Re: [-empyre-] Museums (was Re: copyright)

[Brendan Howell <mute@netaxs.com>]

On the digital archival tip, check out www.archive.org.  They have lots of
vintage html going back to 1996 archived as well as vintage Usenet, ftp
sites and films with expired copyright.  I found
embarrasing/amusing versions of my web page from the old days.  

A very cool project.  Also a great spot to raid for source material.

It seems that with storage getting so cheap these days, it's feasible for
small organizations to persue these kinds of projects.

As for the debate...

With net art, it seems that the museum still plays a roll as 'legitimizer'
for funding and some recognition but they are not so relevant as they
don't really control the space.  Hosting and drive space are cheap.  Not
free but much cheaper than studio space or even a few sets of slides.  If
you can't join em', beat em.  A personal web site is not gugenheim real
estate but it's better than brown-nosing for months to get a crappy
basement show attended only by your friends.  It's also nice to look at
the logs on your site and see sessions from sweden and brazil and not just
art history buffs that live in williamsburg.

The museum still plays a rather authoritarian role but it's a lot less
than when physicality was more important.  

The economics still suck but at I would hope that people are having fun or
at least getting some sort of personal satisfaction out of your work.  If
not, I suggest IT or investment banking. 

-Brendan