Open Ended

 

What does a blank web page mean to you? I rarely see such a thing when trawling the internet, only seeing a white screen when waiting for a new hyperlink to load, and even then, it’s only there for a brief moment, eager to be left to its own devices, once again living amongst the in between spaces of the internet, sandwiched between a custom ‘error’ screen and your desired destination. Taking inspiration from the unwarranted and unwanted micro-breaks that are enforced upon users, this weeks show on isthisit? was a simple white page with no artworks or artists featured. Why is this? In the same way that your computer needs an occasional break between browsing to connect to a stronger satellite signal or slip an extra node into the network, I too sometimes need a break. However, this, like most things, was un-planned. In the art world curators need artists to function and vice versa. Akin to this, an online gallery like isthisit? needs curators, to expand its reach and share the workload; a lot has changed in the last year and I no longer curate every weeks show due to other commitments and desires. This obviously creates more work within itself, emails to send, exhibitions to plan and social media to manage, probably adding up to about the same amount of work anyway, but that’s ultimately irrelevant. Last week a guest curator was set to take over the site, bringing in their own artists and concept to be showcased on isthisit?, unfortunately emailing last minute on Thursday morning to let me know that it wasn’t possible and it would have to be postponed. I had relied on someone and made a mistake. Organisers have to be able to rely on curators, curators on artists and artists on themselves; it’s the ecosystem that people working in the arts submit to and attempt to conform to on a regular basis. However, in reality, emails aren’t replied to, you’re blanked at a private view and multiple final deadlines are missed, with no realistic solution in sight. I guess it’s time to jump back in, answer some emails and plan what’s next on the agenda, slowly becoming increasingly sceptical as time continues forward.

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Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight