Reading Blog 2

In the article, “Web Work, A History of the Internet,” the article focuses on what the impacts of the web have had on art. Since the beginning of this trend, net.art has been using the net to fight the institutionalization of fine art. I don’t mean this particularly as fighting but to encourage un-institutionalized creation of different forms of art and communication about art, between artists, and among artists. The net.art movement also tries to de-institutionalize the internet by using it in unexpected ways to create art. “From the beginning, Net.art artists have exploited characteristics peculiar to the internet like immediacy and immateriality.” Economically, geographically, ethnically, and culturally, net.art has leveled the playing field of art and the internet. “Building an equitable community in which art was conspicuously present in ones every day activities was a collective goal of Net.art.” Net.art artists have made various political statements, and created various trends and supported different movements. Using everything from websites and computer code, hacking, copying, spoofing, and combining various forms of information found on the web to create unusual and sometimes controversial artwork. “Email, the dominant mode of communication among and within the Net.art community, enabled anyone who was wired to communicate on equal ground across international boundaries, instantaneously, every day.” As net.art has become more well-known, it has been included in many for common art venues, like the Whitney Biennial, and is at risk of becoming too institutionalized itself. Therefore, net.art artists need to continually find new ways to disrupt institutionalized forms of art, including its own trends, to create new challenges to traditional concepts of art.