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Category: Blogs and Social Media
The category collects posts on the subjects of blogs, social media, and marketing, as well as themed industry events and talks, e.g. BBC Manchester Blog, Social Media Cafe Manchester, London Book Fair, and others
Those who read this blog for a while know that I have been taking part in Blog Action Day since 2007 when it was initiated. In 2008 I even translated their website into Russian and even contributed a short audio in Russian introducing myself and this blog. Visit Blog Action Day 2008 website, to get a complete idea of what is happening on the day. The idea is that ahead of the October date you think about the topic, and then on October 15 the global conversation surges. The previous years’ topics were Environment and Poverty (clicking on each link will take you to my blog post). Because this blog is about Arts I looked at both issues from the Arts&Culture angle.
The BAD is coming down on our virtual universe on October 15 this year, but there are some changes on the way, too. This is the email I received from BAD 2007/2008 coordinator, Collis:
It’s almost that time of year again, and this time I have some exciting news to announce.
When we started Blog Action Day two years ago, we had no idea how large it would become. Now that it’s grown beyond our wildest expectations, we’ve decided that it’s time Blog Action Day had a more permanent home where it can continue to expand.
To that end, we’ve asked the social issue blog network Change.org to take over the project and make Blog Action Day bigger than ever. I’m thrilled to say that they’ve agreed, and their team has already started working on preparing for this year’s event on October 15th.
As a first step, the Change.org team wants to get your thoughts on the selection of this year’s topic. To give your feedback on the topics being considered or suggest your own, click the link below to a short 5-question survey:
If you have any questions, additional suggestions, or want to get involved beyond blogging, email Robin Beck, Change.org’s Director of Organizing, at robin@change.org.
Thanks for all the support – we look forward to having you all involved in this year’s event, and you’ll being hearing more from the folks at Change.org over the coming weeks as we all get ready for Blog Action Day 2009.
All this is quite self-explanatory, and I will be looking to team up with BAD as a translator once again (assuming they need that). And this is the list of topics they are considering for this year’s Blog Action Day:
Interestingly, this is not the first time an event is being produced with the help of people who are going to participate in it. Take your time to go through the presentation on socially-outsourced event – a public opening of a renovated square in Manchester’s Ancoats – produced by Manchester-based design and event promotion companies. I think it can give some food for thought to the BAD 2009 organisers, as well.
I was still in work when I discovered a present for my blog. It will take a bit of time to sink in… but Los Cuadernos de Julia is now officially among Google’s Blogs of Note. I feel… something like what Gavin Hood must have felt when he won an Oscar in 2006. He won for Tsotsi, but some may better know him for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I did an interview with him in January 2006, and before then I also did an interview with Mark Rothemund, and together they were in the shortlist in Best Foreign Film category. Hood won. I gulped watching him accepting the award on TV. “For Africa!”, he proclaimed. (Having been born in Russia, I may very well say “For Russia!”) Immediately after the ceremony I felt compelled, in a good way, to send my congratulations to Gavin. I didn’t know his email, so I traced the address of his manager and sent my greetings that way. Hood came back a few days later, saying something along the lines of “Thank you! It’s a crazy time but wonderfully crazy“.
Indeed, it’s a wonderfully crazy time for me now. A huge thankyou to those who were involved in making a decision. I know I worked hard all three years but the text below indicates where I stand re: awards etc. It is all the more wonderful and crazy to be recognised. Thank you.
So, this is Monday, 24 August, and three years ago, in 2006, in the early hours of the morning, I was sitting in front of the blank blog post form, thinking of what to write. This is how Los Cuadernos de Julia started. Without going into too much detail, it has been fantastic writing it, and being three years old is even better.
The book I had on my table since 1 August will be mentioned some time later in another post. It is sad that its author is no longer with us, but it is good that he’s left this book behind. And there is this chapter that I shall quote in full:
DO NOT TRY TO WIN AWARDS.
NEARLY everybody likes to win awards.
Awards create glamour and glamour creates income.
But beware.
Awards are judged in committee by consensus of what is known. In other words, what is in fashion.
But originality can’t be fashionable, because it hasn’t as yet had the approval of the committee. Do not try to follow fashion.
Be true to your subject and you will be far more likely to create something that is timeless. That’s where the true art lies.
In three years I have never knocked any competitions nor tried to win awards, so even without reading that wonderful little book I was still following its advice. The truth is, ever since this blog was started it has been no more about my personal experience than it was appropriate. It was, first and foremost, about Arts and Culture; the category in which I have always registered my blog in directories, and the category in which this blog features in most other blog rolls. It’s hard to rank high in such competitive category but it’s more fun this way. And it is no more about Manchester than it can or should be, given the fact that it is written by someone who was not born in Manchester. It is certainly not “local” and will never be.
