“WEB WORK: A HISTORY OF INTERNET ART” is an article written by Rachel Greene, that talks about the origin and expansion of the digital art movement known as “net.art”. Interestingly, “net.art” emerged into the art world accidentally in 1995 when Slovenian artist Vuk Cosic received an anonymous email that was completely scrambled and contained jumbled, ineligible text except for the words “net.art”.
“Net.art” soon attracted “net.artists” who formed an online community and saw the internet as a place where they could communicate, connect, and share ideas regardless of geographical or cultural boundaries. The article explains that the “net.art” movement was notably thriving in post-Communist Eastern Europe. Artists utilized the internet to voice their personal ideas, find a community of like-minded people, and challenge institutions. Greene explains that some prominent platforms like Jodi.org, Rhizome, and Nettime were places where artists and creators could share their work as well as connect and chat with each other.
One interesting project talked about in the article was “Kings Cross Phone-In” by artist Heath Bunting. It explains that Bunting posted on a webpage the phone numbers of various phone booths around the train station, and throughout the day commuters could ring up the phones and connect with other strangers around the station. Phones were ringing around the station, and Bunting managed to connect random strangers through his art, enabled by the use of the internet.
Ultimately, Greene details how through a simple email glitch the “net.art” movement was born and thanks to the power of the internet artists and creators around the world found themselves a community.
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