The art world blogosphere is abuzz in self-examination of late. Curator Renny Pritikin set off a surprisingly large discussion when he suggested quantifying which artists leave the Bay Area on SFMOMA’s Open Space Blog last month.

Equally interesting is Art Practical Editor Patricia Maloney’s characterization of the Bay Area art scene. This was posed by artist and curator Joseph del Pesco on the Open Space Blog, and summed up by Hope Dabov in What Defines the Bay Area Visual Arts Community? on Art Practical.

Maloney’s last three observations seem especially astute:

– Artists embrace progressive stances around social and political issues, but many still use traditional media to articulate those stances.

– Ephemeral and social practices are encouraged, as are documenting and capturing traces of these practices.

– Material-based practices tend to dominate conceptual ones.”