It has been brought to my attention that the blogger known as Gala Darling has stopped taking comments, as if I’m the fucking Minister of Comments. Fine. I took the time to read Ms. Darling’s emotional manifesto regarding her controversial decision. It didn’t make any sense, but it seems to boil down to this:
Writing should not be corrupted by the anticipation of a response. Writing should be a pure form of expression by the artist, whose art need not and should not be produced for an audience. Otherwise, the artist is just pandering to the audience, from whom he/she desires approval.
Not only that, but the comments are hindering Ms. Darling”s personal growth.
Okay then! Do any of you feel compelled to leave a comment for Gala Darling, at the risk of fucking with her personal growth? If so, here is your chance. I will go first:
Dear Gala, I wonder why you don’t do your writing in a journal, so as to maintain your purity of purpose? The most sincere artistic expression is that produced in private, with no thought as to the market or audience! Why not go the distance, and keep your writing for yourself! Think of the purity, the boldness, the largess of freeing up bandwidth for those cheap hucksters who write in order to communicate with others! Ah, what do I know, right? Follow your bliss, but maybe lay off the tattoos for awhile. Love, SW
Dear Gala 🙂 🙁 or :-(( or @*”%
It’s ok,
We can still adore her on faecesbook or Twitter
Is she still charging for the pure expression of her soul?
I never go over there due to complete lack of interest, so nothing to say to her.
i can only agree with a lot of the comments here (http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=137095272977526&share_id=139307232780006&comments=1#s139307232780006)
i’ll add a p.s.,
gala, to fully avoid criticism of any sort, consider deleting your facebook and twitter. it’d probably be wise to delete your email address too. maybe even disconnect the internet altogether. and your phone. and board up your windows.
~love and feather head dresses and sparkly unicorn feces~ xo elle
“Create your own art. Don’t lose yourself in mine. You’re worth more.” <– yeah that sounds about right. I AM worth more.
Seriously pisses me off whenever somebody starts thinking that they're valuable enough to be unapproachable. It's such a douche move. I feel gross calling what she does art, but isn't a lot of the point of (good) art to, you know, create a DIALOGUE with your audience? How can you engage with something when it's creator is all like "hey my super rad Art doesn't need to be fucked up by your dumb fangirl comments." And she's writing for an audience whether she can see them or not, so it just makes no goddamn sense. And audience that is paying her rent, no less (unless she's still got her parents to do that for her). She's acting pretty darn major-label for someone claiming to be so "alternative."
Her internet persona is the complete OPPOSITE to how she really is (inreallife?). Just wanted to throw that out there. I have nothing against her, but she spews total and utter bullshit everywhere all over the place. I used to read her blog when she first started it, it WAS pretty good and I dated a guy that was her bestie for awhile when she still lived in Melbourne. But shes gone down hill..I’d feel sorry for her, but I acutally feel sorry for those who believe her more than anything.
Dear Gala,
If you don’t believe in producing “art” for an audience, why do you have a blog?
xox
Glad to see this filed under “noses.”
Dear Gala,
I am very happy that you reminded me to “Create your own art. Don’t lose yourself in mine. You’re worth more.” Here I was losing myself in pictures of your clothing and links to other peoples websites when I could be making my own “Art”. I also wasn’t aware that “Art” could be pictures of myself wearing zany outfits, photos borrowed from someone else’s flickr and incoherent blabbering about rainbows and cupcakes mixed with questionable business advice and too many exclamation marks!!! Totes awesome!!!!!!!
Love from some internet bastard who’s out to corrupt your personal growth/vomit all over your art.
I do not understand the point of Gala Darling. I also don’t understand the point of her turning off comments. Looking back over the last few pages, it seems that all she does these days is post pictures of herself and asks her readers to answer questions about things. All sounds pretty dependent on comments. But what do I know, I’m not an “Artist”
!!!
Dear Gala,
for fuck’s sake, you are not an ARTIST.
I left a comment on Gala Darlings blog once, several years ago. It was an innocent remark about tattoos – Gala didn’t like it and told me off in the comments, pissed me right off. I had noticed that she hadn’t been getting as many comments lately and perhaps thats why she stopped them, her readership is going down?
As for comments for Gala – I got nothing.
Adore her in silence you morons! Blogging as art should simply be bathed in, like metaphorical asses milk. They do not require our minds to engage, merely to wonder……
OR she could be wasting her time inventing stupid excuses for being too lazy to read her comments.
Dear Gala Darling, or should I say Amy Paape.
