Wired City

Wired City #3, 5.5” x 4.25”, mixed media on paper

When it comes to San Francisco, there are certain iconic images that are recognized around the world, the most famous being the Golden Gate Bridge, followed up by cable cars and rows of Victorian houses.  But for us locals, there are different and local iconic images that we associated with our City.  We have Sutro Tower, the MUNI logo, and wires, lots of wires.  You look up in San Francisco and you are as likely to see wires as you will see fog.  Those are the wires that “ruin” many a tourist’s photo.  The wires that perplex Germans who tell me they “thought San Francisco was a modern city…” San Francisco wouldn’t be San Francisco without its wires.

The wires are full of contradictions.  A modern high tech city with wires strung everywhere.  We are a wire-filled city where more and more of its residents forgo landlines and only have cell phones.  A city where we are less likely to have cable TV, in part because we are too busy to watch TV and in part because Sutro Tower gives many of us great reception for free.  A city where even the über-rich in Pacific Heights can look out their windows at a leaning telephone pole and a nest of wires. 

With that in mind, above is one of a series of four handmade “souvenir” postcards of our Wired City.  They have been sent out for various upcoming shows in Italy, France, the U.K. and the U.S.

Can artists use Pinterest?

As new social network sites come and go, it’s hard to be sure which ones will really stick around.  Among a few of my friends, there is a bit of debate about Pinterest.  “What’s the point?” seems to be a question that often comes up.  Frankly, I am not sure where Pinterest is going.  But so far, I have found it useful.  It is a good way for me, as well as others, to share some of my own artwork.  But I also find it a useful way to catalog some of the work I like by creating different art-themed boards. 

Earlier this year I wrote about how I have my own album of museum cards.  It acts as a personal, do-it-yourself, art book.  Sometimes I find it interesting to look at the book and reflect on cards I chose for it years ago.  It’s akin to reading old journal entries to look back on how one was thinking years before.  I’ve realized, with Pinterest, I am able to create a similar set of albums, but in this case I can share them with others.  It’s still too early to tell, but Pinterest, or something like it, might become a future source of reference for art historians.  They will be able to look back on the online boards created by artists to get a sense of what they were looking at and even being influenced by.  Now to get more artists to start using Pinterest, in the meantime, feel free to follow me.  






An additional posting about artists using the internet to promote their work is here.