I have no problem with this blog being counted among Manchester blogs (I live in the city centre, after all), but being lumped in Personal category – sorry, this is a stretch too far. Yet this is what happened at Manchester Blog Awards in 2007, although I know from some of those who nominated it, they chose Arts and Culture category for it. I did not submit my nominations in 2008 because I was busy attending to my broken ankle, and now I realise that the Eternal Wisdom was definitely at play. The observations I made between 2006 and 2008 entirely prove the above quote; they also indicate that, as with many other contests like this, it serves to publicise something different from what is announced. This year I am not submitting, and I shall never submit. An MBA is too small, anyway. I’d like an MBE some time in the future. And if I must win an award for my blog, please let it be national or international.
Therefore, since this is Arts and Culture blog that also incorporates my creative writing, my goal for the next year of this blog is:
Be true to your subject and you will be far more likely to create something that is timeless.
Last but not least, I am immensely grateful to all the readers. With some of you I have connected not only via comments form but by email, Twitter, and Facebook. If I wanted to apologise for something, it would be the speed of responses. I must be pretty similar to Seth Godin in this respect: apparently, Seth doesn’t accept comments or loiter on forums. As much as I love socialising on the Social Web, and as much as Social Web can help a writer to find subjects and characters, doing this all the time is detrimental to creativity. I respond to comments but forums are not my forte; which is why I am so grateful to those who found and discussed my post about Susan Boyle on her fan site. I spent this Saturday at the University of Manchester library, although I could spend it on Twitter. And then I was writing until 4am Sunday. It pays to be somewhat unsociable.
However, I am very grateful to everyone who finds me, comments and offers help, particularly to Naukishtae, for being such a tireless and passionate commentator; to Robert, for offering insights into language (without me asking!); to Martin, for our on-and-off communication since 2007 and for his brilliant political tale with a maze-like structure, inspired by Bulgakov and the Russian Art; to Craig who was an indispensable advisor for two of the years this blog was running until he moved to France; to Guy who writes a brilliant blog on ancient history; to Patrick, for his translation of Chanson de Prévert and great photos; and to a long list of Twitter/chat/email/real life contacts, especially Tim, Andrew, Joely, Sarah, Louise, Carola, Richard, Sam, Mennard, David, Robin, and Adrian. And, of course, to my parents and a small team of Russian readers who have been with me all along on this journey.
Jean Cocteau (French poet and artist) died in 1963. We therefore don’t know what he’d say about the web; whether he’d be passionate about it or critical. But he said something else in an interview when he was explaining the design of a postal stamp with the portrait of Marianne, France’s national symbol. Turns out, Marianne was a bureaucrat’s wife, and so on Cocteau’s stamp there was this female head, not really heroic or even beautiful. The journalist asked if Marianne on the stamp was perhaps too typical.
–Yes, maybe, – Cocteau replied, – but I think it’s good. When one is licked by so many it doesn’t pay to be too singular, lest one is licked with disgust.
I remembered this when I read Chris Brogan’s recent post – Is Your Web Presence Multi-use – and the commentary to it. Put simply, Brogan’s idea in the post is to encourage website owners to bear in mind that they are read by hundreds, if not thousands, different people. In addition to all the different things about those people, they may also speak a different language. The latter fact alone puts a whole new spin on the story.
Some commentators, though, were at odds with such suggestion. “It’s not possible to be all things to all people” and “isn’t the web is all about finding the niche and catering for it?” sum up the criticism amply.
I often find that we lock ourselves in a niche, either as producers or consumers. We think that we found the proverbial purple cow, but what few people remind us of is that the colour fades in the sun. The day will come when your cow is lilac or even white – and that’s not the same as purple. So you at least need to paint your cow once in a while, to freshen it up – which, in terms of a website, may mean changing its design, or putting a new spin on your niche subject.
I’d argue that it’s impossible to cater for a niche. On the one hand, there’s always a bigger picture, and if it’s possible to have your niche border on several supportive subjects, then why not? A blogger’s block often happens in a competitive niche. On the other hand, exactly how niche can you be? So, you may be making a website about scrap cars, but so are a few dozen of other people. What makes you different? How sustainable is your business? Imagine the worst case scenario: the day came when no-one wants to scrap their cars. What will you do? What will make your site – and your name – continue appearing in search results?
You therefore cannot be too niche, and at the same time you have to attract different people if you’re working on the web. Some will come for information; others will come to spend money. I’m one of the kind who believes in the possibility of blending humanism and business. And although it’s not possible to be all things to all people, there’s nothing wrong with making an impact on lives of many people – pretty much like what we’re seeing for over a week now since Michael Jackson is no more.
