@K8Hardy. (Courtesy PMC)

Though it has long been a venue for artists, writers, curators and art watchers to converse, debate and, of course, self promote, Twitter seems to have become increasingly popular with the denizens of New York's art industry over the past year. Major curators, like High Line Art's director and curator, Cecilia Alemani, and MoMA PS1's director, Klaus Biesenbach, have taken to the popular service, along with leading artists, like Raymond Pettibon and Richard Prince (who called Times art critic Ken Johnson a "hack" in a tweet last week).

Below, a list of 41 people we enjoy following. Almost every one is based in New York, though there are a few exceptions—honorary New Yorkers, like Maxwell Anderson, who have ties to the city or just seem to be here with startling frequency. We have omitted writers—with the exception of two Observer contributors who occupy somewhat unique positions out there in the art world. Including all of those journalists, critics and editors would have been far too gigantic. That list is for another time. No doubt we have left out many of your favorites. Please do share them in the comment section below.

Cecilia Alemani, High Line Art director and curator
Follow @ceciliaalemani

Maxwell Anderson, Dallas Museum of Art director, former Whitney director
Follow @MaxAndersonUSA

Paola Antonelli, MoMA senior curator of architecture and design
Follow @curiousoctopus

Cory Arcangel, artist
Follow @cory_arcangel

Bonus! Working on My Novel, a project by Cory Arcangel
Follow @WrknOnMyNovel

Klaus Biesenbach, MoMA PS1 director and MoMA chief curator at large
Follow @klausbiesenbach

Amy Cappellazzo, Christie's chairwoman of postwar and contemporary development
Follow @AmyCappellazzo

Xavier Cha, artist
Follow @xavier_cha

Jennifer Dalton, artist
Follow @jen_dalton

Johanna Fateman, musician in Le Tigre, MEN
Follow @johannafateman

Photios Giovanis, dealer
Follow @photiosgiovanis

Benjamin Godsill, Phillips de Pury & Co. specialist
Follow @mrgodsill

Kathy Grayson, dealer, photo blogger
Follow @kathygrayson

Daphne Guinness, collector, muse
Follow @TheRealDaphne

Anthony Haden-Guest, cartoonist, author of True Colors, Observer contributor
Follow @AnthonyHGuest

Ed Halter, Light Industry director
Follow @edhalter

Alex Israel, artist
Follow @MrAlexIsrael

Adam Lindemann, collector, dealer, Observer contributor
Follow @AdamLindemann

K8 Hardy, artist
Follow @K8Hardy

Andrew Kuo, artist
Follow @earlboykins

Steve Martin, comedian, collector
Follow @stevemartintogo

Sarah McCrory, Frieze Foundation curator
Follow @FriezeCurator

Glenn O'Brien
Follow @lordrochester

Yoko Ono, artist
Follow @yokoono

Raymond Pettibon, artist
Follow @RaymondPettibon

Richard Phillips, artist
Follow @RichardPhillips

Richard Prince, artist
Follow @RichardPrince4

Bill Powers, dealer
Follow @halfgallery

Bill Powhida, artist
Follow @Powhida

Simon de Pury, Phillips de Pury & Co. co-founder, DJ
Follow @simondepury

David Ross, former director of Whitney, SFMOMA and ICA Boston, chair of SVA MFA
Follow @daross140

Andre Saraiva, club owner, artist
Follow @BaronAndre

Magda Sawon, Postmasters Gallery co-owner
Follow @magdasawon

Aurel Schmidt, artist
Follow @aurel_sex

Chloe Sevigny
Follow @ChIoeSevigny

Gary Simmons, artist
Follow @gsimmonsstudio

Nancy Spector, Guggenheim chief curator
Follow @nespector

Rebecca Taylor, MoMA PS1 communications director
Follow @RebeccaTaylorNY

Austin Thomas, artist
Follow @Pocketopia

Ryan Trecartin, artist
Follow @RyanTrecartin

Hennessy Youngman, artist, YouTube blogger
Follow @therealhennessy

"alanna heiss and i photographed by araki in winter 1997" Courtesy @KlausBiesenbach

In the new issue of Bookforum, Choire Sicha takes on the issue of the rise of celebrity in the tony worlds of art and literature, in particular the boom in renown of "cultural truffle hounds," people like Klaus Biesenbach, chief curator at large of MoMA and director of MoMA PS1, whose job it is to find and bring to our attention great cultural treasure.

The "quality celebrity" is one, according to Mr. Sicha, like James Franco and Antony Hegarty, who has both recognition and is considered an artist. Then there are those who are great at both and operate in a way somewhat akin to journalists, like Moby. But then there are those whose donning of the journalistic-beat makes us slightly uncomfortable because of their position. Enter @Klausbiesenbach.

Believing it instructional to read as one text a collection of Mr. Biesenbach's Twitters as evidence of his "brand" and how it is developed in the Twitterverse, Mr. Sicha analyzes a sampling of Mr. Biesenbach's tweets from the more personal to those aimed at other celebrities—such as on Valentine's Day, when the curator asked Derek Blasberg, the socialite-journalist, how the Marc Jacobs show went, when he tweeted at actress Katherine Heigl asking if she would be at the premiere of Marina Abramovic's film in Berlin or when he tweeted at the Scissor Sisters frontman, "@jakeshears any good party tonight or tomorrow night in sundance?" It's the tension between these "personal texts" and the nature of the business of this man who is "an institutional network unto himself" that is both fun and problematic. Mr. Sicha says:

There is something quite charming in the lack of plural; also something German about the quest for the night's one best social event. Then there was this, too: "tomorrow is jean genet's 101 birthday." Something about that reflection tucked alongside all the party planning and celebrity name-checking, seems very lonely.

