Picsdigger.com

Found my images being displayed on this site without any watermarks and without my permission. The thumbnails are irritating but when you click on the thumbnail a nice "grabable" image presents itself to anyone who wants it. They claim in their terms and conditions that all the images displayed are in the public domain. They certainly are not.

http://picsdigger.com

I checked out the GOOGLE forums about this site..

Apparently its a Russian site and they use your images to generate income via the Google adverts on their site. They have a "handy" linking code that encourages visitors to post your images on forums and blogs.. but then sends the resulting traffic back to them rather your personal site... which raises their Google ranking and in turn attracts more traffic to their sites.

No point in complaining to the site because they will ignore you.. but it is worth reporting it to Google and raising their awareness that they are actually paying for this. Spread the word..

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A double feature..

This week my work has been featured on the home page of two excellent art sites..

1. Artplanet is run by respected artist and writer on art; Jan Weiss. She creates and sell her own art as fine art prints and originals and also works with other artists to promote them through exposure on Art Planet.

2. Talent Network Alateia is a French website (I think ?) that features emerging and established artists from around the world.

Many thanks to Jan and the folks at TNA !

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Homage to Warhol

I'm currently participating in a extended conceptual work as my "Homage to Andy Warhol" for a show title Homage in San Diego organized by the Digital Art Guild.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/art-in-a-box-andy-mercer.html

The Director has agreed to print off this work at their end and to try and assemble the box for display in the exhibition.

I'm not overly concerned if the image distorts and pixelates its meant to look unpolished and grungy. Digital images often appear very precise, ultra controlled and dare I say "predictable" and so this is my response to these aspects of digital art. We Anglo Saxons do seem to have an obsession with precision, order and neatness. Personally I enjoy a bit of disorder. This ability to be precise provided by visual manipulation software my opinion is often equated with quality in art. More precision and control seems to mean higher quality of art for some. I want to challenge this perception.

But at the same time many people who don't know much about digital art think it "is" mechanistic and impersonal, so I also want to demonstrate that this does not need to be the case.

Industrial produced packaging is rarely 100% accurate.. registrations often slip, colors go unmonitored. I'm not 100% certain how it will work out and I like this uncertainty, it is the antithesis of industrial planning, but even with planning the outcomes are not completely predictable. I personally envisage something not much larger than a cigarette pack. So this work is a personal response to the systematization and standardization of every aspect of society. These days you can't place one brick on top of another without a whole raft of paperwork, plans and permissions to support it. Modern planning and industrial processes are hardly spontaneous.

In addition to this these industrial processes have become extended and this inevitably leads to a certain dislocation between the planning and the outcome. A coffee maker might be designed in Italy and the designs shipped to China, and several months later a container arrives full of "tea" makers. So Wendy (the Director) is my "out sourced industrial worker" struggling to interpret my design through her particular San Diegan goggles. I see her as very much a part of the process. If the finished BOX does not sit 100% flat on the plinth I will NOT be surprised or disappointed. I'm looking for one off unrepeatable impossible packaging.. a "parody of" and "and personal response to" those impersonal industrial processes that have created and maintain the modern world. I will be delighted if the end product is quirky.

I'm hoping Wendy will enjoy her participation and will feedback on the whole process... with pictures etc.

More to follow..


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US Exhibition Dates for your diary

I'm participating in a double exhibition in San Diego starting July 9th..



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Common People

Sorry couldn't resist..



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BBC Radio Lancs Exhibition

BBC Radio Lancashire Exhibition running from 13th April to 11th May
Please note the Studios are not open to the public at weekends

Photos available on Facebook



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Painting is dead..

I've been reading on a number of artist forums how digital art "isn't real art".. painters especially seem threatened..

Do musicians don't get "their knickers in a twist" over music produced or enhanced digitally. So why all the fuss about digital fine art ?

Anyway I've decided to counter this by making an official declaration that "painting is dead".

Just think about all those nasty chemicals.. stop painting and save the planet !

(This declaration excludes "painting and decorating" of course.)








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