A few days ago Andrew asked me to think about the value of blogging to my work and career, (he's doing a conference). I was immediately unsure. Much of it has become so entwined with what I do that it has been hard to think about it as a separate activity. The barely mediated nature of the way I blog has meant that I don't think much while I write (obviously) and barely edit even when it is being transferred to print.
It seems almost impossible to quantify the value of blogging in general (I only have a vague idea how many people look at my blogs, even less idea about who they are and no idea at all whether they become interested in my work through doing so, I'll ask Coline on Tuesday.) I have become aware I use brackets far too much. I am braver or care less or am careless about how my writing is received. Somehow blogging still feels anonymous and this delusion protects me. I don't think it has made me think about my work more.
Despite these vagaries there have certainly been direct benefits from doing the AN blog. I have been asked to have writing published, had my work reviewed and been featured both online and in the magazine. I've had my website and shows linked on the Artist's Talking page, something I'm pretty sure wouldn't have happened to the same degree if I hadn't involved myself so thoroughly. It has sometimes felt like being in some sort of relationship with an easy give and take. Hopefully things won't sour in the future.
I've mentioned this a few times over the last few months but my blogging has become more infrequent. Alex Pearl is Not in The Antarctic is petering out with a suitable feeling of disappointment and failure. There will be a few more posts; my meeting with Coline tomorrow, the wrapping up of the show in Bedford and a workshop special. But after that I think I will rest until something new comes along. I am planning something on Twitter, which seems like a supremely curtailed form of blogging and I might write about it soon but who knows.