To round up – a quote from the magnificent Peter Blake, about what makes a person an icon: “You’ve got to have your own style. But not so that in a short while you’re out of fashion. It’s not about being fashionable; it’s just a look, a feel“. Perhaps, we can think of our web presence as if we’re Vivienne Westwood, and, should it be our vision, blend punk with tartan, even if this goes against what the savvy folks teach us. Or think of our web presence as if it’s Kate Moss. She can sniff crack; she can wear a dress in royal blue colour at the Queen’s dinner. But when a fashion journo asks people in the street “who is your fashion icon?“, we all know what the answer will often be.
First of all, I have a fair bit of Scorpio in me, astrologically speaking, and so this year I have been creating “Freudian” or otherwise weirdly coincidental situations for my Piscean friends. In one of these, I saw myself presenting a postcard with two birds to a friend who is soon to get married – totally forgetting, as a matter of fact, that his surname was Bird. And just yesterday I was meeting my friend Adrian to go to the poetry readings at the Bury Met, a part of Text Festival – and we both turned up wearing something green. Maybe there is nothing strange about these coincidents at all. Maybe. Or maybe not.
I am certainly grateful to Adrian for inviting me: Bury, like Heaton Park, is among the places in Greater Manchester that I never visited, in spite of living nearby for a long time. I considered going back and taking some pictures today, but after a walk in Bury streets and a short journey through Manchester’s Northern Quarter, also meeting Kate The Machizzle and Carol Batton (see the image above), I, to paraphrase Ringo Starr, had blisters on my toes.
What will never stop surprising me about these lovely provincial towns is the fact that you are sometimes almost advised against going there, let alone staying to live. Bury has always been described to me as a “hole”, and a lady I studied with at the University of Manchester finally left Bury for Altrincham a couple of years ago, to her great delight. But just for the record, this is the latte I was served yesterday at the Automatic cafe, next to the Bury MET, and upon my word this was the first instance of latte art in my nearly 6 years in Greater Manchester. And I do love and very often drink latte, so it isn’t like I’m much behind the latte art developments. Here you go.
Adrian took to prosaically and very cleverly reflect on the readings in his post The Tale of Two Carols (which title is a play on words by itself, as you may notice). Indeed, in a magic twist (it must have something to do with all this water signs thing), in the matter of days we were greeted, first, by the news of Carol Ann Duffy being appointed the new poet laureate; and then by the reading by Carol Watts. Adrian uttered what we both agreed upon while sipping on beverages at Manchester’s Centro, having come back from Bury. The problem is always about the genres and movements that often collide but never reconcile. Even if totally devoid of any political content, poetry – or literature, or art as a whole – often turns into a battleground of ideologies, in the broadest sense of the word, and thus falls prey to demagogy and factional politics. This segregation and sequestration come at the expense of progressive movement, but who needs progress, anyway? Modern “traditionalist” poetry denies the avant-garde poetry; the avant-garde poetry will denounce the traditional; the funny thing will be, of course, that both to one extent or another will be drawing inspiration from Dadaist or Surrealist legacy, maybe Rimbaud, and invariably using the same language, as the other. The dispute boils down to the form and the content, but very rarely does it take the language further in its development. When I hear someone Russian exulting that we write and speak the language of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, I cringe: both authors died in the 19th c. It should rather be a matter of great sadness that two centuries later we haven’t moved forward much. We should by all means seek to reproduce the impact of their writings for our age, but we should be doing so by reinventing the language, which is precisely what Pushkin did in his lifetime.
As for me, I narrated my thoughts in the fashion that most became the occasion, and here is yet another Bury Poem (uncommissioned, of course).
Centaur with a sting
I travel through
People and places
Leaving my mark
As my verses
So versatile is this life
That it would be sad
To always be sat
In one place
With nowhere to go
So with ingenious help
From one Latin rule
“Versatile” becomes “vertical”
And every stanza you write
Plunges deeper below the fold
Descends to the page’s bottom
Poets and artists sometimes
Live in Ramsbottom
Salford and Bury
Rather than London or Rome
In places like these
Poetry died and is buried
Under the sun in the marketplace
On the tram in the playground
On the spot where someone said
What – ever is so poetic becomes
Also tragic and doomed
And stanzas stretch into prose
Covering burial grounds
It’s not long before
Poetry goes back to Chaos
Where language abandons the tongue
Whoever they are
Poets are Scorpio Rising
Buried below the fold
Cherished for all the wrong reasons
Marking their way with the leaves
Of chrome yellow paper
And notebooks with the scribbles
Vertical or horizontal
Rising forever in verses…
The word has it that some people don’t understand Gwyneth Paltrow’s recent motivation to do online publishing. Yes, it is true, the Oscar-winning actress is sending out the weekly newsletters, encouraging readers to make, do, see, get, be, and go. Viral marketing meets celebrity news, in a nutshell.
