Long Tail of Art Wiki

[Ivan Pope]

Just submitted a new 4iP proposal to build a Long Tail of Art Wiki:

A huge amount of visual art is produced across the UK each year. Fascinating work comes and goes, often subsidised by the various Arts Councils and other institutional funders or scraped together by eager artists or hosted by art schools. But mostly when it's done, it's done. There is no record of the everyday everywhere art and artists. There is no way to take a look across the UK at the big picture. When the show is done, it is done and work tends to disappear into the background. The UK Visual Art wiki will map the process of art production across the country and allow the re-positioning of art as part of the everyday flow of life.

[Ivan Pope]

Just an update on the Wiki as proposed above. According to 4ip it's 'too similar' to the Central Station project, so won't be taken further by 4ip. This is a surprise to me - I look forward to seeing the Central Station Long Tail of Art Wiki or similar.
I'm pushing on with my version - more here soon.

[Ivan Pope]

Anne, well, the wiki is embryonic at this stage, but will be rolling soon and I'll announce it here of course. I'm really looking at 'near history', i.e. to start tracking all the art and artists that comes and gos without a trace. Anything in a collection is to some degree 'saved' from that - but of course it would be open to anyone adding works in national collections. And of course part of the project is to partner with existing silos of work and to auto-add them en masse - which would be a fascinating event.
Stuart - yes, that sounds spot on to me. The wiki is really a part of a bigger project that we have discussed, i.e. a 'memetracker' for art and artists that would make clear how art arises and spreads itself via shows and artists networks etc. I think we discussed it in terms of 'art family trees'. I would like to be able to draw trees spreading out from identifiable incidents, looping, corrupting, fading and new evolutions being born.
My plan is to get the wiki running along the lines of wikipedia, i.e. people add things that matter and we all edit it - then build out tools for memetracking and analysis - or of course wait for others to do that in the open space.

[Stuart Cosgrove]

Hi Ivan,

Saw a great pre-wiki exhibition in the Guggenheim NYC which followed Guernica from street drawings, to realisation, its journey to NYC, the work being attacked by a protestors, its restoration, a multiplicity of 'versions' via advertsing to graffitti art, and the tourist-kitsch memorabilia that has been generated by the significance of the work. It was actually more illuminating than a single work of art. Imagine the increased scope if that was participative, web enabled and historically enriched.

[Anne Bonnar]

sounds really interesting can we see more? does it include also with the masses of art work in the national collections which is rarely displayed or in storage ?