A daily dose of arts online

David Brewster, Star Tribune

Matt Peiken does a 3-minute segment each day that starts with an intro by him. Seen here outside the Penumbra Theater introducing a story on "The Nu Griots" an ensemble performing works by black writers.

Journalist Matt Peiken serves up bite-size Web nuggets on the Twin Cities arts scene.

By KRISTIN TILLOTSON, Star Tribune

Last update: October 13, 2008 - 6:20 PM

Matt Peiken has laid an egg. But not in a bad way.

Peiken, a Twin Cities journalist and arts enthusiast, is now producing short daily Web-only videos on Minnesota arts topics at 3minuteegg.org. Karen Sherman's new dance work at the Southern, the Ivey Awards and the Soap Factory's $99 art sale all have been given Peiken's three-minute, one-man-band treatment.

So far, the concept -- a sort of higher-brow, hi-def YouTube for the arts -- seems promising. Each segment begins with a short, off-the-cuff intro from Peiken, who's a high-energy presence in any format. It's challenging to condense a two-hour performance or an artist profile into a comprehensible three minutes, but as his own reporter, cameraman and editor, Peiken manages. The archived segments are categorized by egg type ("scrambled" for mixed media, "hard boiled" for rock and hip-hop, etc.).

Peiken posts his videos every weekday to blip.tv, where he can produce them in high-definition, unlike on YouTube. They are then automatically forwarded to 3minuteegg.org.

As of last Tuesday morning, the site had logged 2,500 individual video views. The site is nonprofit, but once Peiken builds more viewership, he hopes to draw paid sponsors.

"Some of the people I cover can't believe I'm turning one of these out every day, but coming from a daily journalism background, I feel compelled to," he said.

Peiken was a reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for 10 years before taking a buyout in 2007. He then worked for nearly a year as an editor and blogger at Walker Art Center. He said he believes his new venture is "not only the future of arts journalism, but journalism in general. I'm still telling stories about the arts. I'm just doing it with a camera instead of a note pad, and instead of typing words, I'm editing video."

Monday's video will be on this weekend's St. Paul Art Crawl. A launch party for 3 Minute Egg will be held Friday at Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis.

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046

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