Well, if Stephen Fry, Demi Moore&Ashton Cutcher, and Britney Spears are all on Twitter, why shouldn’t Gwyneth Paltrow send signed newsletters to those who are interested? It all looks like a pretty good idea. Here are the two newsletters, the GO Newsletter dedicated to Paris, and the SEE Newsletter focusing on exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, London, and Madrid.
So far there is nothing outrageously self-centred about these newsletters. The point to bear in mind is that Gwyneth kindly shares with us the aspects of her life, but it’s up to us to take something out of it. As with all online publishing, you can’t always predict exactly what you will get from it until you start. Amidst all sneer and jeer that the actress will undoubtedly receive for the brave move, I am sure she will be able to offer something positive…
…providing the website works OK. My biggest criticism at the moment is that some pages load too long. The URLs for some categories are too cumbersome. And, as if to raise the question of the purpose of it all, there seems to be no way to communicate with Gwyneth or her team, to say ‘thank you for sharing your memories of visiting Paris for the first time with your Dad‘, and such like. In the last few minutes I was unsuccessfully trying to view this week’s Newsletter, and on all occasions received the 504 Gateway Time-Out error message.
For my part, I see no problem with celebrities entering Social Networking platforms and sharing their photos, snippets of their lives, stories, etc with the huge retinue of fans and idle watchers. As celebrated as they are, they’re usual people, and it may be a very natural desire to rid themselves of inhibitions and restrictions and do something that less known folks do carelessly. However, it should be good. And for that Gwyneth could easily start a proper blog, offering an RSS and email subscriptions and sticking to the same six categories she has already identified. She wouldn’t need to change the tactics: she could still post on a weekly basis, but the circulation and response would arguably be wider and better. Last but not least, Gwyneth and her team would be able to moderate comments from readers, and I am sure there would be quite a few she’d be glad to receive and perhaps respond to. Somehow I believe that receiving heart-felt comments from her fans, responding in real time to her shared thoughts and experiences, would be very rewarding for Gwyneth.
WebProNews is currently taking on Digg.com showcasing how a story submitted by an “ordinary mortal” is ignored by the majority, whilst exactly the same submission by one of the elite Diggers soars freely on the front page. Ironically, I have had a conversation with a Cheshire-based SEO agency just before Christmas, and they asked me if I knew (or could suggest) any ways of getting “dugg”. I said what I believed was the real picture: that 1) there are cliques that stand on guard of their authority and that 2) the process of “digging” is a pure chain reaction. This is confirmed by the majority of Digg users who aren’t satisfied with the service: “The coalition of outcasts has primarily blamed two Digg.com features pretty standard on Internet social networks: the ability to form friends lists and “shout” to those friends about news stories a user wants promoted”.
Forming friends and sending “shouts” is precisely the ‘chain-reaction’ mechanisms. But is it only peculiar of Digg.com? Or does Digg.com represent the world at work: a cluster of mutually supportive coalitions that keep an individual user at a distance while also being keen on feeding off his/her ideas?
On this occasion, WebProNews refers to Digg.com as a failed democratic model; however, ironically, Digg.com may be that very democratic model – at its worst, of course. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat who is reportedly still studied in the States for all things democratic, predicted in his treatise that a democratic regime can degrade into the tyranny of many – exactly what we see on Digg.
Yet again, is it only Digg that we should blame? What about campaigns pro or contra something on Facebook? What about the whole nature of Social Media whereby you share the content only to find out that someone else has appropriated it? The example that is discussed on WebProNews involving Digg.com may not be entirely relevant, but it does give a perspective to the problem. So, how to protect your ideas from being stolen?
As I write this, I must admit: I do not know the answer. Two things come to mind, however. One is a comment I recently had on my article drawing on the interview I made with Dave McKean. Turns out that The Jim Hanson Company were very positive about the artwork of Tanya Doskova, a Canadian artist who worked at the Company’s studios in London for a period of time. You will get the gist of the problem as you read the comments. I said to Tanya what I felt was well relevant to me at times. As once an insider of a huge media corporation, I am confident that my inkling about the ‘preferential’ attitude to the native citizens is grounded. This is not to accuse anyone of something bad; but this is not deny that ‘foreign’ and ‘alien’ are synonyms, after all.
