Final Project

webfiles.colorado.edu/fearne/www3

Flash Project

webfiles.colorado.edu/fearne/www2/flash.html

In the third chapter of Internet Art, I liked how it focused on the social and political implications of artistic websites. More people have access to these pieces so the commentaries can make a greater impact. It isn’t contained within a gallery, where only a hundreds or thousands, artistically minded individuals can look at it and determine its message. On the other hand, a website allows the artist’s message to escape that system and reach anyone with an internet connection. The Container is particularly interesting. This mobile media center allowed underprivileged Caribbean children to have access to the internet, teaching them about communication and art. The internet also provided the people of Eastern Europe with a way of independent reporting during the NATO bombing of Kosovo. Net projects like I Was A Solider on Kosovo, Krematorium, and 79 Days. These show the growth of internet art. It truly became a way to bring people together and let them freely express themselves. Expression and independent thought are extremely important, but they are often limited by the governments of some countries. So, the websites become extremely important because they serve as documentation for the rest of the world.

www.webfiles.colorado.edu/fearne/www

In Chapter 2, I really liked how playful the art became. For example, the work in Desktop Is was a unique way to reexamine the computer. It also gave the computer a new kind of symbolic meaning. In Rachel Baker’s piece, the folder entitled “Bakers Sexuality” was really thought provoking, as well as cheeky. I took much time to stop and think about what this could possibly mean. This folder is not hidden within the computer; it is displayed proudly on the desktop. It does fit into the other icons on the desktop as they are all connected. However, it would probably fit into the “digital slapstick” folder. It also makes me wonder what is in the “wastebasket,” especially when the other icons read “bureaucracy does not allow disorganized desktops.” Perhaps the artist is saying that she had to get rid of many icons to be able to keep the sexuality folder. I wonder what had to be sacrificed to keep sexuality. Perhaps Baker means to say that since men are more or less in charge in our society, women must hide most of what makes them female. Everything important is neatly organized into an unassuming file.

I like how the book talked about experimenting with more than just ideas and media, but also with technologies and systems. Indeed, if many of the artists found Duchamp’s work inspirational, as the book suggests, the new information age would add much to the art scene. Duchamp’s body of work was about the ready-made object, which, to him, connected art and life together. So, the more technologies and systems were available, the more people began to experiment with them in artistic ways. Olia Lialina’s “My Boyfriend Came Back from the War” was very interesting to me. This shows a highly personal and solely decorative website. It is meant to only be viewed aesthetically. It looks like an internet collage. The starkness of it is quite striking. It was also very interesting to me that many of the artists and movements noted in the book were from Russia. This makes sense to me because the people were so censored by Communism that the only way they could fully express themselves through art was online. Here, they could create a work of art but still remain mostly anonymous.

Self Portrait