In light of this text, these interests, performance activities under Biesenbach's direction become a bit suspect. They are a species of cool-hunting, of celebrity obsession."

While Mr. Biesenbach's celebrity obsession is not exactly news, Mr. Sicha does remind us that it does still make us a tad uncomfortable to see the curator at one of the world's top institutions getting into the pit with the rest of us. And while his tweets may not reveal a life of the mind anymore interesting than our own—or that he has anyone editing his Tweets anymore than we do (from today: "in redhpok: max brand's studio @monopolmagazin http://pic.twitter.com/QwNMUIC2" then, "oops, redhook, of course")—we're happy the "sexy back rooms" of these institutions are being open, if only to be crushed by a few dropped names.

Mr. Ai with collectors Mera and Donald Rubell. (Courtesy Patrick McMullan Company)

For a brief stretch yesterday, dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has been closely monitored by government authorities since his arrest on accusations of tax fraud last year, thought he had gained a tiny bit more freedom, successfully signing up for an account on a popular Chinese microblogging service called Sina, according to Reuters.

Mr. Ai posted a test message to the site, and more than 10,000 people signed up to follow him (the program works like Twitter). And then, after two hours, his account was deleted. He believes censors in the Chinese government, which has prohibited him from leaving the country and speaking to press, is responsible.

The artist told the wire service: "The controls are very strong... They (the government) are very insecure, they are not ready for any kind of change." He had apparently attempted to sign up for a Sina account before but was rejected. It's not clear why he was able to join, albeit momentarily, this time.

Reuters notes that one user apparently commented, on seeing Mr. Ai on the service, "The moment has come. The skies have changed in China." Apparently not.

Mr. Ai can still be found on Twitter, where he posts the occasional political barb. A group of volunteers translates these periodic messages into English on a separate blog. On Sunday, reacting to a tweet that noted his name was searchable on Sina (it had previously been restricted), even after the deletion of his microblog, Mr. Ai quipped, "Mhm, fainting."

A: Yes, we will.

Q: Will others be doing the same?

A: Doubtless.

Q: Are your tweets likely to be higher quality than those other tweets?

A: It is largely a matter of taste.

Q: Why should we look at your tweets?

A: Because, you never know.

Q: When does the opening begin?

A: 7 p.m.

Q: Shouldn't you leave soon?

A: Probably.

Q: Is that a picture of the Whitney’s iconic Marcel Breuer building, printed, cut out, and taped into the beak of the Twitter bird?

A: Yes, it is.

Q: Do you not know how to use Photoshop?

A: This was faster.

Q: Do you consider this to be a form of appropriation?

A: Yes.

Q: Whose thumb is that?

A: No.

"Art market ablaze. See WSJ today on China, and eleven simultaneous Damien Hirst shows in Gargosian galleries. Flight from cash?"

Someone call 911, because this art market is on fire! (Really sorry about that one, reader.)

Ms. Crow's piece is a really nice take on the Chinese art market bubble, but we don't see exactly what that has to do with Gagosian's spot extravaganza, other than to say that Damien Hirst proliferation has reached beyond those scoundrel culture reporters to overtake the consciousness of the owners of the newspapers themselves. Is Rupert Murdoch suggesting that spot paintings replace the dollar as currency? Hey, why not? That would make Gagosian something like Fort Knox, we suppose.

As is often the case when Mr. Murdoch talks to the Internet, the responses on Twitter here are--oh, let's just say vaguely unimpressed [sic throughout]:

"some call that art... most would refer Damien Hirst 'artwork' as disgusting, demented glorification of death."

"If I were fleeing from cash I don't think buying work by Damien Hirst would be on the list."

"Who says billionaires are out of touch with the people?"

And here's our personal favorite: "No."

The avatar for @OccupyArtWorld. (Photo: Twitter)

As protestors continue to rally for a variety of causes downtown, at the "Occupy Wall Street" protests in Zuccotti Park, a Twitter account called @OccupyArtWorld has begun lobbying for change within the art industry, firing off a stream of biting criticisms of today's contemporary art world.

The account, whose owner is unknown, was started yesterday and has already posted 63 messages, attracting more than 160 followers as of this morning. Here is a short sampling of @OccupyArtWorld's messages:

• "Should art dealers provide health coverage for their artists? #occupyartworld"
• "The greed of bankers? What about the greed of art dealers? #occupyartworld #occupywallstreet"
• "The artist without a price tag attached and favor of the rich is ignored by the very people who should be preserving our art history."

The account has also gone after New York magazine critic Jerry Saltz, a recent Twitter adoptee, in the following message, posted an hour ago:

• "@jerrysaltz Is job security more important to you and your wife than helping out #occupywallstreet? This is the movement you've wanted."

As Gallerist noted last week, protestors associated with the "Occupy Wall Street" protests recently stormed a Sotheby's auction, temporarily disrupting proceedings. We'll watch this one as it develops.