On art and spectatorship

This is possibly going to be a very la-di-da post, but you can't say I didn't warn you.

I was thinking, yesterday, about art galleries. I was thinking about the multitude of tiny galleries we have in Tokyo, where untold numbers of unknown artists exhibit their work.

I know the internet will probably not (or shouldn't) replace the gallery as the primary, optimum viewing space for art but in a world where user-generated content is king, will events like the Brighton Flickr group flashmob exhibition become more common ways for emerging artists as well as interested rank amateurs like myself to show their work?

I have to say that the model above greatly interests me and I am very interested in showing my work on a public holiday in Japan, 23rd September, in a public place and I have chosen Yoyogi Park.

The internet is a 'free' virtual space. For a physical exhibition, the use of 'free' physical spaces is necessary. This could be park, meadow or pavement. The model of graffiti - using any space may be more important to the artist in the age of the internet: showing work in prohibited spaces and sacrificing that work as lost when the owner of such space removes it or co-opts it (c.f. the work of Banksy). All that may exist of the original work is memory, video and/or photographs.

I personally think that this is an exciting time for art. It could even be the end of the 'serious' artist with shit work. In my opinion, there are a handful of artists who wouldn't be able to survive if they weren't friendly with certain critics. There's not much new in modern art, but anything that's good but understated tends to get shoved to one side in favour of sensationalist artless bollocks. And don't even get me started on the dearth of (post)modern painters.