On Top of Art Online: Part 2

On Top of Art Online: Part 2

with Dan Blask and Kelly Bennett from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC)

In this second and last part in our series speaking with  Artsake, Dan Blask and Kelly Bennett from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), we chat more about online art forums and celebrity stories!  Find out about Courtney Love and Jim Henson belonging in the same room, love from Amanda Palmer and why ArtSake misses Big Red and Shiny. And don’t forget to check out Part 1 here of this exciting interview.

GLVBX: Why is your blog different from other sources out there?

Dan Blask: One thing I appreciated about Big RED and Shiny (sorely missed), and now, admire about Flux-Boston and Greg Cook’s New England Journal of Aesthetic Research, is a nimbleness and freedom to share timely news and to explore the local arts scene from a distinct point of view. For various reasons, we’re not as well positioned to do that. But we are in a good position, I think, to be more of a convener of various perspectives and to focus on the process of making art.

GLVBX: Most memorable post?

DB: We did an interview with playwright/director Steven Bogart that was retweeted by Amanda Palmer (for us, this was a very big thing).

Kelly Bennett: One that stands out was one of the first posts back in 2008 about the work of the photographer Barry Goldstein. At the time he was an imbedded photographer in Iraq and had created a series of photographs and an oral history project. What I didn’t know was that as an artist fellowship awardee, he had used a portion of his fellowship award to purchase his own body armor. That was stunning. So I asked him if we could share his story on ArtSake and he graciously agreed.

GLVBX: Dream artist interview?

KB: A roundtable discussion with Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson, Yoko Ono, Courtney Love, Bjork and Kate Bush to see who has the best musical scream.

DB: Since we’re dreaming, Jim Henson.

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Thank you Dan and Kelly for taking the time to share with us views on Art Online. If you get your all-star round table people — and why wouldn’t you want Jim Hensen, Courtney Love and Yoko Ono in one room — we’ll read about it on  Artsake, the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) blog.