{"id":1842,"date":"2009-02-18T15:14:45","date_gmt":"2009-02-18T13:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/?p=1842"},"modified":"2009-02-18T15:17:21","modified_gmt":"2009-02-18T13:17:21","slug":"what-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/18\/what-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"What is important"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I’ve been keeping a low profile in the public debates about Wikipedia Art<\/a>, I have had a few ongoing and private discussions with its critics and supporters. With his OK, the below is an excerpt from an email I wrote to Tom Moody<\/a> yesterday.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

The main issue for me is not whether I (or others) like or dislike … the Wiki<\/a> [(I actually think it an extremely valuable resource)], to game or not game the systems that contribute to it, and certainly not to canonize myself – you’ll note that other than our own page and my own blog, I have not at all participated in any of the discussions about the project (not on wikipedia<\/a>, not on rhizome<\/a> [another rhizome thread here<\/a>], not on Paddy’s blog<\/a>, etc). I care not about the rejection of the page, really; or even if you call it “art,” as Paddy suggests<\/a>. I think the debates still have contextual value, even outside of the art space. People care about this: about art, about Wikipedia, about the blogosphere, about the conceptual frames and important people (whether of self-import or otherwise) that “control” these spaces through their online voices or backend deletions. The idea that this page got any less or more fairness or discussion than any other Wiki page is not my own – I’ve seen many debates just like this one spearheaded by just as many folks at the Wiki\u00c2\u00a0 – I feel lucky that [Wikipedia Art]<\/a> got this much attention; a real failure would have been a speedy delete, and then nothing, which we always knew was a possible outcome. The point is, most people don’t see how arbitrarily many of these decisions are made, or where biases lie, despite the fact that, as you say, in the “post Gallery [post academy?] world Wikipedia is the new Academy, because it has the ability to control the discourse of who is an important artist (or art blogger)” [and more!]. A bunch of volunteers, of their own free will, cared enough to do all this, a bunch of artists and theorists care enough to carry on the debate. Paddy<\/a> is right, perhaps “the discussion is my art” means I always “win” – but this project, art or not, is not about winning for me. And nor is Wikipedia, and nor is the art blogosphere.<\/p>\n

I’m glad the [debate] carries on, because even if Wikipedia Art<\/a> is not at all important, it has provoked a discussion around what is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I’ve been keeping a low profile in the public debates about Wikipedia Art, I have had a few ongoing and private discussions with its critics and supporters. With his OK, the below is an excerpt from an email I wrote to Tom Moody yesterday. —– The main issue for me is not whether I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,3,27,30,7,38,9,8,25,19,5,12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-art-and-tech","category-creative-commons","category-links","category-me","category-milwaukee-art","category-pop-culture","category-re-blog-tidbits","category-reviews","category-stimulus","category-technology","category-theory","category-uncategorical"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9blZT-tI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1833,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/18\/wikipedia-art-so-irrelevant-we-cant-stop-talking-about-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842,"position":0},"title":"Wikipedia Art: so irrelevant we can’t stop talking about it (updated)","author":"nathaniel","date":"18 February 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"More 50-50, keep \/ delete discussions around Wikipedia Art, but now the debate is on Rhizome, and by the gatekeepers of, and participants in, the art blogosphere. I particularly love Curt Cloninger's response to Tom Moody on Rhizome. Moody is a kind of anti-Lichty, being just as voiciferous in his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":608,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/05\/24\/rhizomeorg-is-now-free-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842,"position":1},"title":"rhizome.org is now free again!!!","author":"nathaniel","date":"24 May 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Rhizome.org is a member-supported non-profit organization. We depend on our community for financial support, but we also need their active participation in our programs. When we enacted a $5 membership requirement in January 2003, we thought that such a policy would balance our need for a stable revenue source with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1641,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/30\/holiday\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842,"position":2},"title":"holiday! (and more)","author":"nathaniel","date":"30 May 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Had a fairly productive week working on my dissertation, and am now off to Belfast for a self-proclaimed long weekend - to celebrate Sid's 2nd birthday, Nicole and my 6-year wedding anniversary, and my own birthday (all of these in the span of 2 weeks)! We've never been up to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kildall.com\/wiki_art\/images\/Simple_Wiki_Art_Diagram.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2061,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/03\/passing-between-on-rhizome\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842,"position":3},"title":"Passing Between on Rhizome","author":"nathaniel","date":"03 March 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"On Nathaniel Stern & Jessica Meuninck-Ganger's \"Passing Between\" at AOP Gallery by Christo Doherty \"This past month, Johannesburg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s AOP Gallery, a space devoted to works on paper, hosted the exhibition \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Passing Between\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which showcased the collaborative output between digital artist Nathaniel Stern and printmaker Jessica Meuninck-Ganger. At the outset, Stern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rhizome feature on wikipedia art","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nathanielstern.com\/media\/press\/rhizome.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1889,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/17\/rhizome-commission-proposal-given-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842,"position":4},"title":"Rhizome Commission Proposal: Given Time","author":"nathaniel","date":"17 April 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I know. I've been promising a blog for some time. There'll have to be a redux in the next couple of weeks, as I just don't have the time right now. But in the interim, if you are a Rhizome member, please take a moment to vote for my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Given Time proposal","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/given-time.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/given-time.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/given-time.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1293,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2006\/08\/11\/the-rhizome-ten-year-anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842,"position":5},"title":"the rhizome ten year anniversary","author":"nathaniel","date":"11 August 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Via Rhiz: This year, Rhizome marks our tenth year of leadership in the new media arts community by celebrating the growth, diversity, and strength of the field. 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