So the SXSW panels have been revealing themselves in the past week, and so far the click-economy winner is no doubt the good Underwater People's sneak attack entitled Curatorial Culture: The Case Against Christopher Weingarten, which posits that critics are no longer needed because the phenomenon of mass-blogging is better than the individualistic culture of trickle-down music crit, and wins zero hearts and minds with the clincher:
01 Are we living in a time of media glut?
02 What is a modern curator?
03 Is today's economy of taste more democratic and does this equate to a change in the quality of taste?
04 What can we expect to happen in the future based upon our current understanding of Curatorial Culture?
05 How can I align myself and my business with The Curatorial Culture Revolution?
Weiny was quick to respond on his Twitter outpost of unbridled laissez-faire capitalist values:
He elaborated for us in a paragraph that exceeded 140 characters, too:
I'm honored, touched and completely fucking confounded. But, above all, I am amazed that a full-fledged revolution is happening right under our noses. The oil in the Molotov cocktails are apparently bands with names like “Frat Dad” and “Fluffy Lumbers.” My immediate plans are to quit music journalism and fully dedicate myself to “aligning myself and my business with the curatorial culture revolution.” Truly, these are magical times.
If the comments on the panel's page are any indication, you can learn everything you need to about this revolutionary conversation by plucking two random people with blogs off the street, one with a decent day job, the second trying to make it as a freelance writer, and then… weed out the capitalist swine! Of course, the panel promises “statistical as well as observational research,” which sounds a lot like graphs and charts proving that, in fact, “The kids who invested hours downloading discographies and reading band bios have emerged from their parents’ 'computer rooms.'”
