I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it here but one of my favorite television shows is Art 21. As such you can imagine how thrilled I was when Hrag Vartanian asked me to do an interview with him over IM to post on their blog. A clip from that discussion below.
[According to Paddy, the soundtrack for this chat is: Fleet Foxes' “White Winter Hymnal” (video)]
Hrag Vartanian: So I saw your tweet today: “Embracing my Maximum Sorrow. I am mediocre. Mediocrity is in me.” I figured you were writing”¦.do you feel mediocre whenever you write even if it's not true?
Paddy Johnson: To make a short story long, my desk is a TOTAL DISASTER so I was looking at these flyers from Kevin Bewerdorf's show I saw close to three weeks ago now and the pamphlets, which have this kind of weird corporate/web look to them, ask you to embrace your mediocrity. So I was doing that by twittering mediocrity (Paddy's recent review of the show is here).
HV: So was that why you were feeling mediocre? They suggested you feel mediocre or you interpreted them that way?
PJ: Well the mantra the PDF asks you to repeat is “I am mediocre, mediocrity is in me”¦so I did it.”
HV: Wow”¦that's kind of deep, or wait”¦maybe it's shallow.
PJ: But to answer your question, I think there are times when we all feel mediocre for some reason or another”¦so I struggle with that sometimes.
HV: Do you ever feel that about art blogging?
PJ: Sometimes, but usually I cure myself of that by rereading posts I've forgotten about.
HV: I know you write about new media a lot. Do you consider your blog a form of new media?
PJ: Only in the sense that the Internet is still relatively new and evolving. People are already getting fairly used to using the Internet—it feels increasingly inaccurate to describe publishing that way. To be honest, I think comment moderation (as aspect of blogging that can reasonably be described as new media) is trickier than blogging itself, should a blogger really invest in that aspect of it.
Link to the full interview here.
{ 15 comments }
We’ve always been here before
We’ve always been here before
We’ve always been here before
Dang, my bad. Dont know why I would have though you a gay guy, and not a cute babe. I apologize, as I have sometimes written for that situation in correspondence, one of those context things I guess.
Your apologizing and humbled LA dogg, Donald
ps. Again then, why is this site called artfagcity? I am confused. A common state I am sometimes told.
Dang, my bad. Dont know why I would have though you a gay guy, and not a cute babe. I apologize, as I have sometimes written for that situation in correspondence, one of those context things I guess.
Your apologizing and humbled LA dogg, Donald
ps. Again then, why is this site called artfagcity? I am confused. A common state I am sometimes told.
Congratulations Paddy. Well deserved and informative. I feel mediocre all the time. Oh wait. I am mediocre.
Congratulations Paddy. Well deserved and informative. I feel mediocre all the time. Oh wait. I am mediocre.
Congratulations Paddy. Well deserved and informative. I feel mediocre all the time. Oh wait. I am mediocre.
Congrads. 😛
Congrads. 😛
Very interesting post. Just getting into this internet stuff, definitely an oldschool, Luddite, analog guy drifting through cyberspace. And didnt know I was a Troll. Interesting. Thanks.
Very interesting post. Just getting into this internet stuff, definitely an oldschool, Luddite, analog guy drifting through cyberspace. And didnt know I was a Troll. Interesting. Thanks.
Congrats Paddy… It’s funny, I gave a writing class visit the other day and they asked me about my blog, about why I do it, about what I hope it does. I was like “I just started, I have no idea. It’s a useful archive. But maybe I should find out why other people do it!” So extra thanks for the serendipitous post.
Congrats Paddy… It’s funny, I gave a writing class visit the other day and they asked me about my blog, about why I do it, about what I hope it does. I was like “I just started, I have no idea. It’s a useful archive. But maybe I should find out why other people do it!” So extra thanks for the serendipitous post.
Congrats Paddy… It’s funny, I gave a writing class visit the other day and they asked me about my blog, about why I do it, about what I hope it does. I was like “I just started, I have no idea. It’s a useful archive. But maybe I should find out why other people do it!” So extra thanks for the serendipitous post.
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