experimental blogging
neo-fluxus, neo-dada, stuckism, experimental art, are noncontinuous, usable concepts. the concept interacts with two types of art: theoretically driven art and artistically driven theory.
β vladan kuzmanoviΔ
defining experimental blogging
experimental blogging is about playing with the conventions of what blogging is and can be. it is about bending styles, jumping boundaries, and remapping the common notions of what a blog is intended for. it is the purposeful exploration of new digital narratives as sites of iteration, variation and discovery.
experimental blogs test format, form, medium, narrative structure, interface, audience interaction, tools, and infrastructure to push beyond conventional blogging norms. This could involve using unconventional layouts, blending media/technologies, treating the blog as a dynamic project rather than just a content farm/outlet, examining how publishing mechanics influence meaning, while being transparent about the process and experimentation.
experimental blogging is a theoretically driven art and artistically driven theory. it is a way to unstick the stuck.
personal examples
i have created a few experimental digital spaces in my day. but during this past year, i have had a burst of creativity, working on the following experimental blogs:
- huewave: a language-free blog using a synthesiser+color swatches+json posting structure to document my daily moods through sound and colour.
- squiddd: an experiment in interprative blogging and writing with a deep-sea and water-focused theme.
- the office: experimental writing and writing as a game based on the mythology of an imaginary office that appears in a forest.
i have some other experimental web-spaces and projects, but i think these three fit perfectly into the idea of experimental blogging, and the latter two (squid + the office) are proof that you can experiment on blogging platforms such as here on bear Κβ’α΄₯β’Κ.
inspirations
i find daily inspirations through digital dΓ©rive or the aimless wandering away from traditional social media platforms and other habit-forming websites. below are some great starting points for anyone interested in getting lost in the enormity of it all:
- robin sloan β blends fiction, code, and small web experiments such as spring β83, or fish.
- laurel schwulst β writes and builds poetic, meditative websites.
- jodi.org β early web artists, joan heemskerk and dirk paesmans, treating HTML as a sort of living canvas. see their archive here.
- maggie mppleton β visual essays merging anthropology, digital gardens, and code sketches. i am often inspired by exploring her pattern catalogue
- aidan quinlan β teacher of the handmade web course which has an amazing resource section.
- elliot cost β small web artist, programmer, and designer and the creator of special.fish
- paul ford β technologist and writer who accidentally started the tilde.club which is one unix computer on the internet and a great place to find experimentation and experiment some on your own.
- herman β humble and generous creator of our bear blog Κβ’α΄₯β’Κ community whose markdown focused blogging with header + footer injections allow for some creative and fun experimentation.
a parting thought
the internet should be a creative space. it should be a space that encourages creativity: creative forms of communication and the free and open sharing of knowledge. i think experimental blogging is one way to help open the web back up, make it fun, and take some of it back from the greedy large corporations hellbent on dulling this place down and filling it with trashy advertisements and ai slop. it is one way to resist the enshitification of everything, so let's get out there and experiment away π΄.