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

The thing that struck me the most about this chapter was the parts about interactivity. Indeed all works of art are interactive, as the book says, but there is something undeniably special about being able to manipulate the piece yourself. The one from the book that struck me the most was “The Golden Calf” by Jeffery Shaw. This is so simple, but yet so ingenious. It is just a picture of a statue of a calf on a screen and when you move around the pedestal with the screen, the view of the statue changes. I also like how the artist changes the photographs when in a different location so it remains site-specific. This piece is so cheeky as well. It is the virtual and digital representation of a sculpture. It seems like the way we will view everything in the future. This technology could be of great aid in future art history lessons. It is practical and beautiful. I also really liked the piece where the viewer can throw mouse balls at a keyboard wall with pop-ups and error messages. This seems very therapeutic for the common computer-user. It is a fantasy that all wish we could do, but will never be able to (unless we don’t mind breaking our precious technologies).

The comparison between Dadaism and digital art is an interesting one. Indeed, this movement changed the art world forever, allowing different types of media to flourish. The reference to Walter Benjamin’s article about reproduction does raise some questions are the future of the art world. The internet in general has changed much about how we view images. We are used to seeing a reproduction of any image in the world at the click of a mouse. To Walter Benjamin, this would mean that these images lack an aura because they have lost rarity. However, to me, and aura comes from the composition and not from how many people can view it. If the artist creates a brilliant composition, you can feel the aura emanating from a reproduction. I would argue that reproductions of the Mona Lisa are more interesting than the tiny one roped off at the Louvre because it is easier to see the composition. I was also interested to learn that people have been using computers to make art since the 1960’s. I always thought digital art was something created from the internet age, but it was surprisingly not. I am interested to see the computer animations done in the 60’s because I’m sure we’ve come a long way since then with digital art. I liked how the book said that computers are a tool of digital art. This statement gives credit to the artist as a creator. Digital art is more than just putting information into a computer.