Re: [-empyre-] real net art

[voyd <voyd@voyd.com>]

Hello, all.

I'm breaking my vacation as this is a topic that is 
very close to my heart, and has almost caused me to 
think about writing a manifesto that is distantly 
related to this regarding determinism and tech art.

However, this topic disturbs me a little that there 
seems to be some feeling that somehow with the 
nascent acceptance of net art and tech art forms for 
that matter, that somehow the apex of the genrea has 
past.  In a way it reminds me of my Alpha 
Revisionist Manifesto in that technological ideas 
that come to fruition are often bankrupt of the 
initial excitement that were imbued within them at 
the time of their inception.  By the time they are 
implemented, we're so bored with them, it's sime to 
go.

However, this is not really my argument.  IT seems 
to me that with the attention upon our genres, and 
the resultant infusion (however small) of money into 
them has drastically changed the landscape.  It 
seems that a number of us have now begun the journey 
into the museum and gallery circuit, and that the 
added attention has spawned a new crop (at times 
quite large) hoping to capitalize on the art dot.com 
rush.

Even though all this is extremely important, I see 
all fo this as a form of noise resulting from the 
expected shifts in genres and concepts that is 
inherent in contemporary art of what I could 
consider the modern era.

In some ways, this nostalgia for net art of the 90's 
almost smacks of pining for Picasso's Blue Period, 
or even the first three of Blondie's records, before 
they were ultimately ruined by their success.

In short, yes - there seem sto be an odd shift in 
our larger community - I'm just starting to make 
some sense of it.  I think a lot of it is due to 
attention, the increased competitiveness of artists 
as the stakes go up, the inscription of fashion upon 
artists by institutions, etc. etc. etc.   Although 
in certain ares such as academia, I feel that a lot 
of the bucolic era of the net art community is 
waning for the time being. 

There are now stakes to be had.

But I for one believe that the most dangerous person 
is the one who feels they have nothing to lose.  
These are the people to look out for.

However, I reiterate that I agree that we are 
shifting, and there is a current being established.  
One can go woth the flow if they feel they will have 
something to gain, but I still bvelieve in 
maintaining a critical perspective on all this.





---- empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au wrote:
> > I do wonder where all the real net art has gone 
to?
> > it isn't interactive any any more and i tend tho 
think that that is not
> > productive or healthy. why dont artists want to 
have dialogue - is it about
> > control, are they scared of being questioned. 
will/has internet art as we
> > knew it becomes a blip on the electronic radar 
like umatic video -quickly
> > forgotten by everyone.
> > and the internet itself becomes merely a 
delivery medium  for commercial
> > content -with limited interactivity. just like a 
million channels of bad
> > cable.. nasty to contemplate.
> 
> I feel nostalgic, at times, about "real net art" 
but I can't help to be
> intrigued by what's coming up next and fascinated 
with new explorations
> as well. As we go on with the evolution of the 
medium it is important to
> acknowledge the tremendous and inspiring works 
created by the
> "pioneers".
> 
> In fact, many early web projects were narrative 
(Waxweb, to name a
> famous one) and I think that the new film-like 
works continue this
> tradition while using recent web technologies and 
taking advantage of
> more powerful computers and high bandwidth. 
> 
> The web has been one more area responding to our 
natural appetite for
> stories. Its intimate nature, its technical 
possibilities and
> limitations, its accessibility gave birth to very 
interesting works that
> would have not been thinkable for cinema (almost 
always dictated by
> commercial purpose). Even if these narrative 
projects do not encourage
> the global network, the one-to-one relationship is 
still a valuable
> option. 
> 
> 
> Sylvie
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