Net Art? What Art?

Net Art? What Art?

During the infant stages of HTML and graphical web browsers, there was an artistic movement that few know about or remember.

It was called net art.

Started in the 1990’s by a handful of artists who borrowed from avant-garde paradigms like Dadaism, Fluxus and Situationalism, the net art movement sought to utilize the Internet as an artistic medium.

At the time, the thought of using the Internet to create art was revolutionary. Until that point, the Internet had been largely regarded as a means to share academic data and communicate remotely  – a system of information transit largely devoid of emotion and passion. However, with the advent graphical web browsers like Mosaic, artists suddenly saw the Internet’s potential as a means for artistic expression.

Today, art has spread to all corners of the Internet. Every day, thousands of artists across the world upload their work to websites, blogs and forums. As a result, many artists are able to debut their work to a much greater audience than a traditional gallery display might allow. At first glance, one would think that this signifies net art’s climax; it’s successful integration into popular Internet culture and triumph as an artistic movement.

In fact, the opposite is true. Net art has neither succeeded nor peaked. It is still in its fledgling stages.

Sure, paintings have been scanned and photos have been digitized, but much of the art that is displayed on the Internet is not net art. While it may be viewable on through a computer screen, the vast majority of art found on the Internet is not fundamentally different than the art found in physical galleries or in generations past. That said, there is still hope for net art.

Since the 1990’s, the Internet has evolved considerably. Web 2.0 is sleek and sexy and practical. Furthermore, computers more powerful than those that helped launch the first space shuttles now fit into the palm of our hand, and by the virtue of wireless technology, these devices have tethered our lives to the Internet.

Now that the Internet has become a way of life, the Internet can start to become a way of art.