Blair Prentice is a Canadian artist and graphic designer living in New York City. He posts items of interest related to art and culture on his site iheartmyart.com. For more information about his art you can visit his personal art blog at or his flickr account.
1. How are you and what do you do?
I am a Canadian graphic designer and artist working in New York City.
2. How long have you been engaging social media and what platforms or networks do you most commonly use?
I have been engaging in social media in some form or another for about 5 years. I frequently use my accounts with Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and multiple accounts with Blogger. I have had several incarnations of blogs that I have used as digital art projects, as a tool to promote my own art and finally in my latest incarnation, iheartmyart, which is a site to archive and share the art I discover on a daily basis.
3. How would you describe your behaviors and interactions with social media? Are you a curator? A community builder? A pimp? A conversationalist?
I wouldn’t define my role with iheartmyart so much as curator, but more of explorer. The site is meant to be the repository, museum and archive of my art discoveries. It is more of a forum to celebrate the incredible bounty of art that lays in wait to be exposed and appreciated. I hope to help to provide some sort of platform for these projects and artists to begin to reach a larger audience.
4. What are your views on the interaction between the art world and social media? Any projects that straddle the two that capture you in any meaningful way?
Blogs have proven to be an incredible asset to the art world. The art world has begun to embrace the incredible power of blogging because they realize that through the portal of the blog they can reach new audiences and stimulate dialogue surrounding both new and old art projects. The greatest part about these sites is that for the large part they are subsidized by the endless curiosity and passion that these bloggers have for art.
5. Is there a lot of potential for interaction between social media and the larger art world, either galleries, museums, auction houses, events?
I believe a large portion of the users that are engaging in the use of social media technology and applications are younger generations. It is this audience that the art world needs to engage and convert into art enthusiasts. Using tools that attract and engage the younger generations, the art world may be able to ensure that art increases its supporters in the future.
6. Can social media be an art form?
I definitely believe that social media can be used as a medium for the creation of art. There is interesting potential for artists to raise questions about identity, security and human interaction.
7. What would you like to see develop in the next year between art and social media?
In the next year, I would love to see more artists and museums embrace and share their art and projects through social media applications. I believe this collaboration and exposure can only stimulate the art industry and ensure that it remains and increases its impact on all of the worlds everyday lives.
For previous posts on the intersection of art and social media, please click here
Image Source: Harrier on Flikr
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