Jerry Cullum has posted a shout out and modest proposal to Atlanta art bloggers over at Counterforces, buried at the bottom of his somewhat belated Canogar musings. What say we? Having no passport to the Blogspot-o-verse, I can't leave comments there, so I'll react here.

Cullum is essentially proposing a collective art re-blog since "few outside the blogging community have the time to read ALL those blogs on all those different blog host sites." Although I'd argue that even within the blogging community few have that kind of time, I do like the idea of compilation as a sort of community service.

I believe Portland has a collective art blog similar to the one Cullum describes. If I'm not mistaken Port started out as a blog of re-posted posts cobbled together by folks who were otherwise blogging elsewhere. So a similar model has proven at least provisionally successful.

I'm not clear on why a blogger could not contribute his or her own posts, as long as it's a closed group we're talking about here. And if we're talking about an open group, then I'm not sure what the value of that is; Atlanta already has one open network blog, which serves the democratic purpose it was designed to serve. A closed blog system looks undemocratic perhaps. And that's because... well, it is. But blogs are free, which means if you don't like someone else's rules you are free to start your own.

We should do it. Jonathan has mentioned a bloggers' drinking night. Wanna come?

Send me an email.

- J.

Yeah, make a comment over at Counterforces and add my "second," wouldja? Not being part of the Blogspot club, I have no entry to Cullum's blog.

Oh, and why is it that the words "Jonathan" and "drinking" are never that far away from each other?

Having finally roused myself from my dogmatic slumbers sufficiently to read the last couple of weeks of Bare and Bitter Sleep, I concur wholeheartedly with the opinion that Cinque now rules as art critic supreme for this here burg and should get together as he so chooses with Jeremy and Jonathan and whomsoever else and make things happen.

Oh no you don't. i'm not climbing up on that pedestal just so someone can point out my clay feet, thankyouverymuch. I'm just doin' my thang. And speaking of thangs, i happen to know there's still a ton of interest in the collaborative blog idea; i know a few people have to work through current projects before taking on new ones, but I don't think it should be read as a lack of interest.