Fading Printed Magazine Stars

Browsing my favourite art book and magazine shops blog I stumbled across an offer for a magazine. It's the second edition of a publication called "Modern Matter". The subtitle is "Technology, Style & Conceptual Art". It hosts as illustrious and definitely once relevant individuals as John Baldessari, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Juergen Teller etc..

What caught my eye was an image of the first page of an article called "Post Internet Behaviour".

Now I haven't read this article and to be honest I don't intend to. Nevertheless the title made me think.

The times when the prefix "post" was sort of a provoking and subversive word were the eighties and nineties of the last century. By by attaching the word "post" to any concept, one could demonstrate progressive- and updated-ness.

Now I don't say that the prefix "post" is not useful anymore. As a descriptive term it can still totally make sense to use it. But using it as a provocative expression does not work anymore. Recent ecological and economical changes made clear to everyone that "post" – before being a concept for redemption – is the condition of an ever changing, ever collapsing world.

So why is the magazine "Modern Matter" fantasizing about "post internet behavior"? Do they actually think that the internet is in a vanishing state? Do they subconsciously think that more people would read their magazine if the internet were to be shut down? Do they think that adding the word "post" to the word "internet" in a crummy magazine would actually have a diminishing effect on the internet?

The rise of visual arts and fashion as part of middlebrow culture since the eighties and during the nineties was not only an effect of growing markets, but it was also induced by the emergence of countless art and lifestyle magazines that transported the styles and values of the art and fashion worlds to the commoners. Printed magazines have been very powerful shaping common culture by adding value to certain subjects, styles, artists, and designers.

But times are changing. It is undeniable that the power and impact of magazines is in decline. The internet is still gaining influence. People nowadays are rather confronted with "post print behaviour" than with "post internet behaviour".

I can vividly imagine that it is not nice nowadays being a printed lifestyle magazine maker, dealing with an ever aging, ever shrinking readership that, against all signs of time, still thinks that the way to be up to date and cool is to buy a magazine.

Printed lifestyle magazines as a form, and the prefix "post" as a vital idea, are brainchildren of a bygone era. By applying both to the phenomena of the internet, "Modern Matter's" article "Post Internet Behaviour" appears like an old man, overstrained by using a web browser. It's like declaring your own outdatedness a virtue, like being conservative out of stupidity.

The ongoing reliance on print is a big risk, especially for the world of visual arts.

On the surface, the art world tries to make people think that the ideal value of contemporary art depends on it's continuity with art history. But if you consider general historical developments, then this is only a factoid. Reflections on the visual and reflections on aesthetics happen in countless fields of human activity, in the internet, in film, in advertising, in music, in political movements etc.. The art world can't claim to solely represent the forefront aesthetic reflection. Other fields are ready to take over. In fact, they already did take over.

The ideal value of contemporary art relies heavily on printed magazines. The ascent of visual arts as a popular field of interesting and topical activities is deeply bonded to the emergence of lifestyle magazines. People like art because there are magazines and other printed matter which illustrate that certain styles, artworks, artists, exhibitions, or galleries are cool, relevant, and important.

So Visual artists in general are "printed magazine stars".

Activities within art that are treating and dealing with the internet will not necessarily change the channels for the distribution of knowledge and relevance. Art related videos on Youtube have, in general, hardly any views. An example is Jonathan Meese's Youtube channel "Propagandawerk". Even though he's considered being one of Germany's most important and most expensive artists, and even though it hosts a lot of videos, it's basically orphaned. Nobody who can use a web browser seems to be interested. If the collectors of his art weren't too old to use a web browser they would probably rethink their investments.

Rather than drivelling about "post internet behaviour," the art world should appreciate the real dominance of the internet. The art world strongly needs a new operating system for the internet age. Otherwise it will slowly dilute into obscurity.

Will the art world ever be ready to create an "internet star"? Who will be the Justin Bieber of visual arts?