response

this post is specifically in response to a flickr "conversation"
it is "here" rather than "there"
because ultimately it speaks to something
that is core to what happens in the studio

i am not sure that i can fully explain this
except to say that it is primarily about feeling "other"
eventually, in any social situation
there comes a point when i have to confront that i am not really a part of what is going on.
now,
perhaps this is true for most people some of the time
but for me it is a given
and my response to this is to isolate
this removes the "lonely" aspect of the feeling
because "being alone" is a choice
and i value my sense of "otherness"
as a necessary aspect of my process

i don't in any way mean to imply that i don't appreciate the beauty of a community like flickr
i am extremely appreciative of the support i have gotten through photo blogging,
and it has helped me grow as an artist in many, many ways
i also care very deeply about the friends i have made on-line
i care about their work
and i care about the people behind the images
but,
most important to me
when i go online
is the visual experience
not the social one
the more i have to read
the more i have to visually filter
the more writing and distractions there are on a page
the less i enjoy looking

on the other hand
i believe this whole web is a giant process piece
and by participating in certain communities
i take on responsibilities;
by joining i agree to play along
and so
unless they are extremely offensive
i personally choose not to delete comments or notes
my feeling is
that once i have put stuff out there,
in an environment that invites interaction
and someone has taken the time to respond
that response becomes part of the work
in the same spirit,
i really try not to take myself out of the loop
for example, i'll only shut down comments
during those times when i know i can not reciprocate
therefore,
i don't feel removing the tagging option is a solution for me.

there are 2 reasons for this
the first is that i do want to feel part of a community and playing by different rules ultimately makes me feel even more "other"
and second,
as much as possible, i don't want to be having a different experience from everyone else,
as an artist who uses the internet
i want to have a finger on the pulse of what is really going on
this also helps me grow
mostly by raising questions like these that have come up around the issues of social networking
and trying to answer them,
truthfully

and,
this is why i continually make stand-alone blogs;
these are places where i can do everything on my own terms,
where i am in control of all aspects; layout, interaction, content, etc.
of course it makes for a much smaller audience
but the process of art is about expression
and that is what i am concerned with
the product of art is about response
and that is something that i can not make a priority
i've learned the hard way
that doing so has very bad consequences for my work.