The second is a seminar at the London Book Fair 2007. One of the talks centred precisely on the possibility of copyrighting an idea. We looked at what then was the very popular case of Dan Brown vs. Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The answer wasn’t bringing a relief to anyone of us who is concerned about the issue: you cannot copyright an idea. Indeed, if we suppose that all things exist as ideas, then imagine, say, Dante being issued with a copyright on the idea of Love. Just because he composed The Divine Comedy, to be sure.
For my part, I have never really publicised my ideas, and as far as writing goes, I very rarely let anyone read the text before it is finished. I am sure not to publish the entire text online (except for short stories or those that were inspired by a contemporary art work), but only a selection because – forgive me my audacity which is supported by comments I receive about my work – I think I do have brilliant ideas that just doesn’t visit some people. But this is different with blogging where the whole idea is about publishing and publicising your content.
Now, ideas are beautiful in that they are in the ether: if one idea didn’t visit me, it may surely land in someone else’s head. If this happens ‘naturally’, i.e. I didn’t mention this idea in another’s presence (a blog post included), then I don’t have a problem. But when I do mention those ideas and then I see other people trumpeting exactly the same (and by the look of it, they didn’t quite trumpet this idea before my mention) and without crediting me, I do ask: what do I do? Especially if I am still going to act on the idea that I voiced?
To an extent, this is a problem of pre-eminence: who was the first to mention something? But even if you can survive not being credited as the original communicator of an idea, the question remains: when and how should you start throwing your idea around, to gain feedback or support? To get back to that example with Digg.com and to use it symbolically, when should you submit your content to Digg?
By the look of it, unless you’re among the top users, you shouldn’t submit it at all. Yet Digg is but one of the places that operates as a ‘network’, and you may not be a part of it even if you seem to be. What to do? Maybe to follow Zizek who said that today the criticised and ostracised Socialists should recognise their legacy precisely because it is theirs and should know their facts better and thus make their critics play on their, Socialist, terms. Ignore ‘Socialist’, and you’ll find a plenty of individuals and smaller groups that are trying to use the Internet to promote their causes against networks of other individuals and groups. However hard it is, self-belief and the ability to see through the polite facade of today’s relations may be the only things that can get you through any difficult times. And to quote my preferred Dali, ‘the difference between Surrealists and me is that I am a Surrealist‘.
How do museums regulate permissions for museum photography, and is there a conflict between personal photos and official museum merchandise?
Industrial Gallery, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (@Julia Shuvalova, 2008)
In the first week of December I went to Birmingham, and one my destinations was the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery that houses the works of some leading Pre-Raphaelites. Taught by experience, I asked about museum photography. Yes, I had to fill out the form again, but this time the rules were set out in more detail, although once more there is a clause or two that may potentially be difficult to interpret even for the staff themselves:
1. Any copyrights (including publication rights) created in the photographic materials produced under the conditions stated below are reassigned to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
2. Any photography is for personal reference only. No permission for any reproduction rights of any kind is granted or may be assumed. Permission for reproduction rights should be applied for, in writing, to the Picture Library. Each case will be evaluated independently.
3. Any work, which is protected by the artists’ copyright, may not be photographed without the permission of the copyright holder.
4. Any works on loan, including temporary exhibitions, may not be photographed.
5. Flash photography is permitted unless otherwise specified.
6. The use of professional photographic equipment is prohibited. Tripods and monopods may not be used under any circumstances.
7. Video cameras or camcorders may not be used under any circumstances. Filming is prohibited.
Fair enough, reading these rules may put an intrepid visitor off taking pictures in the gallery altogether. However, the first two points just further reinforce what I have highlighted in the previous post on the question of reproduction. The problem is seemingly not only about a picture’s commercial use, but about the multiplicity of such uses. Naturally, if the photo is included in a book, it will be reproduced as many time as the book. For this, it is essential to apply for a permission to a museum.
Regarding the 3rd point, my feeling is that this needs to be discussed with the copyright holder before their work actually gets to be displayed. This is something that many professional artists’ and photographers’ websites tend to lose the sight of. By creating a website and making it public, they by default agree that this information can be shared. It is the same as with the printed word: if it was printed, you cannot stop people from quoting it. This is not to say that their work can be reproduced for commercial purposes by other people, but this should mean that a blogger may wish to not only write about them and give a link to their website, but also to include an image in the post, to illustrate why it would be good to visit the website at all.
Likewise, when an artist is displaying their work at the museum or gallery where photography is generally permitted, they have to be aware that a visitor can upload a taken photo online. It makes every sense to restrict this, on the one hand; but, on the other hand, the world has grown bigger with the Internet, and this potentially means that artists, especially young, may find it more and more difficult to compete with other artists and to assert themselves in the world. Social Media tools, and particularly photosharing, will facilitate this to an extent.
