Since the last post, lots has happened and there's lots about to happen around here.  Like:

-I left my dayjob to focus on projects like this one.

-I've been seriously immersed in learning the technologies and languages that will make this web project better.

-I've been working as a freelance web developer and have been making 2D work in my studio.

-I've given serious though to how to make muster a sustainable endeavor, considering the various logistical and financial boundaries, which are pretty significant.

-I'm overhauling the way that heyartistgetinterviewed.com and mustermagazine.com work, both in the web interface and in the general procedures.  It'll be a big shift for the interviewers, all of whom are volunteering their time. Here's what will be different:

The way things work now, artists fill out a form that gets sent to me. I try to keep up with the incoming requests and job them out to interviewers based on their availability. I usually just send things out first come, first served.  Then, I transcribe, edit, post and tag the interview.  No, this hasn't really worked all that well, because lots depends on one person keeping up with a whole slew of things.

Instead, I'm working on an online way for interviewers to browse submissions, and take on the interviews they're most interested in.  Along with that will be a way for artists to keep tabs on what's going on with their submission and what to expect. 

Since a lot will be based on that submission, it puts a little more pressure on the artist end to put together a candid, thorough submission. Also, out of necessity, all interviews will be conducted online, unless an interview makes other arrangements.  It's really the only way to keep up with things, and though I think face-to-face interaction is really important, that decision will ultimately be up to the interviewer.

Also, I'm considering whether the resulting interview really needs to be stored here.  Even in the short time since this project started, it seems like the paradigm regarding online content has shifted pretty dramatically.  You no longer expect that everything you read at a site is hosted there. It means more to me to get the print reproduction permission than first dibs on online content, anyway.

Look for this to begin happening before New Years. 

Also, we're going to set a regular time & place for meetups, which will be held monthly.Tentatively, it'll be the first Wednesday of the month. If Wednesdays will always be bad, please let me know.

RSVP here.

Redesign, again?  We're going to be clarifying ways people can add things to the project, and will make the process of sending in files and things much simpler.

We're also going to reorganize and clarify some sections to make room for new projects, including art-map.com and 1000 words (more info to come).  We're also going to be integrating more closely with our pages at a couple other sites, including Facebook, Myspace and blip.tv.

To top it off, we've been sketching and retooling some things to freshen up and improve the overall look of the site.

Stay tuned!

On Facebook, it's just configuring the standard Notes app to read the RSS feed from this blog.

On Myspace, you have to add an app called RSS Reader.

The setup is the same for each.  Just enter in the RSS feed URL (for this blog it's http://www.mustermagazine.com/blog/RSS2) and it pulls in all the post headlines and descriptions.

You can see it at our respective profiles: Myspace and Facebook.

Also, Stella's interview with Jamison Sarteschi is up.  Actually, it's been up for a bit, but it hasn't yet been announced in a blog post.

Rounding out the trio is my interview with Ethan Ham.  Ethan talks about code, generative art and the web as content.

Check these out at the magazine page.

Check out our link listings by clicking the tab at the top of the page.  We don't just put your link there, though.  We also display it when it relates to the current page.

We publish Muster Magazine. It is by, for and about artists and their communities.  We aren't interested in making yet another art magazine funded by and beholden to the latest art fashions. We'd rather present all kinds of artists--emerging, mid-career and blue chip--and the ways they think and talk about what they're doing.  We talk about artists who show in museums and ones who show in coffeeshops.

We think that most of the writing in any art magazine should come directly from artists, whether by interviews or from artists writings.  To do this, we're making a submission and editing process that's completely different from most magazines.  We're borrowing features of social networks to start coversations, gather both amateur and professional writings, and present more of an ongoing transcript than an editorial comment. Submission to the print magazine and to this web portal is always open, and takes place by dong things at this site.  We consider comments, discussions, self-uploaded files, shared images, and any posts to be submissions to and part of the project.  And we tag, syndicate and promote everything that you send us.

We select items for the print magazine from this website, so submission to the site and to print are actually the same thing. Our magazine is an ongoing record and commentary on what we're doing. We hope to have the first print issue of Muster out this summer.

Since we're just getting started, this project is completely run by volunteers. There are no paid positions and we don't pay for posts.

Here's what's in the works:

this website: is a growing baby monster. It plays host to a bunch of web-based projects, including:

>>HeyArtistGetInterviewed, our free service for connecting artists and interviewers
>>Art-map.org, our mashup that shows you openings and shows on a google map (coming soon)
>>WillWorkForArt.com, our art bartering classifieds (coming soon)

our magazine: is a printed way to show the world what we're up to.

Internet Archive

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=muster%20magazine

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Muster-Magazine/13947406301

Myspace

http://www.myspace.com/mustermagazine

Feedburner

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~u/Muster_Magazine

del.icio.us

http://del.icio.us/Muster.Magazine

spinxpress

http://www.spinxpress.com/mustermagazine/

Google Video

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=+%22mustermagazine.com%22&so=0&num=10

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/mustermagazine

Flickr- coming soon

Meevee- coming soon...

Now, it takes less time and fewer clicks to figure out what's going on and how to get involved.

With the superabundance of randomness available at YouTube, et al, you'd think uploading video was relatively easy. You'd be very wrong. I guess it's actually easier to upload video to YouTube from your cellphone than from Final Cut. Go figure. I've been assuming that YouTube should be the first place to seed our video podcasts, but the size and time constraints are a real hassle, and the documentation they give isn't so helpful.

Turns out my difficulties with YouTube (which are probably too boring and technical to go into, but have to do with file size, acceptable quality loss, and audio snags) were a blessing in disguise. Enter blip.tv, which is a fairly full-service video hoster and distributor.

Blip lets us present nice, detailed videos, in big sizes at full length. And, it takes care of crossposting to a list of places. Which ones? Glad you asked:

iTunes, Internet Archive, del.icio.us, Flickr, Adobe Media Player, Slide, Sidebar, Akimbo, FeedBurner, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo! Video, AOL Video, Lycos Mix, MeeVee, Mefeedia, Meebo, Blinkx, SplashCast, Pando

Oh, yes.

I'll follow up this post with our account info at these places, so you can find us all over. In the meantime, check our blip.tv page, here.

We'll treat s.i.k. responses just like interviews, and they will be tagged, formatted and posted.

Also, I've posted the site's first podcast.  It's an interview with my friend Brian Boyer, who was in town from Long Beach on a stint for his job at a major art museum in SoCal.

And, in case you weren't on the distribution for the evite but would like to come, we're having a meetup for current and interested interviewers on Saturday Feb 23 @ 3:00 at The Half King in Chelsea.  We'll get together for about an hour with gallery hopping after.  If you'd like to come by and find out what's going on, look for the little 'HeyArtistGetInterviewed' sign.