26 / 30 The Blogosphere

A while ago, I realized that I am not the only blogger at the academy. I was surprised at first. Who would have the time and make the effort to do this, while taking or giving a class? But everybody creates their very own documentation of the academy: diaries, photographs and some even blogs.

Our trip to the blogosphere of the summer academy starts at a comment written under my post on public routines. Petra Annemarie Schleifenheimer writes:

“Hi Rafael, THX for your daily blog, which has got me the feeling being in Salzburg already. But still it's 5 days waiting and standing in the startloecher for 'my' class ... Congratulation that you now know how to avoid the gift shop of the Festungsbahn! P A S”.

When I google her name, I find a blog called PAS Kunst. Petra Schleifenheimers posts start 21 days before her arrival at the academy. She documents her preparations for Elisabeth Schmirl’s print making class and has written about her work in the class each day since her arrival. If you read German and are curious about her explorations of printing techniques, check it out.

I stumble upon a second blog when getting to know Kelly Briggs from the UK. One of the first things she tells me about is her obsession with the colour orange. All of her drawings and installations at the academy deal with orange, as you can see here.

As I introduce myself as “the blogger”, she tells me that she blogging, too. She has been writing about her experiences as an art student on the island La Réunion. To document her weeks at the academy she has set a blog called Artist in a Castle.   

The third document I would like to share with you is by Ann Carolin Renninger. She took Bernhard Cella’s book making class. It is not a blog, but a poster that she made in reaction to Luis Camnitzer’s lecture in week two. The poster shows a collection Camnitzer’s questions on the teaching of art.

Not only does Camnitzer’s talk address some of the key issues of my blog. Renniger’s documentation turns the talk into a thought-scape: his reflections fade into her practice. I am really sad that I missed Camnitzer's talk, but her document establishes a missed conversation. Maybe that is what blogging is about.