Re: [-empyre-] galleries & establishments

valerie <valerie@mobilegaze.com> · Sat Jul 6 12:26:01 2002

Hi Adrian -
At 20:56 -0400 3/7/02, valerie wrote:

However - I still ask myself questions about publics - I mean - is
there a public for Web art that goes beyond the community involved in
it already?

perhaps that's too big a question? i'm sure adrienne eisen gets 
thousands of readers, is that web art? i also suspect the unknown 
would get thousands of readers, is that web art? (they're both 
hypertext works.) online caroline has been extremely popular and 
successful, is that web art? if yes, the answer is obviously yes and 
in this context i don't see the gallery as being relevant in any 
shape or form.

I do think that it is too big a question...but I still ask myself it. 
I think that the gallery context (online or not) is not to validate 
something as art - but to provide it a richer environment. When 
designing a Wen site for an exhibition (which I have done 
collaboratively on MobileGaze or with Location / Dislocation) we were 
very sensitive to the platform (aesthetic etc.) that the works would 
be viewed on.

but i also suspect that like any difficult art it always requires a 
specialised audience. this is the case for modern poetry, modern 
music, and the most rigourous contemporary art (how many people 
would attend a screening of experimental video in new york city that 
was not a part of a major festival?). net.art ain't no different, 
it's a complex and sophisticated field and if you don't know the 
rules you just ain't gunna get it (very modernist there).

Actually - I think that net.art need not be so specialized or in the 
ghetto. I find audiences a lot more savy that we give them credit 
for. Sometimes it's just a matter of giving the right marker points - 
which does not mean they will like the work - but they will accept it 
as a viable art form.

--
MobileGaze: on-line culture.
http://www.mobilegaze.com
Matter + Memory net.art exhibition
http://www.mobilegaze.com/m+m