Ursula Hentschlaeger
NetWork
1999
If art becomes a synonym for culture,
achievements of culture – which, in this context, means
technoculture in particular – can be stylised into works
of art. The paradox about the transformation sought here is
that this is only what makes it possible to create a link
between innovations, such as technical progress, and human
beings.
As a consequence, structures of technology
and economic policy which can clearly be classified as
sociological in nature reveal their functional strong points as
they incorporate a category that is hard to grasp and can be
applied at random: the myth of art. The insight might not be
new but it is always surprising: art makes "sense".
BACKGROUND
ART ON THE WEB
Ill. Lynn
Hershman: Difference Engine 3, VRML-Project, Screenshot 1999 (cutout)
Looking at art on the World Wide Web
implies two clear points of departure: on the one hand, this
field also offers an opportunity to construct
"reality" or "world" – in the sense
of radical constructivism – because environments are
created and independent subsystems can be developed further. At
present, this is probably where most of the fascination of
electronic art on the Web is derived from. In this context, we
need to look at the question as to what kind of world is
constructed and which ideas are behind it.
On the other hand, artistic production on
the Web can only be "work in progress" because every
programme leads to further possibilities of expression and thus
to new applications and their variants. Artistic work on the
Web is therefore open-ended unless the medium is given up as a
specifically artistic form of expression. Developments can only
be followed up on and documented here.
PUBLICATIONS
