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).