Showing posts sorted by date for query argetsinger. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query argetsinger. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Collector

Will "The Collector" return to Artomatic?

Amy Argetsinger thought I was the Collector by Andrew Wodzianski


Amy Argetsinger thought I was the Collector by Andrew Wodzianski

One of the capital region's most innovative and creative voices is the very tall Andrew Wodzianski, whose intelligent works seem to be in nearly every important collection around the District's ubercollectors and whose coming show at Flashpoint will set a new standard for that very cool space.

Andrew was one of the suspects for being the "Collector", but because he is like nine foot tall and weighs about sixteen ounces, I (and most others) don't think that he fits any of the descriptions of the District's most elusive art character given in various (and very popular) WaPo columns (WaPo readers apparently love reading about "the collector").

But I do like Andrew's piece on the whole "collector" thing. And if you are a smart early picker of such things, then you'd be contacting Andrew trying to buy the above piece (or any of his latest works) before Amy Argetsinger buys it!

Drumroll!!!!! A new name is about to be added to the "Buy" list!

Buy Andrew Wodzianski now.... he is really, really affordable, but not for long.

I know people.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Collector

The WaPo's Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts (the Reliable Source columnists) describe the hijinks involved in ransoming off a Tim Tate sculpture and their fleeting meeting of a new DC arts activist of sorts calling himself "The Collector."

A note from this new art entity stated:

"Only through the loss of art does society value its art," it began. "This is not the end but the beginning. Whenever art is undervalued the collector will appear to remind this city that one of its most valuable assets is the creative community that is so deeply ingrained in its fabric."
Read the story in today's WaPo here.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Reliable Sourcing

The WaPo's Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, who pen the Reliable Source column for the WaPo, discuss art casualties of Artomatic's 3500-person opening reception.

Read it here.

Monday, December 06, 2004

The Writing is on the Wall

Everyone seems to be predicting the end of newspapers as we know them.

Today the WaPo has a story by Amy Argetsinger titled California Enclave Tires of Being Artsy. It discusses a story first published here and in other Internet art sites and BLOGs several weeks ago, but just making it to the newsprint pages of the WaPo. Chances are that quite a significant percentage of the Post’s readers may have been already exposed to this story.

How can the WaPo and other lamestream media survive the future? it is not a matter of if, but of when, and the future (as George Carlin said) is just now becoming the past.

But the WaPo (and some other newspapers) can (and must) adapt and they will survive if they do so.

The WaPo has made two smart moves already, but a third, and very important one is needed if it is to check-mate its own future demise. I will tell them, by the end of this posting, what they need to do.

The first good move that they made was their decision to go online a few years ago. Incredibly enough, that decision (I am told) was made pretty much against the will of the corporate hierarchy, which thought that going online was a waste of money and would shrink newspaper subscriptions. It’s a good thing that more visionary thinkers won that battle and that the WaPo went online. Subscriptions to the Post have declined substantially, but that is a trend that has affected all newspapers, regardless of website presence.

Now their website receives near a million visitors a day, and generates substantial income for the paper through banner advertising and those annoying pop-up ads.

The second smart move was to create the Express, which although free, is widely read by the morning commuter crowd. It is made of short, quickly read, stories, highlights, etc. As I’ve discussed here before, it is interesting to me that a small mention of an exhibition in the Express generates substantially higher number of inquiries and attendance than a full fledged review in the Post.

So how can the Washington Post prevent their imminent dismissal as a source of news, information, opinion and culture (cough, cough)?

Simple: Marry the two concepts!

Actually, not just marry the two concepts, but expand on them! Have the marriage yield a child, an issue; a WaPo Saviour, if you will.

This is what they have to do: Expand the printed version of the paper, with its army of editors stuck in “this is how things have been done” land, with a fresher, rawer, online version. Not just an online version of their print version, but that plus online-unique content.

For example, in their much criticized and anemic coverage of the arts, they could augment the various fields and genres of art with online columns, reviews, commentary, photography, and yes even BLOGs! All the major cable news programs and cable newscasters are already doing this – it is the lamestream media that doesn’t seem to get in step with the 21st century.

And this can be done without reproducing their bricks and mortar hierarchical structure that publishes their old fashioned newsprint edition. An online Post writer – freelancers all of them, I would assume – would never have to set foot inside 1150 15th Street, NW. No need for secretaries, no need for assistants, etc Just online editors whose job would be editing and editing alone; the software handles the rest.

Biggest obstacle in this idea (other than the mindset of an old fashioned business empire rapidly declining?): The unions, I suspect.