Romare Bearden. The Block II, 1972; collage of various papers with foil, paint, ink, graphite, and surface abrasion on seventeen fiberboard and plywood panels. © Romare Bearden Foundation

I’m dead set against that notion. Daily Serving exists because we believe that strong, thoughtful critical writing, regardless of where it is coming from or how small an area it is addressing, has the potential to be relevant to everyone. It’s the reason that my first major decision as editor was to adopt a program of “Shotgun Reviews”—anyone, anywhere in the world can publish an exhibition review with us. Instead of formulating a policy that location is what makes an artwork important, we trust our writers—and our readers—to bring their attention to projects and events that are happening in both large cities and small towns. Certainly our writers cover exhibitions in Shanghai, Los Angeles, London, and Berlin, but we also attend to what’s happening in places that aren’t signaled by large stars on a map: Wichita, Cleveland, Dhaka, Birmingham.

It’s not just a democratic impulse that drives us, but also a spirit of discovery and participation. Art is often reflective of the social and political circumstances that surround it, and an essay on artistic practices in one location brings visibility to an issue that might be of shared concern to citizens halfway around the planet; we may have as much to learn about ways of seeing and confronting the world from an artist in Jaipur as from one living in New York City. And that spirit of understanding is why, in addition to the contributions made by our own writers around the globe, we often circulate articles from other sources. Many excellent, locally focused arts blogs exist, and we amplify their work by excerpting and republishing it here. Approached from these perspectives, the regional is the very opposite of the provincial.

Whatever your opinion of the Times’ decision, this moment provides an opportunity for other publications to fill a vital role; in the ensuing vacuum, smaller journalistic entities become vastly more important. On the cusp of our 10th anniversary, it seems that the mission behind Daily Serving’s tagline—“we bring region-specific views to a global audience”—has never been more necessary or more urgent. After a long summer of assessing and analyzing our goals, tomorrow we’ll return to our regular schedule of original essays, exhibition reviews, interviews, and more. From the editorial perspective, we ask our writers to consider the exhibitions that are making the most impact in their region, and we trust implicitly that this cultural production is worthy of the attention of patrons everywhere. This year we also call for a more engaged, active readership. If you are interested in what exists outside of New York, and would prefer a multiplicity of views rather than a uniform and rigid art world, now is the time to raise your voice. Let’s consider the world of art together, region by region, with integrity and thoughtfulness.

To that end, we have open-submission columns for artists and writers. For the most up-to-date alerts, like us on Facebook and follow @DailyServing on Twitter and @ds.ap on Instagram. Help maintain our community through sponsorship in ways both large and small. Thank you for your continued support.

Stephanie Syjuco, Shadowshop, 2010; installation view, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Courtesy of the Artist; © Stephanie Syjuco.

I’m certain that anyone who visits the major group exhibitions marking our time in the contemporary art world — whether biennials or art fairs — wishes to pose the same question: Why is this thing so BIG? I have rarely heard an important group show slighted for being too small. The art world does not lack density. It does not lack supply. I could only admire Roberta Smith who, before composing her Times review of the 2011 Venice Biennale, called out the daunting “Enormity of the Beast” in a blog post: “With all the additional pavilions scattered about town and the independent exhibitions that are out there, too, Venice currently has more contemporary art on offer than any one person can see, even without the usual considerations of time, money, and eye-strain.” If supply has not outstripped demand, it still might be noted that the supply of contemporary art has outstripped anyone’s ability to account for it. Though Claire Bishop, noting the Venice Biennale’s “return to sculpture,” delivers some happy news: “the Arsenale can be completed in a relatively rapid five-hour circuit” (“[p]rovided you don’t fall hostage to Christian Marclay’s seductive twenty-four-hour epic, The Clock, 2010”).

Even so, it’s no longer enough to tackle Venice’s beast; it’s no longer enough to stroll Chelsea and think you have a snapshot of contemporary art. Art gets made, circulated, and discussed everywhere. If I remain addicted to Artforum’s “Scene & Herd” column, it is not just for the world-trotting, soap opera saga of after-parties, but for the sheer range of openings and art fairs and actions that flash their fireworks from Stockholm to Dubai, from Tapei and Guangzhou to Los Angeles and Mexico City. Where does one pick up the thread here? In San Francisco, I’m trying to imagine a setting for Eve Sussman and the Rufus Corporation’s latest project, whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir (2011). A film noir set in the fantasy architectures of such places as Kazakhstan, Dubai, Azerbaijan, and New York, the single-channel video has no beginning or end. Instead, an algorithm manipulates 100 hours of shot footage (roughly 3000 clips anywhere between 10 seconds and 5 minutes in length) so that no linear sequence can be repeated twice. One searches for a limit here, like the rigid rules of Marclay’s clock keeping real time. One wants to know where one is, and where one is going. But the characters keep going; the landscapes keep unfolding.whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir will always outlast you.

Read the full article here.