student number:g07s5350

Web 2.0 is a form of networking allowing one to receive and distribute information within a certain network for example facebook and youtube. It has drastically affected the dissemination of information on the internet making it easier to find what you are looking for. This essay will discuss the ways in which blogging, which is a form of social networking, can be used as a tool to promote and market visual artists. By comparing three blogs, one international one African and one South African, which either focus on or reference in some way the Johannesburg based art group Avant Car Guard, I will explore ways in which the persona of the art group is marketed.

Avant Car Guard is comprised of three young men Zander Blom, Michael McGarry and Jan-Henri Booyens who joined their art making forces in 2006.They have worked in various art mediums together including photography, performance, painting, video and installation. The first time I heard about the trio was last year in a Blunt magazine-the only thing I can remember was being interested and slightly disheartened by their explanation for their name; there being no currency for the label Avant-Garde in today’s society. Since 2006 they have had many exhibitions in Cape Town and Johannesburg as well as exhibiting in New York and Berlin. In July they had a solo exhibition at the Brodie/Stevenson art gallery in Johannesburg. Within only three years of art making they are now being called the "Holy trinity of the local art scene" with their light-hearted, satirical stance and a knack for mocking the art world. I think their rebellious brand of art as well as their fashionable ‘indie’ persona and their use of marketing it, via blogs, appeals to the younger market. Many critics have stated their lack of faith in the group progressing “It always seemed that Avant Car Guards flippant and irreverent brand of art had a sell-by-date. It is expected for young peripheral artists to challenge the pretentions of the art world they are yet to be embraced by” With the title of their recent exhibition being “Scuse us while we kiss the sky (as in, we’ve hit the ceiling)” it seems they are aware of their ephemeral position, but with their striking, garish new use of aesthetic seen in their paintings their work seems to tell otherwise, suggesting that the threesome might just have a few more tricks up their sleeve.

CHANGETHETHOUGHT is an international blog I will be looking at. It began in 2002 as a portfolio for young American designer Christopher Cox. Since then it has expanded into a resource giving other artists and designers from around the world the opportunity to add and share information on anything arty or of interest (prophecies of alien contact in Alabama or new recipes for cooking a batch of methamphetamine for example of just a few). The Avant Car Guard blog begins with two brightly coloured images, The Bitch who saw tomorrow and Because you’re worth it; paintings exhibited at their recent exhibition. The brief description of the artists and their medium below the images sounded vaguely familiar, upon revisiting the art group’s website via a link given I realised it was a direct quote from their website. This brings me to my first observation upon visiting vast amounts of blogs on the art group. Plagiarism is easy and rampant especially in an environment where sharing is encouraged, there seems to be no structure that protects the ownership of text or images. This could be potentially harmful to an artist. Only later did I discover that Christopher Cox was the master mind behind the Obama advertisement campaign that flooded the media during and after the presidential elections in 2008, considering this I realized the site is probably quite popular and frequently visited, also further assisting the advertisement of the art group. At the end of the blog there is the option to ‘share + bookmark’ the page, I didn’t know what this was at first but with a little exploring I found this option gives the reader the opportunity to pass on the information to anyone one of a range of ‘bookmarking sites’ including ‘stumbleupon’ and ‘digg’ where the information could be disseminated among a different network of art hungry individuals. At the end of the page there is a space for one to leave a comment and share ones thoughts and opinions on the artwork.

The second blog is called 54BEATS which is dedicated to bringing unity to African youth. It is an open space for African writers, journalists and artists to share and locate news concerning politics, economics, arts and culture. The website encourages freedom of speech, expression and activism. In comparison to the last blog this site focuses on communicating up and coming news to the members. The blog on Avant Car Guard is basically an advertisement for the exhibition they had in April at the What-if-the-World gallery in Cape Town, it gives a short description of the exhibition, two images of their work from the exhibition and a photo of the artists. This brings me to my second observation of how blogs can be used to create and promote an artist’s persona- When talking about a persona I am acknowledging that any artist working in the public sphere intentionally or unintentionally creates a personality that can be very helpful to the audience in relating to or orientating themselves around the artist. In Avant car Guarde’s case they are conscious of their group having a ‘punk sensibility’ as described in an interview with Robert Sloon. This punk persona is portrayed through their photograph displayed in the blog, through their posture, clothing and setting. Through this photo one can’t help but think that these guys are “hardcore”. There is also a link given to the Gallery’s website for the reader to find out further information about the exhibition. At the bottom of the page is a space to post comments and start discussions related to the blog.

The South African blog I will be discussing is Avant car Guard’s own blog. They have a myspace page, but the blog that I want to focus on and which I find most interesting is their photoblog. It is frequently updated compared to their myspace blog and I’m guessing it is the most popular being the only blog advertised on their website. Basically the blog is one long strip of photographs arranged in chronological order. To the right of the photos is an archive bar giving the viewer the opportunity to select an exhibition title or month.It gives the viewer the privilege of stepping into their world by being able to view the creation process’ of their art works, the set up of their work in the gallery space, the exhibitions and shows, the after parties and documentation of their travels. This blog best promotes their persona because it is created and updated by the artists themselves. They have control over how they want to be perceived through these images, which is in keeping to their punk sensibility. In a recent interview with Robert Sloon Avant car Guard expressed their views on how they see themselves.

Michael Mcgarry: I don’t think it’s that strategic, we wanted to make things that were very authored and confuse the issue further.

Zander Blom: I think 80% of that was “Fuck lets try this!” a big part of its trying new stuff.

Jan-Henri Booyens: Someone gets an idea and we execute it. Someone says “hey lets build a raft”, then we build a raft.

ZB:It’s a thing of hanging out, getting drunk and coming up with ideas. It’s not sitting down and this is our fucking manifesto, this is what we work with this is our brand.

Avant Car Guard Is a lifestyle an attitude and the photographs on this blog I think do the best promoting for the art group by holding to and displaying their ethos.