Colossal (blog)

Last updated
Colossal
Type of site
 Blog, Art, Culture
OwnerChristopher Jobson
URL thisiscolossal.com
LaunchedAugust 2010
Current statusActive

Colossal is an art and visual culture blog founded by Chicago-based editor Christopher Jobson. The site covers topics ranging from art, design, and photography, to visual aspects of science and general creativity. [1]

Contents

History

Colossal is an art blog that features 15 to 25 posts per week on photography, design, animation, painting, installation art, architecture, drawing, and street art. [2] It started as a personal blog in the fall of 2010. Web designer by trade, Jobson began his blog as one of one hundred things he wanted to accomplish in 2010. [3] On March 9, 2011, Jobson posted artist Sagaki Keita's surreal, intricately detailed ink drawings to his blog. By 5:00 p.m. that day, so many visitors flooded the site that his server crashed. [4] The blog grew in popularity to the point New York-based advertising agency Nectar Ads asked Colossal to be a part of an "art ad network" with site-specific content. [4] This allowed Jobson to quit his job in 2013 and focus on the site full-time. Jobson explains the mission of Colossal, "I want Colossal to be a place where anyone, from any background, can discover art and aspects of visual culture that are interesting, fun, and approachable. To that end I shy away from criticism and interpretation and instead provide as many resources as possible for visitors to learn more on their own. I want to share art as it is, without justification." [5]

Recognition

Colossal has garnered a Utne Media Award for arts coverage, a Webby Award nomination, and was described as the "Tate Modern of the Internet" by Fast Company. [6] [7] The National Endowment for the Arts has called the website a "must read." [8] American blogger Jason Kottke describes it as "a top-notch visual art/design blog," [9] and PBS' Art:21 said the publication "brings recognition to under-represented (or even unrepresented) artists." [10] In 2020 Jobson curated an exhibit Par Excellence Redux at the Elmhurst Art Museum. [11]

Colossal was praised by American actor Neil Patrick Harris as "artistic, smart, and inspiring," [12] and the publication was cited by the TED blog as one of "100 Websites You Should Know and Use" in 2013. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "About Colossal". Colossal. 2014-05-01. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  2. ↑ "5+5: Christopher Jobson. Heartland Habitué. Art Explorer. Day-job Ditcher.", 20x200 , 1 September 2015. Retrieved on 12 August 2019.
  3. ↑ Gleisner, Jacquelyn. "Becoming Colossal with Blogger Christopher Jobson", Art21 , 8 March 2012. Retrieved on 12 August 2019.
  4. 1 2 McEntee, Sean. "A Colossal Success", Demo, Chicago, 2014. Retrieved on 11 August 2019.
  5. ↑ Beete, Paulette. "Art Talk with Christopher Jobson of Colossal", National Endowment for the Arts , Utah, 18 September 2013. Retrieved on 12 August 2019.
  6. ↑ Rigou, Vasia. "Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago 2019", New City Design, 28 February 2019. Retrieved on 12 August 2019.
  7. ↑ Lufkin, Bryan. "The Eye-Popping Images On Colossal Will Make Art Lovers Of Us All", Fast Company , 18 November 2013. Retrieved on 12 August 2019.
  8. ↑ "Art Talk with Christopher Jobson of Colossal". National Endowment for the Arts. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  9. ↑ "Colossal". Kottke.org. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  10. ↑ "Becoming Colossal with Blogger Christopher Jobson". Art21 Magazine. 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2014-05-14..
  11. ↑ Brown, Evan Nicole. "In Chicago, an iconic artist-designed mini golf course gets a second life", Fast Company , 18 February 2020. Retrieved on 7 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Neil Patrick Harris Tweet". Twitter. 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  13. ↑ "100 Websites You Should Know and Use". TED (conference). 2013. Retrieved 2014-05-14..
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