Thursday, June 18, 2009
hidden in plain sight
I was just thinking about my role as gatekeeper over at my music blog - and in web 2.0 that means pointing people in the immediate direction of good stuff (via direct links), as well as explanations - and it occured to me that tons and tons of incredible art/music/whatever is hidden in plain sight (particularly when it comes to a site like YouTube).
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The gatekeeper (or taste maker) role is very difficult though, invariably I find it problematic when I am asked in interviews 'what is happening now that I recommend' because the living nature of artistic practice is such that it is always moving, the 'now' that I answer is invariably a few months prior to the 'now' when the interview appears. Also the gatekeeper in someway (and I include myself in this as a writer on film and curater) needs to continually challenge their own tastes and aesthetic expectations and maintain a fearlessness.
ReplyDeleteSomebody said to me at the Flipper gig that they "had missed out on that whole scene" and felt the need to research it, and while I applaud rigor and research and think it is essential, paradoxically I also think that we 'start where we are' (to paraphrase J Derrida).
As to hiding in plain sight, one of the fascinations I have with Youtube is people who perform covers and post their home clips online, there are some quite amazing renditions of Yankee Bayonet by The Decemberists there.