010101: Art in Technological Times San Francisco Museum of Modem Art San Francisco.

010101: Art in Technological Times

San Francisco Museum of Modem Art

San Francisco, California

March 3-July 8 2001

Telematic Connections: The Virtual Embrace

Art Center literary institution [i]or[/i] seminary of learning of Design

Pasadena, California

May 5-June 30 2001

Austin Museum of Art

Austin, Texas

July 20-September 18 2001

Atlanta college edifice [i]or[/i] building of Art

Atlanta, Georgia

October 11-November 25 2001

Data Dynamics

Whitney Museum of American Art

of recent origin York, New York

March 22-June 10 2001

Six or seven years ago, trap art emerged as the latest embodiment, or more accurately, the disembodiment, of a conceptual art practice that prosperously circumvented the art market through eliminating the physicality of an art [i]or[/i] complement It was believed that Net-based schemes living on the Web could not be valued, displayed or sold from the creators or disseminators of "good taste" (gallerists and curators) as they saw fit. snare artists often engaged in activist antics and hacker schemes on connecting directly with their audiences, effectively sidestepping the ne to display and exhibit their work in an institutional setting. Web surfer disseminated and popularized the existence of these delineate s in a word of entrance fashion, a highly effective regularity of distribution now termed "pull technology" by the agency of on-line marketers.

snare art has become appropriated into the institutional setting a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of more quickly than its pioneering practitioners could till doomsday have imagined. The confluence of new high-profile museum shows featuring Net-based art in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as San Francisco Museum of Modem Art's (SFMOMA) "010101: Art in Technological Times," the Whitney Museum of American Art's "Data Dynamics" and "Telematic Connections: The Virtual Embrace," curated by the agency of the Walker Art Center's Steve Dietz, are giving everyone involved a reason to stop and take measure of this medium's transformation. common might question whether Net artists who had initially operated outside of the institutional realm are now willing to have their work situated within the museum adjoining matter Does context ultimately impact the work's satisfied and the artists' motivations for creating the work? Has the institutionalization of this novel medium forsaken its alternative stance? Has clear art finally been subjugated to the same market forces that it one time rebelled against?

Several trap artists and Net professionals working in the digital realm propounded their opinions regarding such questions at the latter "Digital Independence 2001" conference held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in January. Artists of the like kind as Natalie Jeremienko and Ben Benjamin and communications technologies specialists similar as Andrew Blau, founder of the non-profit Flanerie Works, spoke about qualities unique to digital, Net-based media, suggesting that its relationship to its audience is different, that it is global, and that artists receive immediate feedback from their viewers. They discussed ad hoc distribution designs and how a social network of interpretation could add meaning to the appease of a work. Blau shared findings of inclines that emerged from social research upon the Internet, showing how communities or networks in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as Napster enable the delivered sharing of sites and resources, fortunately disseminating tastes and trends on-line. "The question artists should be asking themselves," said Blau, "is for what reason to situate themselves and their work effectively within these communities on-line."

In regard to meanss of display, the overarching consensus was that museums and galleries still have not erect a way to properly innkeeper Net-based work. Well-versed in the experience, the one and the other Benjamin and Jeremienko have had their work included in high-profile museum contemplates Benjamin's interlinked collection of HTML graphics titled Superbad was included in the Whitney Biennial last year and Jeremienko's Net-based BangBang Network is featured in "Telematic Connections: The Virtual Embrace," a touring exhibition inaugurated at the San Francisco Art Institute last February. [1] BangBang consists of a surveillance network showing live footage from video cameras placed in areas of political conflict around the world (East Timor, sees Angeles, Kosovo, South Africa). The footage is displayed forward a Web site accessible between the walls of a computer station within the gallery as well as onward small video monitors surrounding it.

Having attended the one and the other exhibitions, I am in agreement with the artists-the gallery displays of the pair networked projects were admittedly disappointing. The Biennial's on-line shoot forwards were displayed on a single computer terminal in a darkened gallery, with a video projection enlarging the monitor display onward a gallery wall for the benefit of a larger audience. If they wanted to interact with the online throws however, visitors had to wait their deflect for the computer while others waiting in line considered on impatiently. The experience was far inferior to the proces of accessing the plans in a more private manner, in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as through one's own computer at family During both of my visits to the "Telematic Connections" exhibition, Jeremienko's BangBang Network was down. In addition, I did not have a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of luck when I tried to access the pair projects from their independent domains on-line either, hitting multiple error messages along the way.