Starting off this blog by saying the net.art in the reading is really cool and so aesthetically pleasing, especially in this day and age where the 'cyber', old school Web look is really sought after in fashion, art, etc.
I was immediately fascinated by the amount of net.artists mentioned in this reading that originated from Europe or Eastern Europe. Nowadays, you usually picture the pioneers of both new tech and new art as Americans/Silicon Valley-types, but it's really engaging to see that the Internet was used as a learning place for communication and expressing one's art in Eastern Europe and Russia. It's also interesting to see how the Internet is perceived by the government in Europe today, as the restrictions on what can be done and what can't be done on the Internet so so much stricter there than in the United States.
I also find it really funny to see the dynamic between freeform art and independent users and the news media like CNN or big corporations on old Internet in the late '90s, early 2000's. Currently, we still see a clash between creators and the big companies trying to take up more space on the web; a huge example of that would be - during the 2010s - the slow shift on YouTube from small, independent creators being the trending channels to what the Trending page on YouTube is now with Late Night show hosts, high production music videos, etc. It's kind of ironic (is that the right word?) that you saw it in the early ages of the Internet, too.
It's really interesting to see how thoughts on and movements surrounding femininity, sexuality, gender identity/expression always develop alongside the "new thing", whether that new form expression is traditional art, contemporary art, or art on the Web. I really liked reading in this article about the different ways net.artists used the unpredictability and chaos of the new Internet as a means of expression and conversation about these important topics.
My last thought - tying back to the use of new types of art expression to have a conversation on feminism, gender, sexuality - is that I'm curious to see how this movement will work in tandem with how we're developing our new Internet currently.
There's been a lot of talk about Web3, the new Internet, decentralized blockchains, but I've always pictured this new form of Internet that we're growing towards as very male-dominated, especially by the typical straight white man (no hate towards them). Especially with NFTs, which are touted as being beneficial for artists, they're still being sold and bought by primarily men. This is super different from what we've seen in this reading and generally today, where art is backed by a lot of women, people of color, and queer people trying to express their thoughts in untapped ways. So, I'm super curious to see where Web3, and also the increased use of AI, takes us.
Specifically with AI-made art:
