\nhis mind worked as an artist, and if you can’t get that – I can’t help you. <\/p>\n
it’s like the diff between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs – who were making the key hardware, and software at the time. and we now know . . . who won that race. vision creates function.
\nart, design . . . is all.<\/p>\n
what Josh was reaching for, or turns out to be: was the future ‘use’ of this nascent technology, aka personal computing . . . he also got, conversely – the other side of the ‘coin’ – of the 24\/7 reality game. state of the art, pinpointed to the individual user – targeted advertising. as Josh would say: the Wired City. the Human (industrial) chicken factory. the Matrix. <\/p>\n yep, Josh thought like an artist. the downtown art scene sung – when Josh ruled. so, he all he wanted in return was – a couple of pages in Artforum, damn it. if I had been there earlier I would have told him: hey, just buy a couple of full page ads for your art\/party installations … in Artforum, and damn straight – the coverage will follow. ha. <\/p>\n like all natural-born artist, yeah I would know – damn straight !! he knew his mind worked outside the box – and he did his calculations: visually. just as an artist does. looking back, it’s only been about 20 years since Josh first hit the pavement running – first with Jupiter, and then Pseudo . . . sincerely I’m thinking, in all truth – he was just too<\/em> big an artist for the art world in the 90s, or even now – to take in . . . to comprehend. yep, what Josh wanted, and still wants, present !! – most of all, is the label that always eludes him: artist. we tried to tell him . . . Dude, no !! what can I say. the art world just ain’t what it’s cranked up to be.<\/p>\n and YOU know that too – or you wouldn’t be reading these here, artlovers webpages – would you.<\/p>\n
\nwhich is emphatically not<\/em> ‘spreadsheets’, nor ‘powerpoint’ presentations. not even desktop publishing, how quaint.
\nbut, 24\/7 social networking, and instant ‘content’ harvesting. think Facebook and google.
\nin other words – the web. that infinite wireless weaving in the sky – that we all plug into. <\/p>\n
\nit wasn’t just . . . ‘big brother’ reality live streaming – from our ‘input’ side.
\nit was also big brother surveillance from the flip side of the screen . . . i.e. data & activity tracking. every time you use your smartphone camera, and an instant ping of an incoming email is heard, chances are it’s an ad for a camera product, or what.<\/p>\n
\nthe infinite reach of the web – always comes down . . . to the fine line – the individual user.
\nexquisite, or what ?
\nand the future ramifications are still . . . wide open. <\/p>\n
\nbut he also made his own art, headed up Pseudo’s . . . and, he also power-fueled, and threw his piles of dotcom dough at – some really great art installations, and individual artist projects. I mean could have just been been buying houses, pretty models, and fast cars ?
\n‘Quiet’ – the 2 week year 2000 millennium million dollar artist party – being the apex. WE LIVE In PUBLIC – being the swan sing.
\nPseudo was – the catch-all umbrella. <\/p>\n
\nforget issues like: future sell, white box exhibits, collector shock, and all-in-all dumbing down. if you could keep Josh’s attention – you were in !! it was all about the juice.
\nraw and pure. unadulterated and non-filtered. the mind’s momentum, the hand skills. future knowledge.
\nat it’s most definite – it was NOT: if I show this – who will come in the door, and buy it. hello, New York City art world, mainstream.<\/p>\n
\nenter LUVVY, his alter ego and the only way for him to express that.
\nno, he was not just the hipster CEO of a DOTCOM . . . he was multi-media – personified. future tense.
\nhe reached for the unknown, and was a catalyst, intuitively – artist: check, yes.
\nhe connected the dots, and projected a course forward – artist: check, yes.<\/p>\n
\nso leave it to the ‘wired’ guys, guys like Andrew Smith – to pick up the slack !! <\/p>\n
\nweb entrepreneur, internet pioneer, social networking visionary, hipster dotcom CEO, $86 mill in the bank . . . o.k. that’s alright, but only . . . as byproduct.
\nabove all else . . . he wanted to be known as an ‘artist’. because in truth, this is what he is at base: a shaman, a creative thinker & a visually-focused producer. <\/p>\n
\nwe tried to warn him.
\nno. NO, you do not<\/strong> want to be an artist . . . you are the money guy – !! but he was hungry to feel on every level – and all that dough just put him in a cloud.
\nwell, now that you are a dead-broke artist, how do you like it ?
\nis all I can say.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Josh-as-art-director.jpg\" "\\"Josh-as-art-director\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n