Tuesday, April 19, 2016

What's the problem, Iceland?

Screenshot of Google Analytics showing the countries from which people have visited my website

Like everyone else on earth, I have a website (deborahdendler.com). I am amused and amazed on a daily basis by how many visitors do or do not visit my site. For a long time, I've been mystified by two things:  What's up with Russia? And, what's the problem with Greenland and Iceland? I get why there wouldn't be a lot of internet traffic to an obscure North American sculpture website from the Congo, Paraguay or Mongolia. Not sure that high speed internet connections are top priorities in those areas.  But Greenland and Iceland? They're European and more highly developed than the US. So what's the problem? Partly it's the numbers. There are more people living in Newton, MA (80,000) than live in Greenland (30,000.) And while Iceland has almost 11 times as many people (323,000) it is also a country with no clay. Their most illustrious Icelandic sculptor, Einar Jonsonn, couldn't get a reliable source of clay (a hundred year ago) so he worked mainly in plaster. Apparently, the sculptural needs of Iceland are still met by Einar Jonsonn, just as Sweden is still happy with the sculpture of Carl Milles. Fine.

The Russian traffic to my website is the most mysterious. I've had more visitors from Russia than any other country, except the US. It's true I have actually shown my work in St. Petersburg, Russia, but still. For some reason, I'm really big in Kyrgystan. At work, I asked a guy who's Russian/Ukranian, and he said humorously, "They're watching us." But I think he's right. They are watching us. I feel like I'm in a James Bond movie.  Meanwhile, how do I attract the Icelandic crowd? And more importantly, would Iceland let us send them some bankers?

Deborah Dendler website
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