To get me started here is a blog I wrote for the Audiences Central website, back in Feb- why social media isn’t about technology:

I have been researching case studies of social media in the arts and come across this interesting example. Many people are put off using ‘social media’ because it seems like you need to invest in technology, build blogs and generally be a bit of a techno whizz. I strongly believe that social media doesn’t need to rely on super shiny gadgets or fancy websites- in fact it’s so much more about the ‘social’ part than the ‘media’.

Which leads me to this example: At York City Art Gallery they recently invited people to comment and write messages under works of art using blackboard and chalk. It was for an exhibition curated by Tracy Chevalier (author of Girl with a Pearl Earring) who chose pieces from the gallery’s collection which depicted parts of stories. These were hung with a blackboard border and gallery attenders were invited to write suggestions for the beginning and ends of those stories around the artworks. This is not a new technology, but it is an application of the principles of sharing, commenting and engaging in a dialogue; which to me is exactly what social media is for.

[Original source for this case study is Jonathan Drori’s speech at the AMA event New Media New Marketing. Read the notes from that event here.]

I came across the Big Art Mob project today- Channel 4 and ACE want people to photograph pieces of public art across the UK, in order to create a comprehensive survey of public art. I really like this idea, but only found it in a tiny link at the bottom of another site so not sure how many people will have heard about it.

On the subject of public art I liked Jonathan Jone’s blog about the white horse for the Ebbsfleet Landmark commission- I like his point about the surrealism the horse will create and how it echoes more historical British landmarks. I wish people would stop calling it the ‘angel of the south sculpture’ though.

I want to blog about this properly but the Arts Council have launched their free theatre tickets for under 26s programme- featuring a number of theatres in the West Midlands.

And finally I read with interest Nina Simon’s article about the concept of wikimuseums. The idea of how you translate the physical into digital is one I’m very interested in, but that’s a whole other post!

A couple of things I’ve noticed;

I’m much more nervous about this than any live performance! I have been playing the ‘cello for about fifteen years and am never usually nervous before an orchestral performance. Even when I’ve done solos I’ve not felt this bad! I think this must be because I feel more under pressure at the prospect of being recorded for posterity- with live performance it’s so fleeting that if you make a mistake you can move on and hope no one noticed!

It’s very hard to concentrate on playing an orchestral part on your own without the rest of the orchestra. That doesn’t mean I don’t count the beats while I’m in an orchestra, but more that it’s easier to go with the general momentum of the other musicians. You learn as an orchestral musician to trust the others around you, and to keep one eye on the conductor, one eye on the leader of the section and another on the music!

I have become even more critical of my own sound whilst practising for this. Again it has to do with the nerves, but also because I’ve watched some other cellists’ videos and am comparing myself against them. This is something you would never do in an actual orchestra.

I wanted to try the process not because I think I’m good enough to get through to the live performance in New York, but more because I was interested in how it might work. What I’ve learnt is that you cannot replicate the security of playing with other musicians, and the process of engaging with an online experiment can be as much a learning experience as the final output.