Creating an online art exhibition was a bit of a daunting task, at first: there is so much work being produced by artists (and others who haven’t troubled themselves with that definition), in different corners of the world – crossing themes, genres and technologies – and so few attempts to corral them into cohesive, focussed presentations.

In Michael’s and my previous efforts to edit, interpret and present work – in literary journals, film festivals and gallery exhibitions – we had the luxury of knowing that we were working in niches: an exhibition or a publication functions in a world full of other exhibitions and publications, many of them excellent in what they set out to do. But online we seemed to be working in a context that is mostly dominated by completely different impulses: the sprawling, catch-all art repositories, the technical showcases, the photographers’ galleries, and the adventurous museums who can afford to commission artists (typically established and bona fide in another medium).

We both knew that we had seen much good work, here and there online, but only a handful of curators and editors were providing the background and context that made us want to go back and see what they were going to come up with next. (Some of that handful are represented on our links page; others, regrettably, have given up the ghost.)

So we got up the gall to say: we are going to program only excellent work, work that appeals to us on many levels, work by artists who are clearly thoughtful about the world and their role in it. And we are going to talk about the work: explain what we think is going on, defend it and open ourselves and the artists to critique.