Hrag Vartanian

I can’t help but ratchet up tensions between the two most vicious factions of the international art blogosphere: the big bad west coast vs. the good & wholesome east coast (kidding)…

…but really….the LA Times is trying to be (wait for the high-pop culture reference) Fantasia Barrino to C-Monster’s Jennifer Hudson (“American Idol,” Season 3).

Well, Fantasia may have initially won the competition but at the end of the day we all know that Jennifer Hudson beat out Fantasia for the starring role in the 2006 film, “Dreamgirls” and now Jennifer is a gay icon, which is all that matters anyway.

So, regardless of their response, we know that there is only ONE Monster worth reading and linking to. Here’s a snippet of C-M’s letter to the freaks at the LA Times:

There are three reasons why I am making this request:

• Because it could be confusing. C-Monster and Culture Monster will line up next to each other on all those arts website blogrolls. When I started blogging, I purposely chose a distinct title, one that had nothing to do with any other art sites. I was very keen to avoid any sort of misidentification. My name and my site’s identity, however, are rendered less unique by the Times’s choice in title.
• Because it would be a cool thing to do. It’d be nice if the L.A. Times, an established media organization, recognized and supported the contributions of an independent, if unorthodox, colleague in the media. I’ve been working independently under the name C-Monster for more than a year. I’ve also maintained that identity on Flickr since 2005…
• Because this whole thing, whether inadvertent or not, doesn’t make the L.A. Times look good. Bloggers, whether from established media outlets or working independently, form a daily online community where ideas are exchanged, criticized and celebrated. The art blogging community-like the art world-is a particularly small one, and at present, it’s buzzing with some unfortunate news….

This may not mean a lot to you, but it does to me. I look forward to your response.

I think C’s being humble…it means a lot to the rest of us too.