"Web Work: A History of Internet Art" by Rachel Greene describes the history of net.art and explores the many artists that have evolved internet art. Net.art began as detournements of discourse defined by emails and links rather than simple images. Early net.art was known for its ambitious goals and instantaneous communication opportunities. Net.art flourished between 1994 and 1998, creating a lively atmosphere for artists to collectively talk about politics and culture. Irational.org and Jodi.org were among the most impactful websites during this time. These websites disrupted daily activities with emails and calls. Jodi.org focused on producing lines of HTML code in alphanumeric soup form to stump the most literate computer geniuses. I personally find Jodi.org's projects to be very unique. I have never heard of anything like this before and it's extremely fascinating. Jodi.org speaks to viewers in computer hardware language and hacks every submission placing 404 on their screen. This website is unlike anything I have ever seen before.
In 1977 net.art exploded into the popular realm. Websites such as 7-11.org, easylife.org, teleportica.org/war, and backspace.org/iod/iod4 became extremely popular. Female net.artists also had a rise in popularity. Artists such as Rachel Baker, Beth Stryker, Josephine Bosma, Shu Lea Cheang, and VNX Matrix explored themes of femininity and took over net.art. I really like the feminist art produced during this time. These women used bold statements to provoke conversations and create movements for change. Cyberfeminism became a large and popular movement. I really like the work of Olia Lialina. All of her works look at physical beauty and personal aspects of relationships. I also love how Lialina engaged her viewers by encouraging experimentation. I think that art that engages its audience is much more memorable and exciting. Greene continues to explore artists and net.art produced in 1999. Overall, I enjoyed learning about the history of net.art and found this article to be extremely interesting.
