-Mike

Introduction of his book is about a brief history of internet art. Internet art is art which uses the internet as its primary medium. Internet art is important because its emphasis on audience interaction, transfer of information and use of networks, simultaneously bypassing the autonomous status of networks. Greene mentioned internet art is intertwined with issues of access to technology and decentralization, production and consumption, and demonstrated how media spheres increasingly function as public space. She also says that it is artistic practices: ideology; technology; desire; the urge to experiment, communicate, critique or destroy; the urge to experiment, communicate, critique or destroy; the elaboration of ideals or emotions; and memorializing observation or experience. Internet art is a largely open zone for everyone. “When people used early internet in the mid-1990s, internet art started by artists.  She states early history of net.art “In Europe, Eastern Europe in particular, where post-Cold War technology and democracy initiatives opened up spaces for pockets of advanced art-makinh and media activism that gave rise to the legendary ‘net.art’.” There are many diverse forms of internet art and many different interaction of internet art. Internet art has been changing by technological development. The introduction of this book tells that early internet art’s history chronologically. I was impressed that Nam jun Paik who was Korean but I did not know that he was the predecessors of internet art.  He used television as a canvas and he videotaped moving images and played them on a television screen. His different way of thinking let him become the first video artist in history. Second work that I impressed was JCJ-Junkamn by Ken Feingold. He addressed computer-dependent culture. I was interested in internet art and this book will let me learn the field of internet art.

After that, The introduction itself began and started to present the public feel of internet based art. How thier where purists on both sides of the lines, some preferring more traditional mediums while themore hardcore web based artists preferred to stay immersed in thier online world of artistic expression.

The book then moved to the more informative (in my opinion) historical section. I thought this was interesting seeing as the book opted to not be satisfied with the history of the internet alone, but chose to go back the the first designs for steam driven computing devices such as the one designed (but never built in his lifetime sadly) by Charles Babbage in the 1800′s. The text then progressed through the massive computing machines until it entered the microchip age. It points to a man named Vannevar Bush who in 1945 spoke in an article entitled “As We May Think” about a system known as Memex that would allow people to actively share and look up information in the workplace. This is credited as one of the main predecessors to the internet. After this the book details that the original net was meant for a communication system immune to nuclear attacks and later ended up in civillian use, effectively linking computers in ways never before imagined. After this, the book continued on and detailed the historical context of internet art, showing the trends and styles that relate to it and introducing things such as EAT (Experiments in Art Technology) and Events and Happenings.

All in all I feel like this definitely set the book up nicely and has me interested in the class.

My Name is Parker, and I’m in this class for two reasons.

1) It’s required for my major (less important)

and 2) I want to become better at using the internet to convey my art. So far I’ve sort f dabbled around with the idea of web based art, but so far I haven’t really done much of anything with it.

That’s about all right now. I don’t have any outside sites to showcase my art on, though if I get anything I’ll post a link on this blog. Laterz! :3

            I’m Vic.  I moved here after the military and started graphic design at PJC.  Before that I thought I mostly knew what art was.  Now I’m here, a junior in this class with you because I like art; and I like classes like this because it helps introduce you to things like this.

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             So far this introduction to Internet Art by Rachel Greene sounds a lot like New Media Art by Mark Tribe and Reena Jana.  Now I’m not saying it’s copied, but I guess I’m saying art can be so broad and yet you can still find a lot of people on the same track.  In how she talks about the advantages and some think disadvantages of internet art.  How she thinks internet art is better than public art but not quit as intimate as art in a gallery.  And how some think that internet art is not art at all; that ‘internet arters’ are just programmers, maybe so, but it’s still art.  Of course Rachel thinks it’s still art and obviously I do to.

Rachel also gave a lot of interesting facts about when computers were as big as a house.  We’ve come a long way since then, so why shouldn’t everything else.  It’s really hard to prove that you like or encourage change and improvements when you want to stay where you are.  When it comes to people staying put, it’s never going to happen, so jump on board and try to help it stay on track.

            I think that it is nice that people consider internet art as a form of media.  People should just dive right in.  But I also think there should be a balance as well.  We should still use galleries and other forms of art; because for the most part the internet is thought of to be very personal and I don’t think it’s good to lose that face to face interaction with art and people.  Don’t lose the basics.  If you don’t have a foundation, I’m pretty sure you don’t just start flying; there is no second life, so enjoy this one or make your first impression on the third try.

Using the internet as a medium itself is another interesting aspect of net.art. Websites, games, and general ads are common and interactive ways of creating internet art, however, the coding and strategic ways of building the websites and games is an art in itself. The way one networks and presents a website is another way of creating net.art.

In addition to net.art, there are other mediums that can be utilized by artists. In the introduction, Greene mentions a few such as video, fax, cable television, and satellite. They are easily affordable, just like the internet, and are accessible to a mass audience. There are more limitations to these mediums than the internet, but they are still manageable and useful as Rabinowsitz and Galloway show. They both made an impact on NASA’s work in the 70s and 80s.

The fact that internet art, or any form of art, in general, can have an influence on how a product is perceived, how a politician does in a campaign, or how a movement is started or persuaded from its intended outcome is impressive. A piece that is not only creative and enthusiastic, but has a deeper, conceptual meaning, is brilliant and can change history. Slogans, websites, TV commercials, etc, have all changed the course of history at one point in time because of the amount of influence art can have on the public.

I thought the introduction to “Internet Art” was very informative. I liked how the introduction included  a lot of examples of different kinds of internet and all of its forms. I like how the author, Rachel Greene, explained where Internet Art came from and how it has evolved today. She pointed out that internet art got its start in Eastern Europe “where post-cold war technology and democracy incentives opened up spaces for pockets of  advanced art-making and media activism that gave rise to the legendary “net.art”  scene.”

I also like how the introduction explained that television is an art form. An example of this is Paik’s “Participation TV”. Again I would not have thought television would have been art but after the author compared it to internet  art helped me understand how television is considered art. 

After reading the introduction to internet art I’m starting to understand how the internet can be seen as art. The internet is a huge medium for many things so why not for art. I’m hoping that this class will further make me see how the internet can be considered art.