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Major upheaval on DeviantArt!
Published on July 29, 2005 By CerebroJD In WinCustomize News
There is much speculation as to exactly what has occurred at DeviantArt in the last day or two.

No one seems to be able to talk about it very much, but its clear that there has been a shift in who exactly runs what on DeviantArt. Jark, the co-founder of DA, appears to have been demoted and/or fired from that position. There are many indications of this, the foremost being his member symbol prefix, no longer the $ of the past. Could this be happening to such a honest and driven individual? Jark has given so much to the community of both DeviantArt and many other art communities around the internet.

Several critical policies on DeviantArt were broken in this restructure, including the near-sacred rule of never removing comments. This freedom of speach and action formed one of the core foundations of DeviantArt: The ability to speak up in all situations and have your opinions heard. Deviations were removed, comments edited, and people banned in order to keep something quiet. No rock-solid details are available, but Jark himself seems supportive of the measures taken by fans to lend their shoulders to his cause.

Updating as info and sources are found.

Onestar's DeviantArt page. Onestar proposes a one-day hiatus on the uploading of all files to DA.

Jark's DeviantArt page. Some interesting reading here, but not much detail. Check his deviations.

Deviation/article by leliathomas. Speculation and theories and many facts pertaining to the event.

Jark's other page, off of DeviantArt. Snoop around... some VERY interesting stuff there.

Bookdiva's personal crusade! She's adding everyone who supports Jark to a massive list in her DA Journal.

Important! Actual semi-official statement from higher-ups. Jark responds too! (Caution, huge image file)



Comments (Page 2)
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on Jul 30, 2005
I'm really feeling uneasy about the future of DA now. I'm allready getting peoples IM and email adresses so I can contact people of DA.
on Jul 30, 2005
Being an older member of the online-Skinning-community (although silent) I beleive that 2 things can happen. Like Jafo said, it could be the beginning of the end and it is showing that DA is becoming too big for it's own self, a skinz.org of some sort. Or, since the crowd over there are really, well Devious, most of them won't even notice and the site will keep going.

I've been a member of DA since the start and i've seen it grow to a point where I left and never looked back, but i'm still worried on how this action. DA is now without Matteo and Jark, the two original founders and it seems like the third one (added after) got gready.

Now can we fire Frogboy? (just a joke now don't kill me)

That DA happening is becoming a Soap Opera for skinners
on Jul 30, 2005
Since I have not been a member of DA, only visiting the site now and then,
my words may weigh less than those of a member. Nevertheless, my personal
observations from reading the various links and comments posted above
follow below.

1. Why?

Elementary my dear Watson. Politics.

A big "open" community such as Deviant ART where people can speek their minds
without being censored is considered a "threat".

The first goal of the operation we are witnessing now is "freedom of speech".
Or more correctly the removal of it.

Ousting all people who can counter that goal is therefore vital to the success.

When the person/s behind the operation have succeded in that, the site is
theirs to control and use for their purposes.

2. Who?

The link: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=29420581&size=o
tell you more than enough.

The feigned surprise ("I was quite troubled and shocked when I was told.." (really?))
of the person calling himself "liquisoft" point to him being one of the "string pullers".

He expose himself feigning empathy in one sentence then coldly trying to dismiss
the whole deal in the next.

The person behind the nic "spyed" also give a high reading on my cointelpro meter.
As does "mccann" since he is likely responsible for the newly introduced censoring,
even if he only(?) takes orders from "liquisoft" and "spyed".

3. What?

What to do about it?

There's only one thing that can give you back the open Deviant ART again and
that is to get active in finding and exposing the truth.

In today's fearmongering climate, being able to speek the truth is no longer
possible as readily as it once was and now the turn has finally come to the members
of Deviant ART. Will they fight for the core values of their community or will they
silently bow their heads in fear of their "master's" whip?


