The Machinery of Night

Posted 7:12 AM by Angie Schultz

Blogger News Network

Ian over at Fierce Highway dreams about a cable news network filled with bloggers. Okay.

Pretty soon, you realize, we'll have webcasting capabilities that are sophisticated enough so that anyone could run a private TV show---or even an entire network---from the comfort of his home or office. I don't think this is what Ian means.

He suggests Stephen "Vodka Pundit" Green as anchor. He certainly has the hair for it.

Ian knows there needs to be a place for Lileks, but isn't sure what it is. Dammit---arts commentator! Instead of tiny elderly nuns with speech impediments revelling in the sexual imagery of Renaissance paintings (this always made me want to climb under the couch), Lileks could examine the influence of Moderne on locomotives or 1950s auto design, and trace the history of Art Deco in diners. With Lileks doing it, you know it wouldn't be boring.

In fact, Lileks might well be the first arts commentator who wasn't boring.

And this would be art you see in everyday stuff, art people could relate to, because you never knew it was art. Heck, maybe this is the way to teach art appreciation, by first appreciating artistry in everyday items. Then you could work backwards to classical antecedents, rather than imposing ancient works---some hideous to modern eyes---as masterpieces-by-fiat.

Of course, this idea dangerously approaches "relevance", the Official Education Fad of the 1960s, so it's probably a bad one.