Your rich parents would be ashamed, as would poor old Simon. Yes, we know that international playgirl does in fact mean high-class call girl, cool beans lady. Who the eff is going to waste their money paying for your shitty podcasts? We all laughed when you left high school to go to uni a year earlier because everyone hated you. Love ya Amy.
<3
From the fbook comments:
“Also, call me a cynic but I can’t help but think comments were turned off because there’s going to be a huge announcement from you soon that you knew people would be turned off by.”
The suspense is killing me damn it! Sister Wolf you’ve got to find out what the announcement is!
I think the real question is, is she better or worse off than Jane? Gala is an adult so delusional and far away from any sort of reality in her dream world of glitter and puppies and adoring fans. At least Jane has time to grow and potentially become a properly functioning member of society. Not to mention that poor unfortunate nose.
I have no idea who Gala Darling is. Should I?
Ali x
That is pretty interesting. She spoke at the IFB conference and stated that she wanted to have a conversation with her readers. This was only a week ago! I stopped reading her a while ago. She is still adorable though….
My first reaction upon reading her dribble about art and whatnot was that she was simply shielding herself from criticism. So many people have accused her of being a fraud and the way people have been getting so nasty on blogs lately, I think her statement is a huge lie.
If she’s sooooo obsessed with looking at comments that it’s keeping her from her “art” then, maybe she needs to get a grip on that personal issue rather than isolate her fans. I bet she could make some money on a podcast about that!
Dear Gala Darling,
Actually, its not you, its me. I liked you a little at first, thought some of your posts were slightly interesting, but it all got a bit borging for me. This ‘no comments’ post is now the final nail in our stale and moribund relationship. Goodbye.
* spelling – boring rather than borging. Although I quite like to sound of borging.
Um – maybe I should give up commenting altogether – *the instead of to. Back to “touch typing” classes for me!
Dear Gala Darling,
I don’t know who you are or why I should even vaguely care about you, but based on what I’ve read here, you seem like a cretin. And yes, lay off the tattoos.
Love,
A Hater Who Doesn’t Know Who You Are
I don’t want to be a hater, because I genuinely liked Icing when I was younger – it had some good styling tips and wasn’t about juice fasts (dangerous!) or horoscopes or what some brand sent her for free. I stopped reading recently because it seemed like the audience participation aspect was really unnecessary or filling in gaps – “I don’t feel like writing a post, I’ll ask the commenters to fill in for me” or “here are a bunch of pictures of me so feel free to tell me how pretty it all is.”
Maybe cutting off contact will force the writing to improve. I haven’t seen anything from her on Chinashop lately since the comments melted down WRT the quality of her writing and amount of vanity shots, and I know Cosmo cut her off after running just two articles for similar reasons. If it’s something you want to make a living out of, forcing yourself out of a lazy habit that the commenters have enabled might be best.
My commenters are few and far between, but frankly, hearing their take on things has opened up some of the topics I’ve posted on and given me some real insight. When I posted about “fast fashion,” someone commented about how her employer vets clothing manufacturers and their guidelines for ethical factories. It was thrilling and I never would’ve learned about that otherwise.
As for style blogs, there are better and more genuine ones out there that I’ve really moved on to. Pink sparkles aren’t really my thing anymore.
Hmmm…fucking Minister of Comments…that’s a good title, but maybe we should make it Fucking Minister of Comment Fuckery. Mostly because I like the word “Fuckery.”
Word, Joy D. Gala and Jane and anyone who locks their comments shouldn’t speak at any bloggers conferences AT ALL…what’s the point? You are not INTERACTING with your readers. You’re just posting the free goods you got and promoting your sad sack shoe line.
And I hate when Jane asks her viewers questions in her entries. I wonder if Gala would start doing that too. Honestly, who wants to make the effort to send you an e-mail you’ll most likely never reply to?
I can’t even snark over Gala Darling…she’s just too ridiculous. What’s “Radical love?” Although her writing isn’t as bad as Roomy’s….
Never heard of her and could not be more thrilled of this fact.
Well, let’s face it. That is a ‘Dear John’ letter if I ever saw one. It’s not so much the fact that comments are off on certain blogs- it’s the patronizing way it was delivered here, especially after indicating that she was looking for interaction just a week ago. I’m even less fickle that this. I am not a subscriber and I don’t relate to her at all but I actually feel badly for her readers who participated in her success. Once you’re big enough in your own mind to talk at people as opposed to with them, you’re big enough to be ignored.