Or in the words of Orwell:
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"
on Jul 30, 2005
Well, if he has been removed from DeviantArt, I hope he might be willing to become more visible here on WinCustomize. I know its a totally different machine from DeviantArt, but he sure knows how to work with people. I find his articles to be quite a read, and I think he'd be a positive contributor!
on Jul 30, 2005
This is an ugly situation that is far from 'clear' to any of us. But what's apparent is that Scott Jarkoff "Jark" was involuntarily removed from his position, but he'll ALWAYS and forever be the co-founder and co-creator of deviantART with Matt Stephens "Matteo" and has the undying allegiance from a community of supporters.
on Jul 30, 2005

I met Scott one week before Deviant art openned, I just registered there because of him, if Jark goes out of Deviant art for any reason I will go too.

To me, Deviant art IS Jark! Period

on Jul 30, 2005

For me it was the people like jark, Matteo and Attila .... that made it a 'good place to be'.

I'm sure the general feeling over there is "where are we going, and why are we in this hand-basket?" ....

on Jul 30, 2005
Yeah what treetog said: DA "is" Jark...
Doreen waves to treetog and Jafo the macro)

very sad and almost unbelievable too, seems like an April's fools joke or something...
on Jul 30, 2005
Like Jafo said, people like Jark, Matteo, Attila and JasonVelocit made dA a great place.


I support jark
on Jul 30, 2005
I won't upload there any more if Jark goes....... I never liked that Liquisoft character from the first time I encountered him.
on Jul 31, 2005
Being a paying member at devart and here on wincustomize, Im sorry to say to some of the none belivers But I am with Jark all the way..Admin Jafo is right there is something wrong and I for one just paid my fees at da 3 days ago to extend my subscription..Now I am afraid to say anything over there for fear of being banned forever...I now fear the place I love to call home....and I feel I have to watch every word I type very closely so as not to get axed...and I have been there as long as some of the newer admins and then some...
www.drop125.deviantart.com
on Jul 31, 2005
... I never even heard of Liquisoft until about a year ago but didn't think anything of it... seemed like one of those companies you see hear and a few years from now there are off the web.

At any rate, this is some real drama. I hope this means Jark will have some more free time to make stuff and be on Wincusto and on Modblog. (I wonder if this is the reason why Mike Pacific of Modblog left the job there soon after being hired???)



At any rate, I think I better get all my contacts off of there just in case someone pulls a 'Devaint Art is now closed' baby tantrum to show who is boss. I met a lot of cool people on there.

Breedman, nuvem, minix, artgerm, fealasy, kurot and others... frezejeans and more.

I better get my list before they go away...
on Jul 31, 2005
Another one bites the dust : http://www.t52.org/
on Jul 31, 2005
... sorry you feel that way Drop. I don't think, especially a paying member 2 times over, should worry about what they are typing unless it is against the TOS.

Being carful is fine, but afraid should mean asking for a refund and getting your info off of their servers as soon as possible.
on Jul 31, 2005
I also wanted to say this as I posted on Spyed DA site:

What is with all this Jark business???
*tries to break the ice*

Anyway, one thing I know about business is that sometimes you can't say things and sometimes you can. After reading some of the things Devinat Art is into and invested in, sometimes you can't speak on specific topics, no matter how it may SEEM clear or non-involved.

In the spirit of community and being civil, for those who are reading this and spamming Spyed comment box, just keep in mind that there can be more to something then meets the eye.

DA birthday is coming up, so even with the changes, lets see what happens next.


I have read some of the drama notes and looked briefly at some of the images of thread that were... shall we say edited... and I say it still is a wait and see. I am sure everyone has thier opinions (mine would be what could possibly be the reasoning for Jark being let go) but I am left to think in business terms since Deviant Art is just that; a business, so there might be something 'up the sleave' sort of speak on this issue (promotional stunt maybe???).


For many people, art and money (another example would be skinning and money) don't mix well so I am not surprised that many a person feelings toward DA has faultered as it has grown. Opinions might be very strong on the subject of DA's direction and size and operability (lets face it, other art and skin sites have gone and disapeared because of financing basically) as well as its direction and maybe there is something more to Jark being demoted (but probably is still part owner/operater).




Long story short, it might not be as hostile as it looks. Time will tell.
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