Since then she has completed “What Are We Not Shutting Up About? (Five Months of Status Updates and Responses from Jerry Saltz’s Facebook [Profile] Page)” (2010), which she exhibited this past summer at the FLAG Art Foundation. I interviewed her in July about that social media profile turned art work and she talked about the reasons she makes art …

Posted inNews

Get Ready for #TheSocialGraph

In two weeks, #TheSocialGraph will open at Outpost in Bushwick, Brooklyn and we’re incredibly excited. What is #TheSocialGraph? It is an evolving exploration of the burgeoning field of social media art and the relation of contemporary art with this populist tool as a medium, facilitator, and subject for art.

I am the curator of the project and I’ve pulled together a number of interesting artists, writers, social media mavens, and others to share ideas and explore possibilities presented by the intersection of visual art and social media. Some of the art in #TheSocialGraph will be about social media, some will use social media as an integral component of the finished project, and some will be more of an experiment so we’re not exactly sure what to call it.

Posted inOpinion

Trending: #Hashtag Event Names

Pitchfork, the inveterate hipster music site, recently announced plans for a music festival in New York City named #offline. Social media is great and all, but the sudden popularity of names that begin with the Twitter hashtag-indicating # are starting to be mildly annoying, however niche it is. Just remember it started in the art world! (Alright, maybe tech was first)

Posted inArt

Jennifer Dalton is “Making Sense” of Jerry Saltz’s Facebook Page

Now that Jerry Saltz has proven himself — yet again — to be an attention whore with his stint on Work of Art, I’m starting to like him more … yes, I love a car crash. And just when we were all jonesing for another fix of “What is crazy uncle Jerry up to?” Artist Jennifer Dalton is opening a show today at the Flag Art Foundation called “Making Sense,” which (among other things) is an “ … attempt to make sense of … New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz’s incredibly popular Facebook page.” Let the games begin …

Posted inArt

Always Social: Right Now (2010 — ), Part Three

As Frog design Creative Director Adam Richardson noted in an influential talk he gave at the most recent Next Web Conference, the Internet until recently has been like the railroad, which has forced us to adapt to its rules. In the coming years, it will be more like cars, which adapt to us. In other words, the digital is getting physical … so, how does art fit in?

Posted inArt

Always Social: Getting Noticed (2008-2010), Part Two

The most striking aspect of social media art is that it contains facets of net.art, by being digital; visual art, by existing on a two-dimensional surface; public art, by existing in spaces used habitually by hundreds of millions of people; and performance art, by being inherently social. Whether the aggregate is greater than its sum remains to be seen …

Posted inArt

The Art World Gets Trashed

This problem isn’t just with the state of criticism in the Los Angeles art world, it’s music and books now too. It is as if anyone who puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard are more fanboy then critic. It’s one thing to be enthusiastic, loving, and caring for a medium you believe in deeply, it’s another to be so blinded by your affection that you can no longer be honest with yourself and your audience. It’s about liking something solely based on hoping that you will be liked back.

Posted inArt

Photos From Escape From New York

Organized in collaboration with Paterson Arts Council, Lambert’s Escape From New York exhibition includes work by 43 top contemporary New York artists. The artists include such 2010 Whitney Biennial talents as Bruce High Quality Foundation and Kate Gilmore, but there are some emerging and even some relatively unknown names in the mix that are sure to surprise even the most art worn observer.