There are so many works of art I only got to know because of the internet and especially through blogs. Amazing artists who would have been never known to me and whose work I enjoy immensely and allow to take an influence on my own standard of creating. I come to other artists’ blogs for encouragement when I feel that I have spent too much time with myself and my own work; I admire and am in awe of the amazing work from the most unlikely corners of the world – of the skill, the amount of expertise and professionalism and fortitude both in writing and painting/illustrating – I actually feel that the internet has allowed me to find my own “people”.
I am currently writing my (legal) doctoral thesis about museum and other cultural spaces and the selection process of paintings and artists to be included in exhibitions in those desired spaces.With the internet, artists – for the first time in history – have been empowered to present their work to a wider audience regardless of whether the art, cultural and political establishment will accept it. I would be truly interested in feed-back about representation of artists to the public. In your experience: does the work you are finding included in traditional exhibition spaces represent the spirit, quality and intellectual content of work artists you know are currently working on?

Art renaissance because of the internet.

At some point I realized that I needed to overcome my fear of highways or else I would be stuck. Not driving highways in my case was a symbol for my accepting certain gender limits that I needed to transcend in order to go on with my life after the unwanted end of my marriage. At that point I lived in new Jersey in the vicinity of New York City, in a knot and cluster of highways and outdated traffic signs. Driving time from my house to the city was to take not more than 40 minutes in light traffic. I decided to drive right into Manhattan, using the Holland Tunnel to enter Manhattan, driving all the way up to the George Washington Bridge and back home. It took me the better part of the day to accomplish all of it, in between I stopped in suburban strip mall parking lots and cried – just to start out again. It took me almost four hours to even find my way into the city, at some point I got lost in Newark, I was sweat drenched and found myself utterly pathetic. But I pushed on – and eventually I emerged from that tunnel and drove into the city with a sense of true accomplishment. With two law degrees to my name I never quite experienced such a strong sense of victory and freedom, and I knew at that moment that nothing could stop me if I set my mind to it. I have since driven countless miles, highways, navigated my way through major cities including wonderful, mad Paris – but this first time was like breaking through the sound barrier – fully aware how mundane and small this accomplishment might have been for others. I still have to overcome many obstacles and sometimes I feel like crying in suburban parking lots (and I do) – but I claim that victory as one of the more important ones in my life. Overcoming your own fears and pushing into the zone of actual personal discomfort is an important step towards freedom.

  Einar Turkowski  .

iTunes – Books – The Tree at the End of the World by Inger-Kristina Wegener.

“The Tree at the End of the World” is at once a brief cultural history, a creation myth and an old couples’ good night story to their grandchild: And Rua?, I asked. – The Redheaded One, answered my grandfather, why, she is still out there, whittling bark boats for a people we have never known to exist, calling the world into existence every day.