Bits from Joshua Davis

I recently received a phone call from Joshua Davis, a surprise response to an email I had sent. Just out of the shower and unprepared to record the call, I slashed some notes into a chunk of cardboard with a nail. Therefore it should be understood that these are not exact quotes, but somewhat paraphrased. Apologies.

[me] I wanted to hear your opinions on art vs. design.

[JD] "That's funny, cause that's what my buisness is based on."

"When I got into the net, it was for the purpose of making art
(...)
I was working on Once Upon A Forest, and looking over the logs ...
I realized people were spending an average of thirty minutes on the site ... then sending me emails asking how to access more content ...
they were not conforming to the internet-business model, which says that viewers get bored or anxious after a few seconds."

"(...) My art has been a catalyst for my business (...)"

"[I make commercial websites which are] engaging, but against how a commercial site is supposed to look."

On the Subject of Hate Mail

"I get these emails - hatemails from people, saying 'you can't do that that way. This is how a website is supposed to look', or 'this is the way this should be done, not the way you did it'
"So, so what, you want to dumb everything down? You want the internet to be exactly the same for everyone, regardless of their intelligence or skill or interest? Fuck that."
" I love these email/hatemails."

[i asked about design vs. art in the world of digital[

"Design facilitates a Purpose.
Art generally is self-indulgent masturbation, it serves no purpose, and I LOVE art."

"Think about it like this. It took seventy years for photography to become a recognized Art form. Will it take seventy years for digital work to do the same? I don't think so."

"You should check out this online digital art gallery in New York called Bitforms."

"Hey I just got to ESPN, I've gotta run. Email me with anything else."

[me] thanks for your time. Bye.

"-click-"