As most of you have discovered, the amount of BLOG's connected to mail-art has grown rapidly. Some effects that are becoming clear:
1 - Maintaining a blog costs a lot of time. Documenting the mail-in and mail-out causes me to send out less mail-art.
2 - Because there are so many BLOG´s out there one hasn´t the time to look at them all. So the amount of visitors for each BLOG will decrease.
So that brings the question: "Is the BLOGGING of mail-art a good or bad developement?
Answers?
5 comments:
BLOGGING IS KILLING MAILART!
Now, if we really think that blogging is killing mailart, should we be looking at other mailart blogs? A question.
If you value mailart based on the quantity of mail you send out (which is crazy, by the way), then, yes, blogging is killing mailart.
But I think blogging is giving another dimension to mailart. One we as individuals can choose to accept or reject.
Most mailartists document their mailart activities in some way--and that takes time, just as your mailart interviews take time and setting up mailart shows takes time and writing books about mailart takes time. But blogs are just another way to document. Not good or bad.
And certainly not right for everyone.
And, hey, in my life, I keep my mailart up, but I let the mailart blog slide from time to time. I'm about three weeks behind right now. So we make decisions about what is appropriate for us individually.
Thanks for the question, which I've been considering for a while.
Geof
Hi Geof,
Thanks for your reaction. Typical that someone anonymous says that blogging is killing mailart. I much more agree with your views. My blog generates new mail-art and anybody can look into the 'kitchen' of a mail-artist that alows others to look in. Mail-Art has to do with communication. The more ways we have to communicate, the more creative we can get. The bloggers surely are showing this.
Ruud
BLOGGING IS SPREADING MAILART!
I totally agree with both of you. Sure, maintaining a blog may be somewhat time consuming but it think it worth it. Yes I am behind in my mailart shipping ( I have put stuff together for Ruud for the last 2 weeks and its still on my desk!!!). The blog gave me the chance to discover other mail artists. If the price of blogging is to be late in my shipping, well, I can offord it because since early Jan I have been strating some great exchanges/communications with mailartists discovered on the blogs.
From Ruud's first posting on blogging vs mailart, I've started to make an orgchart (that's the best way I could find to record...) recording mailartists which I maintained a regular contact with (at least 4 times a year) since 1995. I still have to do some research in my archives and so far its interesting.
Long story short, can blogging be the flavour of the month? So far I've seen a lot of activity on Yahoo, LiveJournal, other web sites, etc... and so far I can see a migration pattern when something new surfaces but some ''old'' web sites (like Merlin or Reine Shad) have been active for quite a while but they don't provide all the flexibility of showing images as for the blog.
Reg
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