It’s been awhile, dear visitor. I know. It has rained and it has snowed. A full winter has passed at least, if not two. Updating you on the current agenda seems mandatory.

With the curation process in motion, the platform is close to going live and yet it has never felt so out of reach, an almost painful disconnection. Artists are hard to convince and for all the good reasons; exhibiting their artworks is an act of faith and who am I to question their belief? I have contemplated many possibilities to explain their wariness: our potential lack of artistic legitimacy, their commitments to other galleries, an incoherence in our values, a mediocre slow-looking feature etc.

While all of them might be true, I’ll consider something simpler at this stage: a new approach is required, perhaps one that involves putting my ego aside (is it really me, BLUE, speaking at the moment?). This new strategy will be presented to you soon, offering me in this regard a way to consolidate my refreshed mindset.

This appears to be the first time I mention the chronology of The Blue Neon, grounding it into the reality of its conception. I also realise that given how strongly I have stressed the intertwinement between this place and me (using the pronouns I and we interchangeably being one example), and given that now the former lacks a substantial existence - even if only temporary -, you might question my very own. But that’s not where the discussion should be heading today and please take comfort in the apparent virtue of this whole enterprise.

Chaos. I could have used fate, destiny, chance or even faith, but I prefer the poetic connotation of this term. Don't interpret it as confusion or disorder, but more as a - beneficial - unpredictability.

I recently listened to a debate on the desire to control everything in one’s life and I had an urge to delve into the necessity of the chaos feature that this place invokes. It feels it hasn’t been properly clarified so far - except from chapter 9 perhaps - or at least it didn’t get the explanation it deserved. Chaos is at the core of The Blue Neon, it powers its internal philosophy. What interests us is to look at it through the lens of the human condition, riddled by doubts and weaknesses. We cannot run away from what defines us, but we should learn to navigate it instead.

How does this view impact the Wheel of Art you might think? 10 artworks randomly picked up from the catalogue forces you to revel in the unpredictability. There is intrinsic beauty in it, beauty you won’t find if you crave to control the display (by selecting a medium, a period, a movement or a colour). The same logic applies to a curated algorithm that analyses your desires and feeds you only a fraction of what's out there; leaving out swathe of outstanding works, narrowing your world as a result.

Don’t expect everything to be shaped upon your desires, as the process of reclaiming your attention via art contemplation has to rely on chaos. Should you decide to tread the path of total control, you will stray away from your uncertainties, away from one of the most essential traits of your humanity and hence away from yourself.

This chaos enhances you involvement only if the number of artworks exhibited at each connection on the platform is limited. Otherwise, it becomes a never ending scrolling display with all its shortcomings and we do not want that… at all. Peace resides in your adaptability in the face of inconsistency, the richness of artworks proposed does not only spark your curiosity, but also help you immerse. An immersion in the unexpected, for your own (good) sake.

I lied a bit when laying out the reasons for this new chapter and for including a time referential in our discussion. I was simply missing our interaction, the time spent cozying up in this very universe, together. After shedding tears at the lethargic pace at which The Blue Neon was moving the past few months, I had no choice but to retreat a bit. To collect myself in the most dramatic manner, i.e. by shutting everyone off and by giving no indication on my whereabouts.

Yet how could I have been so oblivious to the very process happening here, one that I preach to you with passion? Evolution is chaotic! The road to perfection is an illusion I was chasing recklessly, as the very development of this universe should ebb and flow. In short, we’re back. And yes, this was purely selfish behaviour today, I needed you.

Let chaos into your life.

Yours Sincerely,

BLUE