[iDC] the middleman

[Craig Bellamy]

I think what Danny is saying is partly true, but only partly. The 
problem is that the 'middle-man' often knows more about certain subjects 
than we do. It is the sifting of knowledge that adds value to knowledge. 
As long as that sifting is transparent, we can see how the knowledge 
came about and how that knowledge may be progressed. It is what the 
humanities have been doing for centuries. (And I wish you wouldn't put 
that slash thing in the middle of sentences). And Australia is the 
middle man.

best,

Craig



> Hasn't the saturation of media availability and information  
> pertaining to media made such curatorial distribution practices less  
> important/valuable than it was? For example, I would like the media I  
> consume to be available more or less everywhere, because I don't rely  
> on distributors / compilers / curators to *discover* interesting work  
> in the same way that I did when I was photocopying fanzines and tape- 
> trading in the late 80s/early90s.
>
> If the curatorial function (but *not* the critical function) has to  
> some degree been commoditised, it appears perhaps akin to tagging or  
> database design. For me, the safer and more pedantic the framing  
> better, I'll get my aesthetic kicks from the work itself and the  
> historical/critical commentary which (increasingly) I'll track down  
> via trusted citation/friend networks which probably aren't linked to  
> the distribution process in any way (Amazon Listmania and their ilk  
> excepted perhaps). As they like to say in Australia, "cut out the  
> middle man!"
>   


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