Nighthawks 8/3/11

I was tempted to change the name of this feature to "Twitter Tuesdays". However, I chose not to for two reasons. First, I don't want to be constrained to Tuesdays. If I cemented that deadline, every Tuesday would erupt with spontaneous drama (in order to make blogging a Herculean task). Second, the feature is about encountering new people, links, and ideas — the technology employed is simply a means to an end.

Hopper portrayed the Nighthawks scene as an isolated crowd with itchy feet and fading smiles; diner patrons in close proximity to each other, but far away in their own thoughts. My goal is to dig deeper into five local arts tweets each week, then share the results to stimulate neighborhood interaction. Thanks to kwout, screenshots can be clicked and explored just like the original tweets!

The tweet selection process is completely subjective. I simply chose the ones I found most entertaining, enlightening, and relevant to current discussion on the arts blog. They are numbered only for convenience.

#1:

Twitter / @taotrucker: Some amazing art pieces cr ... via kwout

Author: Matthew Schoolman (@taotrucker)
Bio: "Former Optometry student. Current truck driver and beginning blogger."
Tweets about: Personal insights, general topics.
What I learned: Autism and art is an interesting combination.

#2:

Twitter / @invisime: Hooray! I've been cast in ... via kwout

Author: Thomas Root (@invisime)
Bio: None listed.
Tweets about: Running, conversations.
What I learned: The Belfry Theatre is a community theater in Noblesville, Indiana.

#3:

Twitter / @JamesBWells: A nice interview, includin ... via kwout

Author: James Bradley Wells (@JamesBWells)

Bio: "Teacher and writer."

Tweets about: Politics, poetry, Tour de France.

What I learned: Blue Muse needs more content in audio and video format. Contributors welcome.

#4:

Twitter / @The_Legend93: New art work should be goi ... via kwout

Author: Joan Rivera (@The_Legend93)

Bio: "Graffiti Writer,graphic designer [...]"

Tweets about: Art.

What I learned: Twitter search included Bloomington, CA by mistake, but Joan has an interesting Tumblr site.

#5:

Twitter / @Bloomingtonwire: Early music concert exudes ... via kwout

Author: "Bloomington Local" (@Bloomingtonwire)

Bio: "Breaking news and blog posts from Bloomington Indiana!"

Tweets about: Bloomington, Indiana news.

What I learned: Fwix appears to be an automated service that scrapes together local content from websites.

Check out the side column of this blog for the link to search Local Arts Tweets. Perhaps you will discover something or someone you didn't know... right here in Bloomington, Indiana.