Extraordinary Art Blogs Series, Part Four: Extraordinary Teamwork

See DailyServing’s art blog profile, or visit the DailyServing art blog.

The story so far
In the process of compiling over 100 art blog profiles, and developing an art blog directory, we accumulated a whole range of questions we wanted to investigate further.

So far, we have explored rapidly developing an art blog with Ruben Natal-San Miguel from ARTmostfierce, writing high quality art critique with Catherine Spaeth, and writing cohesive coverage with Christopher Reiger from Hungry Hyaena.

Today, we will explore collaborative writing and team working. I am pleased to be joined by Seth Curcio for this discussion. For those of you who do not already know Seth, he is the co-founder, Creative Director, and Editor of the DailyServing art blog. He also regularly contributes to Beautiful/Decay Magazine and Art21 online. He is also an artist and an active curator for the Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC.

Peter Cowling (Art Connect)
What got you first interested in the idea of producing an art blog?

SC
Before I even thought about the possibility of launching an art blog, I had decided to keep a database. My idea was to use the database to catalogue the research I undertook, to preserve my findings and share them with others interested in the information I collected.

I first got talking to a friend about the potential that an art blog would have to perform a very similar facility, with a web developer friend of mine called Justin Chappell and my brother Ian Curcio. We had a great conversation, which got us all enthused about the idea of launching an art blog. We decided to go ahead, on the basis that Justin would put the site in place, and generally make sure the information technology side of things was covered, Ian would handle promotion and marketing and that I would provide a daily content.

PC
That is interesting: I want to ask you about that very first idea, the concept of sharing information. First though, let’s talk about the ways in which your blog has evolved since you first launched. How did it work when you first started writing blog entries?

SC
When we first launched, it was just me writing. I researched and wrote daily about the things that caught my attention.

PC
Now you write less yourself, and work more on the editorial side. You have a team of contributors based all over the world. How did that come about?

SC
As early as the first month, when we reviewed the visitor numbers, we knew that there was a great deal of appetite for the articles we were writing. For a period, I continued to do all the writing myself, but over time I became more and more conscious that there was the potential to work as we now do. The central concern was to widen the scope of our geographical coverage. I wanted to make sure that we continued to get first hand exposure of the art and events we covered. I recognised that it was not practical for me to be climbing on a plane every day, so we had to look at working with a global team of contributors.

PC
Okay so you sought-out contributors. How did you go about this?

SC
We have been fortunate enough to pull together a great team, which include artists, scholars, curators, and gallery directors for example.

The primary approach has been word of mouth. It is great when you talk to someone who is able to recommend someone they know straightaway, but that is not so common in practice. Usually, you plant the seeds and over time word reaches the right person.

We also used Craiglist, which produced a great response and even an occasional Ivy League graduate.

PC
How do you now coordinate things, because your coverage seems to have stayed very consistent and cohesive?

SC
Some of the contributors have been writing for DailyServing for long enough now that they have a very good understanding of what to cover. When you reach that level of understanding it is not always necessary to adhere to a specified programme, and I tend to get more involved once the article has been drafted. Earlier on in the contributor relationship, you naturally need to work at maintaining the cohesiveness. This essentially means maintaining a high level of visual and conceptual quality in the work that we cover coupled with a high level of quality in the writing, always focusing on innovation. In practical terms, this means that both the contributor and I look out for interesting possibilities, and then agree what the contributors will actually be assigned to cover.

PC
Communication is obviously a key requirement when you have a widely distributed team. Mobile ‘phones and email obviously make the opportunity workable, but beyond that what technology facilitates virtual teamworking?

SC
Luckily, today there are so many options to stay in touch. We use the obvious ones such as email and cell phones, and we stay in touch through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. This helps to keep the information flowing seamlessly.

PC
Now you are off to NYC tomorrow to give a talk about the benefits that stem from working in a variety of roles. I talked to Christopher Reiger of Hungry Hyaena about this, who sees a benefit in both writing and being an artist. As an editor, writer, curator, and artist, could you outline the benefits as you see them?

SC
Over the past several years, I have worked hard to ensure that each of my creative projects inform and help to develop one another. I curate shows to help answer questions in my own studio practice, as well as to experience work that I rarely have the chance to experience in person. I use DailyServing as a curatorial tool, helping me connect to new talent. I also have broadened my contacts immensely through working on the site; this helps in all of my creative projects. I feel that being active in a range of roles gives me perspective, and keeps me fresh; it is also great for inspiration, as each part truly feeds the other.

PC
…Absolutely, I think it is probably the right option for about 90% of artists to do something else as well. I mean, I have seen artists form some great support groups, through their art blogs, and in other ways, but, ultimately, most art is produced by one artist…

SC
Well, there are many ways to approach being a creator, but the liberation that comes from not being entirely dependent on my studio art as the sole source of income is significant, too. This helps me preserve my ability to take risks in the studio without wondering if it is going to totally impact my income.

PC
Well I guess that is almost always a consideration for artists when they first start out, but I suppose the change in fortunes of almost all parts of the art market illustrates that most artists can be impacted.

SC
…I think that is the reality for a fair proportion of artists today. It is very competitive now, and artists really need think creatively about the entirety of their practice. Perhaps this means moving beyond just working in the studio. It always helps to find a vehicle that can connect you to the greater artistic community. It is becoming increasingly easier to be proactive in reaching more people, instead of simply waiting in your studio for someone to discover your work. Plus, most good artists are highly intelligent, and have skills that spill over into other areas. I think that is why you see so many artists employing a decentralized creative practice.

PC
Perhaps we could talk about that type of thinking with respect to your blog. I noticed that you have started to work with twitter and facebook. When Twitter first broke-out, I was running an IT consultancy. The consensus within that community at the time was that Twitter was a gimmick, but it has stayed the course, and repurposed itself – particularly since the start of this year. So, I think that it has some potential; how have you found it?

SC
…We are looking to use Twitter to surface some of the information that we think is important, but which we cannot cover in our blog posts. We receive a lot of interesting information every day, and find a whole lot more, but – for sheer abundance – much of that information never makes its way into one of our posts. We are not looking to increase the number of posts we make right now, one per day seems to allow us to be remain highly focused on our content, so sites like Twitter seems to provide a viable way to add value to our readers and broaden our coverage.

PC
That is interesting, because it is completely in keeping with your founding values – your passion for sharing the information that you believe is important.

SC
That value is something we feel strongly about. You can see it in the design of the site, where we have worked hard to ensure that readers can quickly access the information of interest to them direct from the homepage. The editorial approach we adopt is completely focused on identifying and sharing the most important and innovative information. So, yes, the Twitter facility will continue along clearly established lines.

PC
What about facebook? I have to say upfront that I have never used facebook, but my impression is that it is not particularly great for facilitating anything more than casual conversations.

SC
Well it is still early for us, and we are still appraising exactly how we will use facebook in the future. From what I have seen so far, facebook is good at getting the word out to potential new visitors, and developing a community for our readers.

PC
Okay, so you will perhaps look to attract interest in facebook, with the idea that a certain number of those visitors will become regular readers.

In line with that sort of thinking: Where are you looking to take DailyServing in the future?

SC
We have all kinds of future plans for the site. They include monthly roundtable podcasts, satellite curatorial shows and onsite artist studio videos. We are already experimenting with this type of expansion, and are looking forward to growing in those areas. We have also recently launched the all-new DailyServing store, and are looking to increase our inventory to include more artist books and multiples. I have to say that the future is looking bright for DailyServing and we keep ourselves excited by introducing new elements from time to time. Oh, and did I mention that we will be releasing a new and even more streamlined site soon. It is only going to get better.