With loaned works and temporary exhibitions, I feel the galleries would need to spare some resources to clearly display the permission signs in such spaces of the gallery. As more and more often galleries intercept the regular display with a temporary exhibition, it is difficult for a visitor to understand where a photography permission ends and where it resumes again.
Regarding the specialist photography permission, this is a good point and the one that I think can be reinforced to avoid the taken photos being reproduced to a commercial end. This is how the Brooklyn Museum defines their stance on photography in the gallery:
Photography and videography are allowed in the Museum so long as the images are taken using existing light only (no flash) and are for personal, non-commercial use. Photography and videography are often restricted in special exhibition galleries.
Add to this also that many paintings are displayed under the glass, hence the photographic image of a painting in the gallery space can be far from ideal for reproduction.
A different take on photography and videography in the museum comes from the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. As you need to purchase tickets to view the collection, you can also purchase a permission to make photos or videos in the museum. The website explains that there are warning pictograms in the halls where it is not permitted to take photos or to use flash. I did use this permission once myself in 2002, and this was great to show the museum to my parents who happened to have never visited the Hermitage.
The question rises, of course: why would I film, and not buy a video cassette or a DVD? Well, we all count our pennies, and on my memory even 6 years ago it was cheaper to pay for a photography pass rather than to buy a DVD set. I have been taking a notice of what people photograph and film, and I have never seen any of them making a complete record of the collection. If any of the readers have been to the Hermitage, they vividly imagine the sheer grandeur of the place: you would not know what to photograph because there is too much to see, and all too splendid! They say it takes 5 hours to quickly run through the entire Hermitage (i.e. only stopping at a few paintings), so imagine the weight of this on your photo- or videocamera. But what the Hermitage achieving with this is very valuable. On the one hand, they allow people to create a personal record of a visit to this art depository, a historic monument, and one of the most beautiful sights in the world altogether. On the other hand, by asking for a small fee for a photography permit they also bring in money to the museum.
Photography in museum: the conflict of copyright and “personal use”. What museums can do to protect their collections.
Visitors taking photos at the John Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (@Julia Shuvalova, 2008)
It looks like more and more art depositories are beginning to ask visitors to fill in a photography in museum permission form. I do think that this is likely to be requested in a smaller gallery rather than in a big one. Imagine the huge queue of tourists at the British Museum, all filling out permission forms…
As I stated before, I do not see any problem with restricting photography in museum at the special exhibitions, and then there is a tricky situation with the works of art by contemporary artists, as not only is there a “regular” sort of copyright which we all acquire by virtue of producing a work of art, but there is also a 70-years copyright restriction. On the other hand, those works of art can often be found online anyway, so the first question is whether the artist and the art depository by restricting the permission actually end up pushing away the benefits of being directly credited in the image?
Another problem is how to define the concept of “reproduction”. Indeed, if I take a photo of a painting (sculpture, photograph by the like of Man Ray, etc), I am effectively “reproducing” it. Yet again, there are so many reproductions of these works of art on the Internet, and services like AllPosters.com not only provide links to a large number of online images, they also produce quality prints. I never ordered any posters from the mentioned site or others, but it would certainly be interesting to leverage the number of prints bought by those who visited, say, the National Gallery shop online or in person, and the number of prints bought through a poster-making website.
I must admit I never looked into the relationship between AllPosters.com and any of the art depositories, whose works they print: perhaps, there is a sale commission agreement, or some such. Whatever is the answer, this is clearly the case of an image being reproduced for commercial purposes. How is this different from uploading a photo to a blog or to Flickr? As far as Flickr goes, this is currently a non-commercial service, so “reproducing” an image there should not be constituted as a commercial move.
Uploading a photo to a blog can be more complicated to an extent, if the publisher uses AdSense. My personal view, however, going off the fact that many of the images are available online via different resources, is that if the publisher intends to earn their income by “reproducing” the works of art on their blog, there is little need for them to visit a museum and twist the brains over photography permission. They can find very many images on the web, or they can scan “reproductions” from a book.
Two things may be kept in mind. First, art depositories need to assume that people who do fill out a photography permission form may be intending to upload photos to the web: this constitutes the “personal use” for them. This intention cannot be denied simply because photosharing services are one of the most powerful communicative tools online at the moment, and it would be a pity to see the depository restricting this. Rather, a depository should have the means to see where people upload photos taken in the depository, and how these are being used. The question of an image credit is usually not disputed by the online community, but there is nothing wrong about reinforcing it.
And the second thing is that an art depository that asks for a photography in museum permission form to be filled in, can in fact include in it a question about how the visitor is planning on using the photo. Better yet, visitors can be asked to apply for a permission online, and if they are an online publisher (i.e. blogger or website owner), the depository will be able to evaluate the resource prior to giving a consent to photography. Needless to say, such requirement would have to be very clearly displayed on the website or in the gallery.