Gala, was it not enough to just ban IP addresses of those who disagreed with you from commenting, which you’ve done for years? Mine was just leaving a neutral, if pedantic, correction of “Sisyphus-esque” to “Sisyphean.” That’s all it was! I haven’t read your blog in years since morphing into a style blog of Barbie party frocks (though gratefully you abandoned the nonsense of EFT/tapping therapy) and advertisements for overpriced podcasts. You’re not a lifestyle guru when you just repost what other people write about astrology, sex, or whatever self-indulgence you think justifies your trust fund existence.
Blocking comments is the first step towards obsolescence.
Dear Gala,
I always enjoyed your blog, despite the drama that happened last year calling you out as a fraud. I would read your posts and sometimes comment. It was a place I could go to escape the real world to be surrounded by delectable unicorn vomit and sparkle herpes.
Gala, I’m disappointed in this decision. It’s a dick move to turn off your comments when your whole ‘career’ has been built on communicating with others. Could you have bought those lovely Louboutins without the help of your commenters and countless others visiting your page? Me thinks not.
The only good thing I can see coming from this is you actually putting some effort into your posts from now on, rather than making the commenters do all the work for you, or showing me what lingerie you got for free (yikes?).
Regrettably yours,
Ashley
Though Gala has been fairly successful in recent years with the Red Bull-sponsored e-zine gig, her parents are rich. She was wearing $400 shoes at the very beginning of her blog. I wouldn’t credit fan contributions for her financial security, Ashley, though she certainly exploited them with those Love & Sequins pay-to-listen podcasts.
I agree. She exploits them with those podcasts, and constantly makes it seem like she’s made her money off her blog. Like when she promotes getting rid of your day job to start blogging. Bad move. Not everyone has rich parents to back them up if the blogging gig fails.
Dear Gala,
Don’t read your blog. Couldn’t care less about it if I wanted to. I went over and read a few of your entries to see what the hubbub is all about. I think you’re full of crap. What YOU are doing is not art; stop fooling yourself and your readers. The writing quality and maturity is that of a 10th grader. Reposting real artists’ (people who are truly creating something) photos, writing, ideas is not ART. It’s data mining. So, good luck with your self-delusional “career”.
Back to not caring,
HelOnWheels
I like her collected links. She seemed to have a positive attitude which cheers me up sometimes . I’m not really into the whole fairy goth thing or whatever. I don’t care why she chose to stop her comments but her reasoning seems very disingenuous. I think she did it because she does not like criticism..it interferes with her fairy magic.
I also agree, I am sorry to say that there is no “art” being made. Blogging is not art. It’s social networking. If you want to be an actual artist then make something tangible. Anything. make stuff.
Also paraphrasing Danielle La Porte does not make one a self help guru. She has years of experience going for her and an actual career in it with her blog being secondary to that.
I genuinely feel for all of the blog girls when some day they realize that they will actually have to have tangible work and don’t know how to do anything but make internet posts.
That’s it, I’ve had it, I can’t take this broad interpretation of “art” anymore. Jesus, it’s like putting a band-aid on and calling yourself a “doctor.”
dear gala darling
I appreciate that you think posts about astrologically inspired cocktails are art. The college kids rejoice in the streets today.
The people on Gala Darling’s Facebook wall saying she is LAZY are SO right. (http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=137095272977526&share_id=139307232780006&comments=1#s139307232780006)
I followed her on Twitter for a bit and wanted to rip my hair out. Ok wait, no, I wanted to rip GALA’s extensions out!
Pedicures! Betsey Johnson dresses! Oh it feels so good to get my roots done!
Trust fund baby Gala D has all the time and money in the world. And she shows shit respect to Icing readers who drool over her. She is the LAZIEST fashion blogger out there. Who else asks readers to answer questions and posts 1 ‘inspiring’ quote with a Flickr photo she stole?
Jane is better as people said. Jane has time to grow while Gala is 27 and still has no real job (she makes shit from Chinashop and people who have no idea who she is criticize her writing, it’s THAT bad). Also Jane didn’t build her blog on radical self-love community and discussion!
I was wary of haters calling Gala Darling a trust fund fraud at first. But all the evidence points to YES, she is a rich kid and a hypocrite. I won’t go into it, but she is mean person in real life ( someone who knew her in New Zealand says everyone called her Mean Amy back then. Amy Paape is her real name )
I hope Gala Darling’s loving readers out there finally see the TRUTH for what it is. Selfish, mean, lazy fraud. Don’t buy her Love and Sequins podcasts, they are rip offs. IFB should BAN this hypocrite from the next conference.
Remember the time Gala Darling called herself a Curator??? Girl you ain’t no artist!
