It is great to see more ‘distributed art’ being commissioned and called for in exhibitions and collections. It shows an awareness of a hugely emerging area of production. But I can’t quite get my head around this one:

dLux media arts (who do great stuff mind you) is called for works for d>Art.05 with the theme of ‘distributed arts’. It is described as follows:

Under the sub-title “Distributed Art” d>Art.O5 will both present art forms that have an inherently distributed nature (web art, mobile phone art) and investigate new methods for distribution of digital art. (podcasting, BitTorrent, Bluetooth).

There are 3 categories that one can enter through:
– d>Art.O5 Screen: Open to Australian citizens or permanent residents only
– d>Art.O5 Sound: Open to Australian and International artists
– d>Art.O5 Web: Open to Australian and International artists

So, it seems they’re referring to the distribution of a work not a work that is distributed over many texts or mediums. They’re half there.

I find this aspect of my creative works incredibly frustrating. I work with print and online channels and cannot find a journal that would happily like a work that is neither and both. I haven’t asked any journals yet but I’m researching potential avenues of publication. On the one hand I need to get work published in a ‘recognised’ literary journal to assist in my academic career and grant applications, and on the other hand I need new media ‘publications’ for the same reasons. My work straddles both areas quite overtly. Who wants to play with a mutant eh?