The panel consisted of Andrew Dickson of "Sell Out," two guys from Hooliganship, artist Peter Burr and three of the peeps from Urbanhonking (minus Jonah.) I have been to all, but one and it was the most engaging and interesting thus far. It ran 30 minutes overtime and it could have very well gone on for much longer. The audience was engaged and a consistent and enlightening diologue was taking place directly between the speakers and the audience.

Entitled "New Media," most of the Chat focused in on issues of Art in relation to the Internet and then just focused in on concerns related to the Internet in general. One interesting part of the panel was the obvious generation gap in relation to this issue. Andrew Dickson and Peter Burr seemed less reliant on the Internet for their art and the concerns of Internet seemed less of an urgency to them. This was in direct contrast to the rest of the younger panel members who seemed to use the Internet as the primary vehicle for their artistic, as well as their personal identities.

Among the major concerns brought up were the issues of ethical practices in relation to art and the Internet. The theft of intellectual property, the futility of copyright and the frustration with the anonymity fueled rudeness, that the Internet gives rise to, were all sources of frustration. The panel's response to these concerns was a wise and accepting, "Get used to it, because it is all part of the game and it is only going to become more prevalent." This seems like a highly accurate portrayal of the way things are going. This led into a discussion of collage based art forms such as the recent influx of mashups in which an artist will take parts of other people's songs and rearrange them and then is given credit for the product.No conclusions were made as to the rightness or the wrongness of such acts, just a casual acceptance.

Everything ultimately related to back to the concerns of the artist working within society and at the end of the chat Stephanie Snyder (moderator) talked about a Freelancer's Union that was started in New York City to provide benefits to those not involved in conventional job situations. She commented that this was just what Portland needed and I could not agree more. For more info.

posted by Noelle