mindmap by Austin Kleon
Reproduced paintings, like all information, have to hold their own against all the other information being continually transmitted.
Now take that quote above, and replace the word “paintings” with: ideas, stories, images, designs…
We’re talking about context here. The quote is from the first essay of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, a classic work that explores images, visual language, and mechanical reproduction. I won’t try to boil a complex argument down to a couple sentences, but Berger was discussing how the camera transformed the way we see images — when an image can be reproduced anywhere, what you see becomes inseparable from the context in which you see it.
There are countless context shifts that will sharply affect how you view an image.
A simple caption can change an image of a girl crying into an image of a girl who has just lost her best friend in a car accident. Seeing a photo of a 19-year-old girl will bring different assumptions if it is framed on an elderly woman’s wall or in a frame on a 19-year-old boy’s desk.
I want to take this topic of context, which Austin Kleon alludes to in his marvelous mind map above in the sections “clipboards” and “blogs as curator,” and run with it.
A Level Playing Field
Berger describes the bulletin boards people often keep in their living room or office, pinning up photos, postcards, newspaper clippings, and whatever else they fancy. Berger then makes a daring statement:
On each board all the images belong to the same language and all are more or less equal within it, because they have been chosen in a highly personal way to match and express the experience of the room’s inhabitant. Logically, these boards should replace museums.
Berger is essentially saying that we should all be recognized as curators. This book was published in 1972, long before any of us were blogging, but I believe it has incredible relevance for us now.
The internet offers a level playing field in many respects. Whereas an original painting will be solemnly displayed in a museum, a reproduction of that painting can be pasted anywhere: on your wall, in your notebook or on a website. On a website, that Very Important Painting may sit next to an art student’s musings about why the color green is so important. Although that art student’s words would never be pasted beside the painting at the museum, the internet allows for, and even encourages, such juxtapositions.
This inclusive quality of the internet is one of its most endearing qualities, but it also creates problems with searching. We no longer have our vision limited to what is inside that museum, but that means that we must take on extra work as the curator. It also brings with it a slew of copyright issues, but we won’t get into those now.
Who’s Reading What You Write?
So, what does this mean for your blog? I say it should make us very curious about who is reading our blogs, where they are reading them, and when. We have this amazing opportunity to reach across endless contexts, so how do we exploit this in the best possible way?
Comments are one obvious answer. We open the mic to everyone who wants to contribute their perspectives. Links are another good example — we link to relevant articles, usually ones that support our arguments.
But how can we take this further? How can we make our blogs that much better than a museum?
I believe one key to taking it further is debate. Presenting views that oppose your own, welcoming constructive opposition — debate often serves to enhance and extend an issue.
What do you think? How else can we take advantage of these endless contexts?
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve always been very interested as to when, why, and how my visitors come to me…but I have yet to really get into keeping track of the statistics. I don’t even know how many feed subscribers I have right now. That’s probably a bad thing, isn’t it?
Matthew Dryden´s last blog post..Sedated
Kia ora Zoë
I am impressed that you drew a parallel between art/artist/viewer and blogpost/blogger/viewer.
Context is so very important and is something so easily forgotten about – especially in (international)blogging. I use the bracketed word here to emphasise that we are blogging to a global audience for that is not often remembered by people who view or post blog posts.
The blogger has to be aware of the context. Try as best as the blogger can to portray the context as unequivocally as possible, it doesn’t always work.
The reader/viewer/visitor has also to be aware of context for synergy to work and contribute to the understandings.
So it is with art, as you alluded. The artist and the reader/viewer/appreciator may strike up a relationship with one another that transcends time and distance.
There is nothing new in any of this. It is a facet of communication that is essential for relevance to be conveyed. The barriers to this is legion.
It is a tribute to humankind’s ability to adapt, that so much that is released in communication by one person is received and understood by another.
Catchya later
Ken Allan´s last blog post..The Collective Effect
Occasionally I am compelled to read the blogs of others once having read their comments (attracted by relevance/interest of the title of their blog). I suppose that bloggers can expose themselves a bit more by leaving comments behind on other blogs with a link to their own blog in signature. Hope that isnt too obvious an observation, but certainly a way to ‘advertise’. I also dont take the ‘tag back’ to other blogs as a negative/sinister/advantage taking thing, just one of the great bonuses of a working community. Afterall, we all understand that bloggers might blog for the serendipity, but do really want readers…
@Trina- Kia ora
As a blogger who started blogging not too many months ago in order to learn about social networking so I can help my students, I can say that I often find it frustrating (and socially frustrating at that) if I cannot track to the blog of a commenter (if they have one). This applies as much to a commenter posting on my own blog as on another.
“Really want readers”. Hmmm. I’ve no doubt that vanity is a factor with some bloggers. But I’d say that bloggers will all have their own personalities, wants, likes and dislikes.
I liken blogging to the social cirles that abound. I like to have guests round for tea/dinner/chats – hold the occasional party – meet new people – go out with my friends. Blogging is no different.
In order to have people round to dinner I have to invite them. But first, I must meet them and determine whether I’d like to know them better. I won’t manage to get many visitors, invited or otherwise, if they don’t know where I live.
Blogging is exactly like that. That’s how I ‘follow’ blogs and have bloggers who ‘follow’ mine – link to other bloggers through comments or posts – take part in blog challenges and other blog action activities.