There are diverse and sundry initiatives happening across the English-speaking Internet with the help of blogs. Blog Action Day, various BlogCatalog appeals, Amnesty International… Add to this the rise of Social Media and Networking, which we have only recently witnessed in Manchester. Somewhere in the States the use of these social tools is even wider than in Britain, although there is a still a proportion of people who don’t know what a blog is or don’t have access to the Internet.
Well, if England can be considered the northern pinnacle of Europe, then Italy must be its southern counterpart, and as far as blogging and Internet are concerned, things could hardly be any more different. Beppe Grillo, a well-known Italian actor, comedian, activist, and a prolific blogger, has been closely following the Levi/Prodi law, renamed into Levi/Veltroni, thanks to the new clauses, and labelled the “blogger-killer“. According to the law, every blog is considered a publishing product and as such is the subject to the regulations relating to the crimes via the printed word; if the blog publishes Google AdSense or banners, the publisher may be taxed by the Tax Collecting Agency; and the publisher is required to register with the ROC (Registro degli Operatori di Comunicazioni), otherwise he or she will be considered a clandestine publisher and liable to financial sanctions and up to 2 years in prison.
As opposed to the state of things currently in Italy, Beppe much admires the success of Barack Obama’s campaign which has potently shown the power of the Internet. In the face of the States’ progress, “Italy has suddenly got old“. One of the comments on his blog regarding the “blogger-killer” law has also remarked:
“All the contrary, the British have a saying which is very fitting: ” The silence was defeaning “. It has a LOT OF relevance to them [the Italian Government – JD], and to their many financial friends and accomplices, exactly because the internet makes it possible for millions of people to find out the truth, and what is really happening, in spite of all their efforts to lobotomise people through the regime controlled media, so that they will never find out what really happens, and the real why, and so, it must be stopped, or censored, at all costs“.
What is perhaps the most surprising is that Italy isn’t at all Internet-savvy. “The Internet is what first announced Obama’s victory. 3,000 Italian towns out of about 8,000 are without ADSL. Worse than in Africa, but with the antiquated digital terrestrial“. I would perhaps argue with Beppe on this, because 3,000 out of 8,000 is actually not too bad, however… “The Country has been struck by a bad case of digital divide. Two different groupings have formed. One gets its information on the Net, while other gets its disinformation via the newspapers and the television“. Again, let’s not forget that the Internet can get one their fair share of misinformation, but at the same time the number of occasions when an average Internet user has orchestrated a significant change in the world of Media and Advertising is also well-known and impressive. Unfortunately, the digital divide illuminates the societal and educational divide, and this is much more difficult to tackle.
With the imminent drastic change (if not demise) of the traditional media – which in Italy are state-controlled – the attempt is being made by the Government to extend its control over what is currently not under the control, and this is the Internet. There are many questions to be raised (i.e. what about Social Media, podcasts and videoblogs? or does an Italian publisher need to register a .com domain with the ROC?), but this is perhaps a more problematic issue. The future of advertising and its revenue – and Beppe has already pinned this down – is at stake, and this is precisely what we see tackled in the infamous Levi/Veltroni law. Apart from all concerns about the freedom of speech which Levi/Veltroni will most certainly curtail, the fiscal nature of this law is also quite obvious.
However… The case of Italian sector of blogosphere rises an interesting problem. In the English-speaking world, bloggers are indeed the independent publishers. Sometimes they use their websites to earn money. Sometimes the websites are used to raise money. If so, is the repetition of the Italian case in Britain or America completely out of question?
Last night The Northern has welcomed yet another digital event. In spring the venue hosted a Digital Marketing event (the one organised by David Bird of FaceBookCreep), and now we all gathered there yet again, for the first (but clearly not last) Social Media Cafe.
And wasn’t it great! Over 80 people attending, a great selection of panelists (Craig McGinty, Chi-chi Ekweozor and Martin Bryant) chaired by Sarah Hartley, a load of good questions, and a thoroughly enjoyable communication and networking that ended – for some – next door to The Northern, at Matt & Phred’s. Ideas are already thrown around for the subject for the next get-together, and the whole organisation is a fantastic example of – sorry, folks, getting on an Digital Marketing soapbox for a second – what digital/Social Media tools and platforms can be used to power an event or to create a community, and how. There are now: a Google Group, a Wiki, a Flickr group, a Yahoo! Pipe, a Twitter stream, not to mention all the coverage in blogs and in print (The M.E.N., that is). Read Sarah Hartley’s round-up post that includes a video of the debate.
