We're sorry but we absolutely can not recognize the affirmation made by Mario Gerosa that "The photographic art of Second Life is purely instrumental" to a social network as Flickr. There seems an absolute degradation of creativity at the same time as it was deemed entirely subordinated in the appreciation of a "public", which in this case is formed by a small (*) circle of "colleagues" (mostly complacent, conventional, more or less tacit).

We believe that the dividing line between art (although in the era of its technical reproducibility) and any other type of human production is right here in having its own value regardless of the public, "consumers", the Market, the strategies of the Marketing-god, by "approval" or more "most powerful" of all kinds (of which the artists working for the courts enjoyed a good deal but poor Vincent Van Gogh, for example, has not had the fortune of "sharing" his works like others). Moreover, the history of Art is dotted with incredible oversights, posthume approvals, with artists who more or less consciously (or entirely inconsciously), have chosen not to practise the most obvious and therefor perhaps more profitable. There comes to mind a flood of alternative movements, beginning with the italian Scapigliatura to the Beat Generation (not to go further backwards).

Creativity (fortunately!) is not born mecanically by sort of a calculation done at table in order to "arouse a certain reaction." We believe that the art is first and foremost an instrument of knowledge of oneself and the world and, consequently, "action art" is intrinsically and naturally "complex". We believe that what moves a true artist is (and should be) essentially a desire to discover and explore.

As above, we, "in the design phase" ( in the passing moment when we freeze a frame) we are so totally taken in by our creativity that we can say we are doing so without the slightest thought "beforehand, what the comments could cause." Usually we have not even time to rationalise the deep motivations of our visions (in fact, we often and willingly go into the essential phase of self-criticism, only a posteriori). You can easily imagine then, that we have to tighten "details and particulars that could arouse a certain reaction."

That comparison (which necessarily increases the human, cultural and artistic baggage), takes a SECOND place. Art is communication, there is no doubt, but only if it is first of all creation, a deeply felt representation of our sences: hearing, seeing, thinking. Only if this occurs it can truly be called communication. It can not exist without sharing it's content, otherwise it would be like sharing a vacuum, wouldn't it? And we refuse to think that this content is only the sum of comments left on a social network ...

There has never enthusiasm or excitment about having a Flickr account and precisely for this reason we preferred at least to create some simple web pages with our visions without providing the possibility of "public comment". We are convinced that whoever eventually is really impressed (positively or negatively) by our creations will be able to find those pages on our e-mail address and contact us, without the whole world knowing that he appreciated our work more or less (and thus, without his comment is inevitably influenced by this public mode).

We believe that the choice we made offers an opportunity for greater "sincerity", outside the clichés and conventions than those left in a social network (as we all know: often only for self-promotion and / or exchange of favors, like "I-comment-you-positive-and-you-do-the-same-with-me"). Yet, at the Age of Web 2.0, most of us really realize the meaning of two or three positive comments, left by some "friend" (with whom we sdebiterà promptly) and ones self-estimation rises sufficiently to leave the house in the morning with the feeling of being important for the World ...

Thank you Flickr! Freud really might have considered you a very good therapeutical instrument!

(*) To find out more, read the interesting analysis on Web 2.0 of Daniele Simonin

Neupaul Palen & Papper Papp