Besides, I have to actively do something different when I leave a comment if I don’t want to leave my calling card. You could say I’d have to wear a mask when I’m out meeting people to avoid being identified.
But if you are one who never uses calling cards, never shares a tea party, never invites people to your home, never wants to join a social group, you might find it difficult to understand the analogous sort of a thing happening on a blog.
Catchya later
from Middle-earth
Ken Allan´s last blog post..The Collective Effect
@ Matthew – I love looking at the map of where my visitors come from. But I’m really lax about tracking stats in general — it just seems to take the fun out of blogging!
@ Ken – You’re definitely right that this is not a new trend — but we now have new tools to make it easier and faster to spread ideas. It is amazing how quickly we adapt and translate ideas.
@ Trina – I think clicking through comments can be an excellent way to connect with people sharing your interests — or even people whose ideas intrigue you. Sure, some people do it for pure “advertisement” but I think it often fosters genuine discussion, which is ultimately the blog’s greatest tool.
Ken, I love the tea party/dinner party blogging analogy!
Hi Zoë,
the relevance of context works both ways. As a producer/ sender you may be able to control the contexts your work shows up in – but only to a very limited extend. That’s the copyright issue. Apart from that: all recipients have their very own contexts they may put a work of art into, most of these contexts not even imaginable for the sender.
On the other hand the recipient might ask: what was the sender’s context? That’s often helpful in decoding the message like very often in old paintings or in classical drama. If the sender wants her or his message to be as clear as possible, she or he should give as much context as possible and put context into art directly.
That problem does not only occur to artists, but to politicians, too. Each sentence has to be crafted in a way that prevents it from being misjudged or misused if segregated from the context.
Detlef Cordes´s last blog post..Welcome to My Empty Brain
Ken – Greetings, I feel I may have offended you, if so my sincere apologies. I enjoyed your analogy, and found it ineresting to hear your pespective on how you ‘socialize’ in all its contexts.
Zoe – When I read your ending question…” How else can we take advantage of these endless contexts?”… I really took the position of ‘take advantage’ in a positive constructive way, to look for different ways to get noticed. If my comment about advertising was taken in a negative way, again my apologies. Leaving a link back to ones own blog after commenting can be a way to ‘take advantage’ – in a positive way.
Best,
Trina
Kia ora Trina!
No you didn’t offend me. We bloggers tend to be a bit robust. I think it’s part of what comes as a commenter/bogger. I respect your ability to comment on a post – and it is an ability, some would call it the lack of hang-up about technology.
I watch my children (youngest is not quite 15) and see in them an attitude not too different than my own. They feel (rightly I’d say) that we are all entitled to our opinions and to express those provided we do it in a seemly fashion; of course, they wouldn’t use the words I use, but the fundamental idea is the same.
My belief (and I think Zoë would agree) is that we should all treat the venue (blog) in the same way as we do our meeting places/homes/hotels made accessible to us. Which means that we all welcome each other and we should each foster this welcoming.
I come to share with you, not to alienate you, not as in the falacious Star Trek spoof, “We come in peace. Shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill.” There is a lot who do that
Catchya later
from Middle-earth
Ken Allan´s last blog post..On Blogging – Report on Index Page
@ Ken, thanks for the clarification. Effective communication, good – alienation, not good. All’s well that ends well.
I’ve actually been wondering about the folks who subscribe to my blog. I have a good idea about who a small handful of them are, where they come from, and even how they found my site. But all the readers who don’t comment… I’d sure like to learn more about them.
I love the image of the mindmap, by the way. I think I stared at it for about five minutes before I started reading.
Melissa Donovan´s last blog post..Top Secret Fiction Writing Exercises
Kia ora Melissa
You may have heard of Google Analytics (GA)? It is one of the Web2.0 tools that permits the blogger to mobitor visitors, where they come from and what the look at including time spent on the page etc. Post Rank is another with a different way of monitoring.
I’d recommend GA as a first app. It’s easy to install and gives a fair old array of different stats to look at. Here’s a recent page from my own blog showing just some of the things GA can provide on a single page – and there is more than I’ve summarised that you can peruse with that app.
Catchya later
from Middle-earth
Ken Allan´s last blog post..Collective Behaviour
“But how can we take this further? How can we make our blogs that much better than a museum?”
My immediate reaction to this sentence is that the museum is the end of the trip, but the real journey is the process of getting there.
LisaNewton´s last blog post..Walking to the Fowler
@ Detlef – It’s sharp of you to note that many of these contexts are ‘invisible.’ I think that’s very true, but it’s also the most special thing about art — that it can be translated into endless contexts and provoke endless meanings.
@ Trina and Ken – I think you’re both on target — you certainly weren’t offensive, Trina!
@ Melissa – Yes, there must be so many readers who don’t comment! Maybe we need to make periodic calls for introductions… ?
@ Lisa – I love that analogy! Blogs have an excellent way of showing the *process* of arguments and ideas…which is likely a major reason they were such a successful innovation.
I’ve been back to study the drawing about five times since it was posted. Such an interesting mind map.
I too think that inviting the challenge can make us all do better work.
Richard,
Yes, I find Austin’s mind maps to be endlessly fascinating. There’s always more to look at and think about. If you click the link under the photo, you can check out some more of them…
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