Blog Voice Carry?
Profile: Paddy Johnson
Voice is audibility and sound, yet a voice can also come through with diction and tone. Of course, in written form we might hear our own vocal sound in our heads. When reading someone else’s words, however, what they convey can be very much their own. When considering two blog posts written by Paddy Johnson for Art F City, the pronunciation of thought starts to emerge (http://artfcity.com/about/).
The first post regarding the art editions company Twyla, captures both the passion for art, and the distaste for objectification that can sometimes be promoted by the medium. Johnson’s tone is very clear and easily discernable through the context of what she sees in this ad campaign. “Is Twyla asking people to buy art or a woman’s body?” is her utmost question in this post. There is no mincing words throughout this blog post, and Johnson pulls no punches in asking the reader to interpret her perception of this provocative form of advertising by adding, “Presumably because someone, somewhere at Twyla heard the old adage “sex sells”. Inasmuch, Johnson goes on to question the business practice of a company that suggests sex for art in a cheap-ditch effort to boost sales. With each paragraph, the flow is evident. It is upset, offended and concludes with the moral impunity that Twyla hear the voices of those who feel similar and propose they remove it.
Impressions take on another meaning in Johnson’s second post regarding Julie Mehretu’s instillation at Marian Goodman Gallery. This post is kicked off with the question of first impressions, and moves on to the crux of her position that concept ultimately might not matter in the context of aesthetics. Johnson builds her case in the initial conversation of the post, by pulling the reader in by first describing the paintings, giving attention to the detail and the skill that is clearly involved in these pieces. No doubt, she gives credit where credit is due, and the feeling of appreciation comes through when she determines “There is, however, considerable skill brought to the work.” However, the tone dissolves to questioning, when Johnson proclaims, “Without the titles, there’s no way to identify the grim events that inspire the work”. This sentence is simple. There is no flowery usage of language to convey her frustration with the installment while still maintaining her overall respect. Instead, her head-on tone once again prevails. Simply put, she sees through the artist’s intentions and feels there is a lot to be desired.
Paddy Johnson comes across as a very down-to-earth blogger of art. She does not strive to go above her reader’s heads, and keeps her posts simple, succinct, and to the point. We have come to recognize art and the critique of it, to be nearly one in the same. That one cannot speak about art so simply. That just as the brush strokes and construction of intricate pieces demand high concept of thought, so does the writing of them. By no means is Johnson’s tone lowbrow or simplistic. Rather, it breaks her messages down to digestible posts that even the casual art observer can comprehend.
