The event livestream has been archived at new.livestream.com/
Complete Schedule
6:00–7:00 — Walking Into the Dashboard exhibition opens, featuring work by Cloaque, Hyper Geography, Friendster Friday, Thirozumi, and many others.
7:00–7:40 — Panel: Past, Present, Future: Why Should I Reblog This?
Featuring artist GH Hovagimyan, curator Christiane Paul, artists Cary Peppermint and Leila Nadir (Eco Art Tech), and curator Lindsay Howard
7:40–7:55 — Presentation: sociologist Tricia Wang, “Tumblring Our Elastic Selves”
7:55–8:25 — Q&A: Featuring artists Jennifer Chan and Brad Troemel, both of whom have numerous Tumblr-related art projects
8:25–8:40 — Presentation: architect Christoph a. Kumpusch, “You Own Nothing Here: The Removal of Power through Ubiquity”
8:40–9:15 — Panel: Open Session: Audience Questions and Presenter Commentary
Featuring Christoph a. Kumpusch, Tricia Wang, curator/artist Ben Valentine, information architect Ian Aleksander Adams
9:15–1am — Exhibition viewing and reception with DJ Mursi Layne
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Hyperallergic and Tumblr have joined forces to present “The World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium.” This project, which is part discussion and part exhibition, explores the fast evolving artistic landscape of Tumblr, one of the world’s leading social media and blogging platforms.
“Over the last few years, artists have been gravitating to Tumblr as an open and welcoming platform for artists and the art community,” says Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief of the Brooklyn-based Hyperallergic art blogazine. “The types of art projects being created on Tumblr are diverse and growing by the day, so we felt it was time to have a discussion about the art community on Tumblr and how they are impacting art making today.”
“This is an exciting context for art on Tumblr,” says Tumblr Arts Evangelist Annie Werner, “what was once floating out into the ether is now constructed in an official, curatorial format. It’s an amazing experience for artists using the platform as a medium — we hope to see only more of it.”
The one-day event on Saturday, March 9, which coincides with Armory Art Week in New York, will feature an exhibition and function as a forum for work to be discussed, shared, liked, uploaded, and critiqued.
The World’s First Art Symposium builds on Hyperallergic’s active public discussion about the relationship of social media and art that began with its landmark 2010 exhibition #TheSocialGraph (hyperallergic.com/thesocialgraph), which broke new ground in its exploration of art on social media.
Follow along at hyperallergic.tumblr.com/tagged/tumblrart
The hashtag for the event will be #TumblrArt. (twitter / tumblr)
(essays will be added as they are published)
- “Revisiting Tumblr as Art” by Ben Valentine
- “The Social Ties that Unbind” by An Xiao
- “Tell Me About Your Mother’s Tumblr” by G.H. Hovagimyan
- “Selling Out: The Impact of Corporate Social Media Space on Art” by Kyle Chayka
- “The Teen-Girl Tumblr Aesthetic” by Alicia Eler and Kate Durbin
- “On Coffee Houses, Salons, and the Post Arts” by Man Bartlett
- “The Problem with Tumblr and Photography” by Jörg Colberg
- “The Measure Of Success: Making Art in the ‘Like’ Economy” by Julia Kaganskiy
- “Our Reblogs, Ourselves” by Jillian Steinhauer
- “Organizing the World” by Giampaolo Bianconi
- “Tumblr, Art, and Web 2.0 Ecologies: The Medium Is Still the Message” by Leila Nadir and Cary Peppermint
- “The Way We Share: Transparency in Curatorial Practice” by Lindsay Howard
Hyperallergic would like to thank Pernod Absinthe for their support of the World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium essay series.

Press
- “Tumblr Art Symposium” by Bruce Sterling (Wired, February 20, 2013)
- “The World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium” by Rusty Blazenhoff (Laughing Squid, February 20, 2013)
- “DIIV, Tumblr Art Symposium, Sky Ferreira Naked Women Remember the 90s? Hashtag” by Luke O’Neil (Bullett Media, February 20, 2013)
- “Massive Links: Business, Business, More Business” by Paddy Johnson (Art F City, February 21, 2013)
- “Simpósio do Tumblr vai discutir o uso da plataforma pela comunidade artística” by Débora Schach (Blue Bus, February 22, 2013) (in Brazilian)
- “Looking at Cats Online: The World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium” by Kendall George (SFAQ, February 26, 2013)
- “What is Tumblr Art, Exactly?” by Molly O’Brien (Artlog, February 27, 2013)
- “The World of Tumblr Art Moves Offline” by James Davidson (We Heart Art, March 1, 2013)
- “The Armory Week Guide” by Lindsey Grothkopp (Artlog, March 1, 2013)
- “The World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium” by (Kreep NYC, March 3, 2013)
- “Armory Week 2013: Can’t Miss Events To Put On Your Calendar (PHOTOS)” by Priscilla Frank (Huffington Post, March 5, 2013)
- “Armory Arts Week” (This Week in New York, March 5, 2013)
- “Art-o-rama: Your Guide to Armory Arts Week 2013” by Hazel Cills (Paper Mag, March 6, 2013)
- “Is Tumblr art? Find out on Saturday” by David Colon (Brokelyn, March 6, 2013)
- “After the Museum: The Tumblr” by Alexandra Lange (Design Observer, March 7, 2013)
- “Art in the Age of Tumblr” by Martin Wisse (Metafilter, March 9, 2013)
- “__Art RE: #SVAES and #TumblrArt” by Carla Gannis (carlagannis.tumblr.com, March 13, 2013)
- “Tumblr: A Hotbed for Art and Criticism” by Johannah King-Slutzky (Bold., March 13, 2013)
- “Tumblr-konsten växer snabbt” (Tumblr-art Growing Rapidly) by Kajsa Haidl (Sydsvenskan, March 15, 2013) (in Swedish)
- “The World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium” by Adi Price (Rhyme et Reason, March 16, 2013)
- “When you’re online, you’re out there in the streets” by Katharina Galla (Cybernetics of Public Space, March 17, 2013)
- “Tumblr Art and the New Audience — Your Guide to Why You Need to Take Note” by Holly Knowlman (B-uncut, March 20, 2013)
- “Creative Disruption: Deconstructing Tumblr as Art” by Reb Carlson (The Content Strategist/Content.ly, March 22, 2013)
- “What is tumblr art?” by Joel Kuennen (Art Slant, May 15, 2013)
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Hyperallergic & Tumblr Present
“The World’s First Art Symposium”
March 9, 2013, 6PM
319 Scholes Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216
Additional support from:
