Gazira Babelli was on last night, she sent a message through the Odyssey Group. (not related to BiW).

I’ll have to come back and say what I think later, in the Glyph thread I just said “The process has been chaotic and irregular” and it as, but I don’t want that to imply that I don’t think you’ve done the best you can.

Anyway, more later maybe.

Left by Dekka Raymaker on July 27th, 2009

Jay – I just want to make it clear that I didn’t write all of that to be hurtful or mean to you. But I did want to address this idea that somehow the judges didn’t pay attention or didn’t know the work of BiW or simply didn’t care. I didn’t only vote for my friends, I didn’t only vote for work that I knew well in another context, and I doubt the other judges did either. I also seriously deliberated and went back and forth for a long time, trying to come up with a list I could live with – my personal Top 5 went through a ton of different revisions until I finally settled on the ones I did. It’s just that this weird way that the contest has sort of shaken out, with the judges being silent and not weighing in (or defending themselves when the shit hit the fan on the blog), with decisions being made secretly when the whole project has been about transparency – I can understand why it seemed fishy. And in a way it was, but not in a way where it was meant to be.

Left by Amy Freelunch on July 27th, 2009

Jay, let’s get this clear, nobody is ungrateful, that is not what this is about, and nobody is complaining about petty things, this is not about silly jealousies or pride, it is because some of us feel the organisation has been lacking in key areas. Here’s an example; I was talking to one of the final five last night and they didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing, they knew they were meant to have an area designated at Odyssey but they hadn’t been given a landmark , instructions as to where to build their work or what to do with the model of JTPP. I had to tell them what I knew from being such an avid reader of this blog. The problem is you can’t expect that the artists are going to see every post on this blog, that’s one of the reasons why I suggested a forum, you could have sticky topics that won’t move so important information doesn’t get knocked out of the way by new posts. But you cannot beat direct communication, there are only five artists to deal with now, they can all be easily contacted by IM or email, no reason why everything shouldn’t be crystal clear by now.

Amy pointed out that you are too busy to dedicate a lot of time and that is a problem because BiW needs constant attention, little things get neglected and it all adds up. Along the way it has been a series of little things that have culminated in chaotic organisation. Another example was the official opening which was pretty much the artists all standing around wandering what to do, hardly any visitors showed up, you did eventually arrive as Monet but wandered off somewhere. It was disappointing because we were all quite excited about the exhibition, it was great seeing all that work together but it seemed like a missed opportunity. We all read Sage Duncan’s observations about the sim performance and pre-show preparations, and whilst I think it would have been more helpful for her to point out those things before it was too late the criticisms were mostly fair.

My main complaint was that Ichibot did not get into the final five, I wasn’t calling for the decision to be overturned, I just did not understand how it was able to happen given his illustrious history with the project. I still think it is weird that he didn’t get through but all the winners are very deserving and I hope they get a lot out of this opportunity.

With regards to the judges, I remember when someone complained about AM Radio being one of them I responded that they were a good choice, so I had no problem with the selection myself.

Dekka made an interesting point on another post about how he was concerned with statements like “I’ve been busy in real life”, or “… took time out of their busy schedules”, which he takes as meaning that time spent with virtual art is less important, it is something that irritates me too because SL is not a hobby for me, or I imagine for any of the other artists showing at BiW. When it came to setting up for 30 Best you gave us 24 hours, I stayed up all night to get ‘Beyond Human’ finished with Ichibot and he had to stay up even longer to get ‘episodic.atomized’ in place, I know Dekka worked his arse off getting ‘8 Platforms’ up, but then the day it was supposed to open you delayed everything because one of the artists hadn’t turned up, so all that rush and staying awake all night was unnecessary, and it should have been obvious before that stage that the artist was going to be late.

I was most dismayed when I pressed you about replacing Lonetorus, saying it was only fair someone took his place, you responded that you had to “balance being fair with being tired” and that you needed to sleep and would think about it later. That did say a lot to me about your priorities with the project, if I had been you I would have just sorted it out there and then, it wasn’t a difficult thing to choose the next artist in line but it wasn’t important enough so you left it for another week.

Another little thing, the map I suggested you make for visitors did get made but nobody sent it to Amy who was having difficulties finding all the work, it was me who told her about it and took a screenshot of it and emailed her a copy. This is not nitpicking, it is these small things that you have to keep an eye on, I know from promoting my own projects in the past and now with Arthole that it is a constant struggle to keep on top of everything, whenever we send out invites we contact everyone individually, it is a pain in the backside and it takes hours but it’s worth it and people appreciate the effort. When we have guest artists we make sure at every stage of the way they know what’s going on, and there is rarely, if ever, any confusion. It might be sunny outside, or I might get invited out for dinner, or I might be exhausted, but if I have things to do in SL relating to the gallery that will always take priority.

We all like you Jay, and we care about Brooklyn is Watching, and actually you could view this dissent amongst the ranks as evidence of how much we care. Don’t forget there have been a lot of people that have given their time for free to the project besides yourself, and ultimately BiW is nothing without the artists, the quality of the podcasts are dependent on there being interesting work left on the sim to talk about. I think if you were to turn around tomorrow and announce the project were closing we would all be very distraught and that is not what any of us want.

Left by Arahan Claveau on July 27th, 2009

I think it is important to remember that this is Best of Brooklyn is Watching YEAR 1. YEAR 1 means that there are no years before, but hopefully many years after, the start of a tradition, and cementing a relationship between SL art and the RL art world. Starting something new and being groundbreaking involves risk, as there is no prior model. Some administrative choices played out well, and others stirred disagreement and dissatisfaction. And to boot, juries/voting processes by their very nature are contentious.

Jay, given the above, I think you’ve done a GREAT job in forging this path for BIW. I can’t wait to buy you a beer or two or three in person! Even if there are some bumps along the way, as should be expected given that this is a first go-around, I hope the community will keep focused on what is important here: continuing to make art and talk about it. I think the recent airing of grievances will only make the project that much stronger in the future.

So I personally disagreed with some of the Top 30 and Top 5, and voting processes make me highly anxious (I’m American!). So I’m wondering where the heck Gazira is, but I actually loved Glyph’s piece, and the show is under a super-tight deadline, yikes! At times all of this makes me want to madly eat Advil gel caps like M&Ms! BUT…in the end it will all be worth it! I am so happy to have the opportunity to take part in this innovative project, if only from the sidelines. SO THANK YOU JAY.

And to all the artists that put so much time and heart and energy into BIW in general and the 30 Best show, and to those that care enough to voice their concerns and to push the project to make it better (Arahan and others!), Mwwwwaaaaaaah-Big Kiss!

Was I writing an Oscar speech?????????

Left by MonCherrie Afterthought on July 27th, 2009

You have to thank your mother and your 1st grade teacher Mrs. Johnson for a good Oscar speech.

Left by oberon.onmura on July 27th, 2009

…and God too.

Left by Dekka Raymaker on July 27th, 2009

As an RL curator and recommender/adjudicator for some RL “concerns” (which you are usually asked not to mention them by name), I’d like to politely place a little criticism.

First of all, I think BiW has been a great project, and in many ways, it has become bigger than it really should be. Keep it short and sweet, or destroy/reinvent yearly. It’s terrifying to end a project to reinvent yourself, but there are also so many TV series that have gone on for too long.

Not that I feel that this is the case for BiW, but in many ways, I have always felt that BiW has challenged RL with a new SL form, and BiW is beginning to mirror its RL counterparts. Please reflect upon this. Any further criticism is unproductive.

If I were Jay, I would not have posted these lengthy responses, it only muddies the water. Keep to a few short bullet points about the right/wrong, good/bad, and move on. I’m nbeing long-winded because I have multiple points, and have not posted in some time.

There are a lot of things that I have chalked off to growing pains, and I am only going to discuss them out of school as a case study so that someone can be successful later. For BiWFest, Jay approached me to see if my college could offer financial support for the festival. My general reaction was “WT-?”, and here is why –

1: Most colleges, (and specifically mine) do not support Sole Proprietor/Individuals for festivals.
2: My college, like many has had a cutback in its budget, and we simply did not have the money.
3: If we did support it, BiW Fest would have been required to have part of it, or sufficient signage on the I AM Columbia region.
4: Jay’s timeframes (under a month) was simply way too short. We plan out most expenditures a year in advance.

SOLUTIONS:
1: BiW needs to be a 501(c)3, or align with an RL Non-profit to get financial proxy. Most NPO’s in the city are willing to do this, and they usually only ask 5-10%.

2: Planning for these things need to be places 6-9 months out. In institutional tems, 2 years is the norm.

3: Some of the language above looks a little overblown. Let us be honest, if you’re not supporting yourself, you’re either an advocate, amateur (and take it only in the purely definitive sense of the word), or an NPO.

Is BiW important? Yes, but we must keep things in perspective. It is a niche settled in a niche(SL), that is in a small niche (the art world), meaning there should be less tension.

People are more important.

GAZIRA
Which brings me to the last point. I’m not sympathetic at all towards the criticism of Gazira in these matters. She has been very ill this spring, and she goes off grid HARD (deservedly so) every late summer so she and her girlfriend can go to Sicily and recharge.

She was gravely ill this Spring, and I was not about to give out contact information beyond that in SL because of the prior.

Did she know about the “Top 5″? Honestly, I don;t think so, and again, honestly, if you need a vacation and a festival asks you to give up your sorely needed time to restore one’s humanity (like asking Jay to do a podcast on his honeymoon), it’s non sequitur.

I do not claim to speak for Gaz, but I’ll defend my sister fiercely. We have been colleagues and collaborators for over 11 years (yes, before SL), and she will often work 80+ hours a week to complete some of her work. She is one of the best people I know, and I’m proud to have her as the Dionysus to my Apollo in world.

This criticism is simply not justified.

I am sorry if her vacation did not fit the exhibition schedule, but had you wanted anything out of me when I was on Adak Island last month, I would have simply not replied until I got back (I actually did not have net or cell there, and mail gets there twice a week).

Sometimes time for First Life trumps time for Second Life, and I totally support that.

This sounds far more sharp than I want it to, but my goal is to say that I merely feel things are out of perspective.

I would have been happy to put a soup can out, regardless of whether Jay needed Gaz to be there or not, but I guess the point was more of power than participation, and I don’t agree with that.

She cares, and cares deeply.

I do not agree with the treatment/criticism she got.

My overall commentary is that in dealing with the organization of the BiWfest, it has been more self-important than RL festivals ten times its size, and I think the whole infrastructure needs to be a bit more humane.

I have also accepted to be part of the SLon des Refusees, not as any insult to Jay or anyone else, but in that it’s in step with my RL art practice, and I think it’s fun to be there.

I may have company there!

Not that I don’t love anyone any less, I just thing we all need to get a beer.

Patrick Lichty. AKA Man Michinaga

Left by patlichty on July 28th, 2009

Jay, I’ll just answer your questions rather than get into anything else because you definitely seem pissed off, although I am not the only person that commented I seem to be in the firing line. It is good though that you’re saying what’s really on your mind because so many don’t bother.

1) Confused final five member – I just emailed the confused final five member and told them that you responded here, so hopefully they will get in touch with you.

2) Forum – I’m actually rather tired of talking, I always try to be constructive in my criticisms, but the moment I opened my mouth about Ichibot I got labelled as negative or ungrateful.

3) Opening party – The KU sim is pretty big, so the gathering needed a bit of structure. That is where your skills excel, you are great at getting conversations flowing in the podcasts, I was expecting you would have done the same on that day. If there had been any public there then it might have been different, we perhaps could have talked about our work with them, answered questions etc. but it was just the artists present and we were by that time very familiar with each others work so there wasn’t much to really talk about.

4) “That did say a lot to me about your priorities with the project”, this was something I deduced in response to what you said, how could I know you didn’t mean it? And then when I said something again on the forum about replacing Lonetorus you responded “Oh you had to open that can of worms.” It sounded to me like you didn’t want to deal with it, apologies if that was not the case. But I never did question your commitment as you suggest, that word was not used by me, I said “priorities”, which is a different thing.

5) Finally, I never questioned your dedication or commitment, these are your words not mine. I was simply saying, and I think Amy was too, that you seem too busy to devote the necessary time to the project, and because of that little things get neglected or forgotten and it all adds up over time. Nobody doubts your intentions are entirely honourable. You can reject any or all of the criticisms, but keep in mind nobody is trying to hurt you or damage the project, what possible benefit could that be to me or anyone else?

Left by Arahan Claveau on July 28th, 2009

Thanks for the clarification, Jay. The following sentence seemed very clear in its intent:

“I did need, for the sake of the show being as good as it could be, to have five artists who _DID care_, who wanted to be there and wanted to make something for the show. ”

That seemed like a pretty clear sign inferring that Gazira did not care. that’s what I was keying off of. As before, vacations, probable un-knowing of the “final 5″ all came into play. I feel the response to that was a bit heavy-handed.

I understand that this is very important to all of us. But I have felt the “importance” seem to loom far too much at times. Yes, it’s going into the Public Art Review, and has been in the NYT (a writeup in the mag is more of a mass audience piece than an “art world” thing, take it for what you want).

My personal take is that the BiW folks seem stressed out by all this, and it’s coming across as puffed up. Being that I know what a really nice dude Jay is, I know it’s just stress.

And yes, professionalism is a must for credibility, and being that SL is a largely amateur/hobbyist audience (largely, I say), it is hard to maintain the line between professionalism and friendliness.

It’s all growing pains, IMO, and not that big of a deal.

My first step down the path I propose is to say that a lot of great people have been very devoted, but the load needs to be carried more lightly. If there’s too much work, get to basics and do them better than anyone.

Much love to BiW crowd.
Patrick/Man

Left by patlichty on July 28th, 2009

Hey – I had problems logging in before… I just wanted to write something in response to Patrick’s first comment:

I would like to just correct one thing that Patrick said in the above comment: Not *all* institutions do their budgeting in the way in which he describes. The School of Visual Arts, where I’m a faculty member certainly doesn’t. It’s actually pretty common for them to have a
little discretionary money to throw around at the end of a semester. I suspect the same is true at Parsons, where Jay teaches. I understand
that many schools do it the way that Patrick says, but it’s not a hard and fast rule – and certainly not with art schools in NYC.

Why is this important? Because if nothing else comes of all this, I would really like to make it so that Jay feels comfortable reaching
out and asking for help from people who have more administrative/instutional experience than he might have, and he’s not going to feel that’s the case if he gets his head bitten off whenever he reaches out to someone privately for help. If we’re all agreed that the project needs more clarity and organization, reaching out to seek the advice of others is certainly one way that the project could get
it. I also really fail to see what’s wrong with asking someone for their assistance – it’s totally ok if the answer is no, but what’s so
wrong with the question?

Left by Amy Freelunch on July 28th, 2009

Hi Everyone!

Following are some comments regarding Amy’s blogpost:

I’m a believer in transparency but I’m also of the opinion that too much transparency ends up hurting all concerned parties. This struck me as one of those instances. Jay may be disorganized at times (albeit enthusiastic), but his heart is in the right place and his goals are exciting, and many of us who work with him know this to be true.

As one of the judges, I would have vastly preferred to conduct this conversation via email with the other judges, and we all had each other’s email addresses by the time the final judgements occurred.

I’ve been a judge on a number of competitions in Real Life, and have also coordinated more than a few international competitions (including design) that had to carefully adhere to the law. In every instance, the judges were free to discuss questions or issues with the coordinator and each other, but I cannot recall, ever, the necessity or even the desire to go public on each of the judges’ choices.

I specifically asked Jay not to make my selections public and he respected that. In my work with Not Possible IRL, I already make a “cut” on what I think is worth experiencing and what I don’t, and after that, I’m not interested in prioritizing my selections. For me, it is either “yes,” or “no.” Having said this, I should add that I *agonized* over my choices for the Brooklyn is Watching Festival. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in the past year, in fact. Each selection went through many filters, and none of them were “personal” in nature. To better illustrate, I will share that I was unhappy with one of the participants at the time for reasons unrelated to the festival or their art, but I still included that person on the list.

Every person has their own style and needs and when I agreed to sit on the jury it was with the understanding that the final selection might necessitate a discussion amongst the judges, especially if there was a tie, which there was.

There was an email exchange and I participated as much as anybody. I saw no problem with that aspect of the organization.

Re: Gazira Babelli… A little history first. I was the person who rezzed Gazira’s “Avatar on Canvas” at Brooklyn is Watching back in the early days. In fact, I have rezzed numerous pieces at BiW without even asking their creators. I stopped doing that when the discussion arose (and Jay decided) that it was okay for people to place their own works in very close proximity to other people’s works or even build on the work of others, since I felt that it was not my place to determine if that would be okay on behalf of the artists who’s works I wanted to share. I don’t have time to go chasing permissions down. Nowadays, I simply tell artists about BiW and encourage them to learn more.

I have no idea if Gazira was particularly interested in Brooklyn is Watching, or not. In fact, it could be that she created the “30 Best” installation because she has good manners – which she does – and didn’t want to offend. Or, maybe she was excited about participating, but was not feeling well enough or rested enough to deal with this. In fact, I sent an email to Jay and ALL the judges explaining: “Gazira is in desperate need of some rest, so she may not want to/be able to participate, after all. I know that she’d had this holiday planned for ages and was looking forward to it the way a starving man looks forward to his next meal.”

In her blogpost, Amy said, “Was her not responding to requests to get back in touch with the competition her way of intentionally snubbing it?” Goodness. Gazira is not that kind of person. Even if she is bloody brilliant. This is exactly the kind of conversation I would have vastly preferred to have kept in-house. Now everyone has suffered. BiW has had its laundry aired on the damned indelible Internet and Gazira, one of the kindest, most considerate and professional persons I have ever met, has been made to look bad.

And while I opened this comment saying that Jay can be disorganized, I also want to lavish him with praise for so many things that have gone right. The new KU installation is simply ravishing, and everything that BiW *should* be. I think this whole effort ROCKS!

Arahan, I really appreciated that map. It was invaluable to me. And Patrick’s advice is so sound. What a positive, nurturing group! Go Brooklyn is Watching!

Left by Bettina Tizzy on July 28th, 2009

Just to be clear (since I feel like I was slightly misquoted, because the quote was taken out of context), I was playing devil’s advocate when I asked about Gazira. The quote in full, from my post:

“Was her not responding to requests to get back in touch with the competition her way of intentionally snubbing it? Was she out of the loop in a very temporary sort of way and will be back in a day or two? I honestly have no idea. I understand and support Jay’s desire to get this all sorted out as quickly as possible so as to give the replacing artist as much time as possible… but I’m also missing an awful lot of information.”

I don’t know Gazira; I don’t think either ill of her or highly of her – my opinion on her is entirely neutral. My desire was to keep the Top 5 intact from the way it was when it was originally published, but I was trying to make the point that I didn’t have all the information that Jay had, and so perhaps I would have felt differently if I had.

Left by Amy Freelunch on July 28th, 2009

Just to add too, I don’t know Gazira either, I have just spoken to her for a few minutes when she was at KU, however it never occurred to me that this conversation about not being available for the final 5 could be seen to reflect on her and I am sure most of the other artists didn’t see it that way either.

Left by Dekka Raymaker on July 28th, 2009

I see your point, Dekka, but the Internet is open to ALL, and not everyone is an insider. Google/Bing aren’t looking for context.

It was not my intention to take your words out of context, Amy! However, the tone of your blogpost in regards to Gazira was not flattering. It seemed to question her professionalism, which I consider to be impeccable. Mostly I am lamenting the use of this venue and platform (the Internet) for a discussion that could have just as well stayed within the jury. And I do value your opinions very much. More than you know.

A question to you, Jay. Did you stipulate to all participants of the 30 Best that they MUST make themselves available for the Top Five? Did you say this in writing?

Left by Bettina Tizzy on July 28th, 2009

I never thought for an instant that you did anything to intentionally misquote me… no worries, Bettina.

I will reiterate what I believe I said on podcast #2, which is that I don’t like the piece in question by Gazira. But it ends there. I don’t have any objections about her as a person nor do I question her artistic merit or involvement or any of those things. If it came across that I was being mean to her personally or anything like that, I completely apologize – that was never my intention. But I have very strong (negative) feelings about that work, and that remains the case.

Left by Amy Freelunch on July 28th, 2009

~>Bettina – “A question to you, Jay. Did you stipulate to all participants of the 30 Best that they MUST make themselves available for the Top Five? Did you say this in writing?”

The early process of this was the nomination for the top 30, Arahan and I placed quite a few of the works there for people to choose from, so some artists wasn’t aware that their work had even been nominated until they stumbled across it by accident or if they were contacted to be asked what the correct name of the piece was.

An extreme example is that Strawberry Holiday contacted me for the first time yesterday regarding the name of her tree, which is called ‘Bog Tree’ by the way.

Left by Dekka Raymaker on July 29th, 2009

Amy’s July episode of her Arthole Radio show is now available in the Soundcloud archives. Direct link here

I strongly urge everyone to give it a listen, especially anyone involved or interested in the BiW Best of Festival. Amy talks at length about her choices and she elaborates on her experiences judging the competition.

It is a really important footnote to all the conversations we’ve been having here lately, I think it demonstrates what benefit an open voting process can be for everyone concerned, I certainly learned a lot from listening to it.

While you’re at the archives please create a free account at Soundcloud and follow our shows, that way we can keep track of how many people are listening and you get notified of any new shows as soon as they’re added.

Thanks for listening!

Left by Arahan Claveau on July 29th, 2009