Net Art Programme: From Now On This Blog Is Going To Be… (2009)

Taking its title from a piece by Michael Bell-Smith – a simple Google search for the phrase – From Now On This Blog Is Going To Be… was a curated selection of artist commissioned blogs to be realised online throughout the duration of the festival.

The novice blogger often sets out with huge expectations – from the number of readers to the frequency of posts to the quality of content. But the unedited, open nature of the medium means the blog often fails to find a cohesive voice, instead left abandoned in lost hopes and unrealized potential. As Bell-Smith’s piece suggests, the blog creator is burdened with a nagging guilt that leaves its traces in posts that attempt to revamp and revive the failed blog.

Freed from the obligation of an indefinite commitment, the artists created time-limited ‘fantasy’ blogs that are realized exclusively for the festival. The blogs became a forum for the alternate personas and quirky ideas of the artists. In turn, the commissioned artists acted as official festival bloggers in an Abandon Normal Devices style; not conforming to the documentarian image and not even covering the festival itself.

The selected artists maintained ongoing blog presences that contrast with their fantasy blogs, in addition to art practices that revolve around the internet.

Oliver Laric (b. 1981, Austria), co-founder of Vvork

John Michael Boling (b. 1983, USA), a contributor to Rhizome 

Hanne Mugaas (b. 1980, Norway) maintainer of the independent art and eBay blog Hanne Mugass;

Guthrie Lonergan (b. 1983, USA), co-founder and contributor at Nasty Nets.

From now on this blog is going to be… was 2009’s AND net art programme. Alongside talks by Lonergan and Laric in the Salons programme, and a special screening of viral video curated by Michael Connor, this programme highlighted new creative practices on the net.