Zapp-y Ending

Remember how I ranted about Zapplication, which all of the art fairs and other juried art events now use, instead of slides? Okay, that was pre-blog, but trust me, I did rant. I ranted that we already had a perfectly good system, so-simple-a-child-can-do-it, just get your pieces shot, stick the slides in an envelope, write a check (of course - but that is a separate rant), and you're done. When Zapp came along, I hated it because it was, I felt, dauntingly complicated, and I am no technophobe. Images had to be EXACTLY 1920 x 1920 pixels, which meant photographing them for that format, or having them look like crap by forcing them into it. It also meant, for me, having to have my work re-shot at a much denser setting, and, since I don't own Photoshop, only the image manipulation software that came with my computer, it meant paying additionally to have the image re-sized.  I was irritated because, although the system was easier for show management and for jurors, this ease was accomplished on the backs of artists, who are not known for their technological acumen. I didn't even have a computer at the time. (I still know lots of artists who do not have a computer.) The transition to Zapp was the last straw for me at a time when my life was in transition and doing artfairs was on the table with all the other life changes. It got cut. 

Well, Zapp has changed, and so have I, a little bit. In the first place, it turns out that no one is making slide projectors anymore, which means that when these last shuffle off this mortal coil, that's it. So it's a good thing most shows have made the transition. And, importantly, Zapp has dropped the requirement that the image be exactly 1920 x1920 pixels. The new guidelines state that the image must be at least this dimension, on the longer side. I can do that!

The only reason I know this is because I took a little jaunt over to Zapp to see if my account was still valid. No special reason. Well, except I was sort of visioning what my life might look like after I get my kiln rebuilt, and can (hopefully) make more inventory. Art fairs again? Maybe. In any case the application process will no longer be what stands in my way.