Capacitor Magazine

Using the concept of social networking as a base, I want to connect artists who are working with emerging techologies to to a wider audience via the Internet. Users, or collectors, would be able to browse artwork, read about artists, and keep abreast of new and interesting projects, all of which they can keep in their own personalized galleries and share with their friends. Artists would be able to communicate directly to an audience they know is interested in their work and get feedback from their collectors through the site.

I began writing for a music magazine in 2003. I really loved being able to feature artist's work and to talk about it in an exciting context to people who would otherwise not have known about those artists. As the magazine I worked for became increasingly more "commercial," me and two others left and started Resonator Magazine under pen names shortly before I came to ITP. Resonator turns two years old in June, and while I still enjoy writing about music, there are thousands of music blogs. Capacitor would be something different, an entrance into covering new media in a way that would be similar to entertainment magazines in order to broaden the audience for the work that is done by artists like those at ITP.

For this project, I talked to both artists and those who enjoy this type of art but have little access to it. The overwhelming response from artists was that it was difficult to get their work seen, while friends and acquaintances felt that there was a lot of work to be enjoyed if only they knew where to find it. I also read several works on art, both general and related to new media, and I did extensive research to exclude the possibility that a site like this already exists.

People who are internet savvy but not necessarily "tech-y." People who use social networking platforms like Last FM in order to keep track of media that they like. Artists and art enthusiasts.

Users will register an account with the site. Then they can begin browsing and "plugging" things that they like-- essentially adding to a list of favorites that is their own personal gallery. Artists who are featured on the site will have accounts through which they can make announcements, update their work and profiles, and talk to their collectors. Users don't necessarily have to register an account in order to browse, only to collect.

The project is a social networking site. I've found the artists, done the interviews, collected work to show, written articles, and coded everything.

That sites like this DEFINITELY need a lot of people working on them-- trying to do back end, front end, content, and talent scouting is a huge amount of things to do!