My opinion on this NG.

I've been lurking on this NG for quite a while now and I,ve noticed that it has become very stale of late. There used to be some good discussions and invites to visit someones gallery on a regular basis. On Sunday there were only four posts, what on earth is going on? On Wednesday - one. Hopfully it is only a seasonal thing, and things will improve come the autumn and colder weather (u.k. excepted, it's like autumn and winter all year round). Or, has it run it's course? Maybe now that the initial hype about the internet is dying down and we are all discovering that it simply takes more than 'going on-line' to market our skills and artworks, newsgroups like this are going to become extinct?

I'd be interested to know what you think.

Hi John Salmon,

Yes, I agree on the seasonal thing. Your query raises many interesting questions about internet communication in general. Don't we have more in common with those close to us and don't we communicate more effectively with those people? Is that the failure of internet newsgroup communication?

In spite of distance and the problems of globalization, a newsgroup can survive if there is a core group who are interested in its survival beyond their own interests. If the main contributors are people who have an axe to grind and keep on grinding away as if they are on automatic response, then the newsgroup has the seeds of its own destruction.

So what kind of art do you make? Seen any great art work lately?

Marilyn from the land of the Salmon People.

We have recently released a new gallery. Please have a look - www.ArtisticContours.com. We will appreciate your reaction!

Best regards.

I lurk here also and would like to extend an invite to visit me at www.lakenet.com/~ronfam/ Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Todd Ronning Two Harbors, Minnesota

John

I find the lack of questions closes it off, don't you? There's plenty of 'come and visit our new gallery', which is good, but it'd be good to see a few actual discussions. I thought there'd be big arguments about the nature of 'genius', or tactical / advisory pieces about selling work. I'm off to have a further look around this group. Cheers for listening (listening?). I shall return.

Jeff Lee

Hi David; Well, let's start with a little story! I was chatting with a neighbor one fine day, and my son (who was 9 at the time) comes up with the usual preteen 'Daaaad, I'm bored..'. Well, my neighbor fixed him with his eye, and remarked 'You know, P

I've been occasionally checking in with this group for several months and generally find David's comments (as well as others) to be very salient and important. There exists what can be called a *crisis of culture* in which art that isn't expropriated for commercial purpose and/or 'cultural iconography' is increasingly relegated to the fringes of any possible meaningful discussion via the *marginalization syndrome*