Some points that I’ve found particularly important or interesting were:
– the importance of a blog’s design on people’s opinion about the site. Apparently, it works very simply as: if you’re using a default template and never did anything creative with it, shame on you and no readership, no matter how good you write. This brought to mind a phrase I have long loved, something along the lines: “when a pivotal moment arrives, a man thinks: ‘what shall I say?’, and a woman thinks: ‘what shall I wear?’” To extrapolate this on to blogging, bloggers, regardless of gender, seem to worry more about the platform and design, rather than content. It would be an exaggeration, of course, to conclude that bloggers have a “female” streak about them, and I obviously realise the importance of a design for brand management and marketing. However, it all comes down to what a consumer (reader) pays for (in their free time, if not money), and it clearly isn’t just the look of one’s product.
– what is blogging about: collaborating or self-broadcasting? This was a very good question, but I was surprised that panelists solely focused on comments as the measure of communication and/or collaboration. It is so to an extent, but – hands up! – when I link to someone’s site or article, I don’t always leave a comment on their site, to let them know. Similarly, I often find out that someone linked to me from my blog’s statistical data or a Google Alert, not from a reader’s comment. The access to this data and its analysis are pivotal in making a blog something more than a self-broadcasting venture. First and foremost, it teaches a lesson of responsibility. Next, some search queries can actually hint at the topics that may be interesting to explore. Also, the conversation about your blog or the use of it may be happening without you even knowing about this. The links to various posts on this blog can be found on Wikio, Ask, Google Books, but naturally, no-one from Google would write to me informing about the link. Finally, some findings can be very pleasant, like in the image on the left. Just this afternoon I followed an incoming link from Alexa, where Los Cuadernos de Julia is currently in the Top 10 Arts Weblogs. But I don’t loiter on Alexa every day, you see.
At the same time I don’t think it is possible to strictly distinguish between collaboration and self-broadcasting, when we speak of a blog written by a single author. In this case the author often not only creates the content, but also represents themselves as a brand, with the necessity to manage it as one of the consequences, hence she or he is also doing their own online PR.
Here also fits a comment from the audience during our night at The Northern: can blogging be seen as just a means to satisfy various human needs, be it vanity, or sharing experiences with people, and so on. It certainly can, but I much favoured Craig’s point about William Blake who is well-known to have published his own books. This didn’t earn him much income or fame in his lifetime, but it was him who had a significant impact on the Pre-Raphaelites. It was the Brotherhood, as a matter of fact, that re-discovered William Blake, just like Surrealists and Man Ray helped to re-discover Eugene Atget. I think there is a need for bloggers themselves to know why they are out there, while admitting that other people may enter blogosphere (and stay there) for their own reasons and needs.
– the future of blogging. I have little to add to the ideas of panelists, those being: 1) GPS and mobile technology; 2) multimedia blogging; 3) data portability; and 4) corporate blogging. But one obvious thought comes to mind: there will be more information, its dissemination, and the problems of its regulation. By the look of it, even now many people don’t know what blogs are, and many are petrified at the prospect of blogging. But what scares them most is not the technical things, but rather the sharing and presentation of information. What can be published? Who can read it? How can they use it? Robin Hamman explored this last year on BBC Manchester Blog, following the Virginia Tech tragedy. Yet people are ready to answer these questions and to really go beyond some blank guidelines in the style of “love thy neighbour lest you be libelled”. So, there will be not only an influx of general information in the guise of our posts, pictures, videos, etc, but also an influx of educational posts or websites that will serve to illustrate the opportunities of blogging and Social Media.
So, it’s looking bright and shiny both for blogging and for Social Media Cafe. I’ll continue blogging about blogging (sic) over at Avidadollars, and keep your eye on The Mancunian Way for the complete coverage. The next date is already announced, and it is 9th of December. I keep my fingers crossed it doesn’t get changed… If you want to attend, head over to #smc_mcr and put yourself on the list.
Those who read this blog for a while know that I have been taking part in Blog Action Day since 2007 when it was initiated. In 2008 I even translated their website into Russian and even contributed a short audio in Russian introducing myself and this blog. Visit Blog Action Day 2008 website, to get a complete idea of what is happening on the day. The idea is that ahead of the October date you think about the topic, and then on October 15 the global conversation surges. The previous years’ topics were Environment and Poverty (clicking on each link will take you to my blog post). Because this blog is about Arts I looked at both issues from the Arts&Culture angle.
Interestingly, this is not the first time an event is being produced with the help of people who are going to participate in it. Take your time to go through the presentation on socially-outsourced event – a public opening of a renovated square in Manchester’s Ancoats – produced by Manchester-based design and event promotion companies. I think it can give some food for thought to the BAD 2009 organisers, as well.
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