Sta.sh
First they came for the yaoi artists
and I did not speak out
Then they came for people doing parodies
and I did not speak out
Then they came for people who critised the decision to allow theft (as opposed to parodies)
and I did not speak out
Then they came for critics of the site administration
and I did not speak out
And by the time they came for me
there was nobody left to speak out.
For those who may be unaware:
°jark, whom is one of the two original founders of DeviantArt, was apparently removed from his staff position (possibly along with another staff member, °matteo; it's uncertain if °matteo was removed earlier or at the same time). There is very little definitively (and nothing from DeviantArt itself) but from what little is known indications point to essentially a coup d'etat of the management (because °jark did not agree with the present management's decisions which he felt compromised artist integrity).
Reportedly a sizable number of the managers and staff at DeviantArt have resigned in protest of the purge. (And that is what it is, a *purge*; the two founders of the community and site have in fact apparently been purged by the more corporate members of management who care less about community and more about coin.)
Speaking as an artist who has watched DeviantArt slowly become less friendly to a number of artists (to the point that no less than *three* alternative communities have sprung up: <a href="[link]>Sheezyart (for general, non-mature-subjects art), <a href="[link]>Y-Gallery (for mature-themed male art) and <a href="[link]>FurAffinity (for furry/anthro arts) as artists have left, or often been *forced* to leave, DeviantArt)...I am sadly *not* entirely surprised at this development.
I also will keep plans to mirror this as it has become apparent that DeviantArt may be removing journal comments or DeviantArt submissions relating to this affair.
Anyways, here's what you can do to help/protest, as well as sites with more info:
~JusticeForJark
Passion of the Jark
Jark's blog--he is providing updates
Yellow Art Day
Petition for Jark (as side note, owner of petition actually seems to have been banninated, supporting allegations of removal of posts and occasionally users critical of the present site administration)
Further info and links as well as a plan for action
Another planned protest in support of Jark
Updated news and info regarding the Jark situation
I do realise I stand a real risk of being banninated myself as a result of this--I would encourage those of you who read this to mirror as widely as possible, not just on DeviantArt but on your own blogs and other arts sites (including Sheezy/Y-Gallery/FurAffinity, if you are on those sites).
