7/31/2019 Internet Art5
1/53
Internet Art(art in the age of decentralized networks)
Robert SpahrDepartment of Cinema & Photography
Mass Communication & Media Arts
http://www.robertspahr.com
mailto:[email protected]://www.robertspahr.com/http://www.robertspahr.com/mailto:[email protected]7/31/2019 Internet Art5
2/53
60,000 years ago
people
begantospeak
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
3/53
5,000 years ago
peoplestarted
towrite
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
4/53
600 years agopeople started to publish
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
5/53
50 years agopeople created a network of computers
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
6/53
Two Historical Trajectories
1. Mass Media
2. Data Processing
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
7/53
Mass Media
Ability to disseminate to millions ofcitizens the same:
texts images sounds
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
8/53
Data Processing
Ability to keep track of millions ofcitizens:
birth recordsemployment recordsmedical records
police records
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
9/53
Media / Data Timeline
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
10/53
Convergence:
All become computable!
graphics
moving images sounds shapes
texts
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
11/53
Five Principles of New Media
1. Numerical Representation2. Modularity
3. Automation4. Variability5. Transcoding
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
12/53
Digital Photograph of SIUC
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
13/53
Examples of the Five Principles
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
14/53
has no historical precedent
Programmability of New Mediahas no historical precedent
Programmability of New Mediahas no historical precedent
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
15/53
Media Convergence
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
16/53
The Internet's Decentralized Design
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
17/53
80's at&t monopoly is broken up
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
18/53
Web / HTML
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
19/53
The Internet
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
20/53
Centralized vs. Distributed
Networks
WTC vs. Al Qaeda
Wikileaks vs. United States
Eygpt, Internet kill switch
The Occupy Movement
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
21/53
Art Historical Antecedents:
Marcel Duchamp 1913
Man Ray 1923
John Cage 1946
Sol Lewitt 1970
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
22/53
Duchamp: 3 StandardStoppages
"If a straight horizontal thread onemeter long falls from a height of onemeter onto a horizontal planetwisting as it pleases[it] creates anew image of the unit of length."
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
23/53
3 Standard Stoppages by Marcel Duchamp, 1913-14
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
24/53
3 Standard Stoppages by Marcel Duchamp, 1913-14
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
25/53
Fountain (Readymade) by Marcel Duchamp, 1917
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
26/53
L. H. O. O. Q. (Readymade Assisted) by Marcel Duchamp, 1919
M R
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
27/53
Man Ray:Object of Destruction
In 1932 a second version, called Object of Destruction, was
published in the avant-garde journal 'This Quarter', editedby Andr Breton. This version featured an ink drawing ofthe Object To Be Destroyed with the following instructions;
Cut out the eye from a photograph of one who has beenloved but is seen no more. Attach the eye to the pendulum ofa metronome and regulate the weight to suit the tempo
desired. Keep going to the limit of endurance. With ahammer well-aimed, try to destroy the whole at a singleblow.
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
28/53
'Indestructible Object', Man Ray (1964 replica of 1923 original)
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
29/53
John Cage Prepared Piano Score
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
30/53
Cage: Prepared Piano 1946
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc3-C7Lnzh0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc3-C7Lnzh0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc3-C7Lnzh07/31/2019 Internet Art5
31/53
Lewitt: Wall Drawings 1970
A Wall Divided Vertically into Fifteen Equal Parts, Each with a DifferentLine Direction and Color, and All Combinations
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
32/53
"In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work . . .all planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory
affair. The idea becomes the machine that makes the art."
Sol LeWitt: "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,"Artforum, summer issue, 1967
The Free Software Definition
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
33/53
The Free Software Definition
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose
The freedom to study how the program works, andchange it to make it do what you wish
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your
neighbor
The freedom to distribute copies of your modifiedversions to others
Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU project
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
34/53
What is a Hacker?
1960s -70s: Using playful cleverness to achieve a goal
1980s present: A computer criminal; terrorist
Hacker Manifesto
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
35/53
We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after
knowledge...and you call us criminals. We exist withoutskin color, without nationality, without religious bias...and you call us criminals...
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My
crime is that of judging people by what they say andthink, not what they look like. My crime is that ofoutsmarting you, something that you will never forgiveme for.
I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.
The Mentor, 1986
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
36/53
a centralized network
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
37/53
a decentralized network
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
38/53
a distributed network
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
39/53
Centralized vs. Distributed
NetworksWTC vs. Al Qaeda
Wikileaks vs. United States
Eygpt, Internet kill switch
The Occupy Movement
Selected
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
40/53
SelectedInternet Art Themes:
Collaboration and participation Appropriation to open source
Hackers and hacktivism Interventions Identity Telepresence and surveillance
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
41/53
Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans, 1993http://www.jodi.org
http://www.jodi.org/http://www.jodi.org/7/31/2019 Internet Art5
42/53
Mark Napier, Shredder 1.0http://www.potatoland.org/shredder/
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
43/53
Olia Lialina, My Boyfriend Came Back From the Warhttp://www.teleportacia.org/war/
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
44/53
Michael Mandiberg, After Sherrie Levine (2001)http://www.aftersherrielevine.com/
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
45/53
John F. Simon, Jr., Every Icon (1997)http://www.numeral.com/appletsoftware/eicon.html
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
46/53
Cory Arcangel, Super Mario Clouds (2002)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lzLi4KwMK4
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
47/53
Anne-Marie Schleiner, Velvet-Strike (2002)http://www.opensorcery.net/velvet-strike/
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
48/53
Keith Obadike, Blackness for Sale (2001)http://obadike.tripod.com/ebay.html
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
49/53
Unknown Artisthttp://mouchette.org/
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
50/53
Marie Sester, ACCESS (2003)http://www.accessproject.net/access11.html
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
51/53
Caleb Larsen, A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter (2009)http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290498361874
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
52/53
Caleb Larsen, A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter (2009)http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290498361874
7/31/2019 Internet Art5
53/53
Selected Bibliography
Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media, 2002Noah Wardrip-Fruin (editor) New Media Reader, 2003Martha Buskirk, Contingent Object of Contemporary Art, 2003Rachel Greene, Internet Art, 2004Mark Tribe (Editor) New Media Art, 2006
Robert Spahr
http://www.robertspahr.com
mailto:[email protected]://www.robertspahr.com/http://www.robertspahr.com/mailto:[email protected]