I’m in a torrid love affair. Its exotic and has taken me to places that overwhelm my senses. It has disarmed me from my trowel of skeptic wall building. My love makes me ache, laugh, wonder, think and has brought out in me a boldness and taste for experimentation.
I’m in love with Myspace.
I know you might dismiss my love with a sarcastic mumbling of “fad follower” or “isn’t she in her 30’s?”. Kids, teens, young adults, generation y’rs know what I’m talking about and maybe even you x’rs and baby boomers have a closeted relationship with my lover. I find myself gushing at inopportune moments about my addictive love. Most recently, I have not so secretly rambled on endlessly about my paramour with a few stuffy co-workers. My honeyed words were met with that condescending “you are kidding me, right?” look.
So, this entry isn’t so much my giddy, schoolgirl scribbling on my spiral notebook, but it is my summation in my artistic defense.
You have the obvious plusses so often shared:
It’s a Networking tool. I keep up with my friends easily. I’ve learned more about my friends this way. I have made new friends in my community and in other countries. It is better then having your own website and is updated more easily without a ton of technical skill. I’m a musician, comedian, filmmaker, artist and this is how I promote me. Yes! All of those are true, but it gets better.
As an artist, I have posted my work, my website and my blog on myspace. Since I posted bulletins and increased my search for new “friends”, I have seen a 50% increase in visits to my blog and website.
I have increased my connections with exciting and talented artists like: Craig Atkinson, Graphikland, Joey D., Emmanuelle Pidoux, Ludovic Debeurme, Gregoire Dalle and Antoine Josse.
Looking at their work, commenting on their pages has inspired me and opened up new opportunities too. Such as the new Cafe' Royal web-page out of the UK offering another avenue for art sales. You have Picture Ping Pong organized out of Oregon, bringing together the artists from all over the world to connect and show together.
I’ve expanded my artistic interests thanks to the help of my friends: Alex Alpine, Prabes Limbu, Ljudbilden & Piloten, and Rich Ferguson. My heart strings are strummed by their work.
It isn’t just visual artists that inspire me and my artwork. I have Tom Mitchell, Loren Dent, Royal Parish Narvalo, Richard Saunders, Its Jerry Time, and Cook Off!. We have to remember to feed our creative hunger with all art forms.
Of course, the artists I mention are only a small sampling of the talent swimming in the Myspace love tank.
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I plead not guilty to fad following. A fad eventually ends. This form of networking will not end. In fact, it will expand, evolve and become critical to the survival of artists in a political environment that is cutting funding or placing restrictions on funding forcing artists and art organizations to change their output to meet standards of the masses.
You can pass judgement on me or you can join me, my friend.
