Arbor, At Michael Mazzeo

I’m strongly biased toward people who do something new rather than lamenting the ineffectiveness of the old, toward using the web for what it does best, and toward my own work. Three good reasons to send you over to Chelsea’s Michael Mazzeo Arbor exhibition, here. I recommend the full screen view which, in its own way, can compete with some of the best brick and mortar gallery experiences. You’ll see an interesting variety of takes on the subject – arbor, both literally and figuratively – in particular, and on photography in general. At the same time, there is a strong, coherent voice, something that other attempts at showcasing and selling fine art editions on the web often lack.

So far, with very few exceptions, galleries make only reluctant use of the internet. Most gallery websites operate very much within the paradigm of, to borrow a phrase from exhibit-E, the maker of many of those sites, “complementing promotional gallery activities.” Chances are that this does not quite cut it anymore. Judging from the experience of how Arbor was put together, in a super-smart, smooth, and entirely virtual way, leading up to the end result that is online now (and an exhibition catalog available from Michael Mazzeo’s website), you can’t help but think that more people should move forward like this.