The comments about Gala in this article sum it up,
http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue16/gala_darling
I would like to usher in the new era of blogger that actually want to have readers and interact with them. WendyB back me up!
Dear Gala,
I want to choke you with MY art!
Dear SW,
I want to marry you into my LA family. Let’s all get together and HOWL at the moon!
Love, Summer Adeline
Could be a clever marketing strategy to get more traffic. I’d never heard of her ’till now. It may be working already…!
xo
Erika – But… can blogging be art? Sometimes?
Eliza – Sisyphus-esque is awesome. That says it all really. A woman I worked for once called a book “Dickensonian.” I still cherish that moment.
I’m not a fan of Gala’s blog and to be honest I really don’t care. But what suprises me most is how fucked up people can be and how quickly they attack others. This is the best we have to offer? A bunch of cackeling negative nancys that have nothing better to do than to talk endless shit about somebody? I mean who was so cruel to you that the best you’ve got is to lash out on others? If you don’t like her blog why read it? Why even care so goddamned much about it for that matter? By even talking about her you’re keeping her in the spotlight. (Um hello, Oscar Wilde anyone?) I’m glad we’re all so strong that if somebody pulled this shit on you that it would just roll right off.
DUstin – Here’s the problem. You can’t begin a sentence with “Um.” I cannot say this enough, evidently. As far as not caring: me neither. I’m just the messenger.
“If you don’t like her blog why read it? Why even care so goddamned much about it for that matter? ”
Dustin, my boy (I assume you’re a boy, anyway), there’s endless fun to be had when calling out bullshit. Which this pink creature above seems to be full of, by the way.
Dear Gala: Now you’re just being an obnoxious twat. Didn’t you just speak at a conference about engaging with your readership?! I’m afraid I missed the gig but did you advocate turning off comments as a means of growing a passionate readership?? Talk about a slap to the face for the adoring ‘wanna-be playgirl’ masses! Like someone said above, get a grip on your personal issue of desiring constant external validation (if that’s what it is) rather than taking it out on a readership who has got you where you are today. Your blog, nay pretty much your entire existence, seems to rely on reader interaction/contribution/validation, so how will you be capable of continuing your fuckyeah sparkly unicorn playgirl persona without it??
I just wonder if there’s an insidious reason behind moving your readership over to Twitter/Facebook — like not enough of them came when you called, so now you’re effectively forcing them to follow you there by disabling their means of interaction on your website. Follower numbers linked to possible endorsements? Is that how they do it these days? The mind boggles…
I don’t think we’ve heard the last from you Playgirl but, for the love of whatever you believe in, stop bleating on about truth and authenticity when you are clearly a sham!
Can blogging be art ?
Generally no. It is a way to show your art, express your art – whether that be writing, photography, textiles. But art in itself ?? There is the possibility sure but the standard post things, here’s my life, self help stuff, no…
Anything could be art really though. I could take a dump on the sidewalk and call it art.
on another note, yet the topic of art.
I have been thinking a lot about art and artifice. In terms of identity and such…
also Dustin, sometimes I think why do people criticize ?? We have opinions. Criticism can be good and bad. Also in this case, if someone actually bases their desire to make a career asking for opinion they then need to live with the fact that all of them are not going to be of the agreeing and ass kissing variety.
Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to be able to comment on an upcoming nosejob?
She’s insufferable. The EFT talk, the vitamin shills, the rosy racism (“love and feather headdresses!”), the positivity–I can’t say what I think the best content for an audience of largely teenage, largely vulnerable girls would be–but the “alterna” spin she packages her classist bullshit with is maddening, and she’ll learn soon that her image can’t survive without the readership that she’s turning away. I mean, really, how is she going to attract the approval of the fashion entities that she craves with her present persona?
I don’t blame her for turning off her comments; it must have been hard work constantly monitoring her blog day and night for comments that didn’t gush over her shitty blog. Poor Gala 🙁
Let her do what she wants. To me the point of blogging is participation. It’s being able to comment and have an opinion on someone else’s art, writing, hobbies, thoughts, and ramblings. Taking away comments doesn’t “keep the art pure” or whatever. It takes away a huge part of blogging, and that’s feedback and discussion.
I think blogging can inspire art. and I think it can be a good tool for sharing it with people. I think communication inspires art. and I think the thoughts and connections produced over a long period of blog posts can very well be turned into something artistic. blogging in and of itself is a tool.
You can use a pencil to stab someone in the eye. and you can use a paintbrush to wipe your ass.
I have never heard of this female.
She is full of shit!!