~. .

luxus{Irotn "to flow") is an art movement noted for the blending of different artistic disciplines, primmily visual mt but
also music and literature. Fluxus was founded in 1962 by George Maciunas (1931-78), an American artist of Lithuanian
.-,ï1ii~7i -;xih ... h ~.--t n,,-,,;;:;,,~ t.-. nFiï.t'Âii'i t.-. r,,~ :.::ïiÎ'=' hi i·":ïPi~'; tIÎï,; nr:-~ld~~ Â ii'i~:;-~ ,~. ? ~nl~ r",~ÎI:-'!!'=:-7 ' f:'hy;I:'-~~ ?1 ~ I! t,~·i~,l- Î~I-:-"-=-lt l1Î J~;!~n
0;:

~~ng it~ memb~rs~~I:e Jose~h Be~y~,J~hn Cag~,and ·Yoko Ono who explored media ranging from pelfOlmance aIt to
poetIy to experimental music. They took the stance of opposition to the ideas of tradition and professionalism in the arts of
their time, the Fluxus group shifted the emphasis {rom what an artist makes to the artist's ersonali ,actions, and 0 inions.
Throup;hollt the 19h08 (lnd '70s (their most (lëtive perio ,t ey 8t(lge (lchon" events, eng(lged in po ItlCS (ln pll . IC
Speal<Ing, ana pro<luceà sculpturai worKS ieatunng unconventlOnal materials. 1 neir ra<llCaüy untraàltlOnal orJ:Œ mciuded,
for exanlple, the video art of Nam June Paik and the performance art of Beuys. The often playful style ofFl xus artists led
to them being considered by some little more than a group ofpranksters in their early years. Fluxus has also been compared
to Dada lInd is seen as the stmting point of mail art.
~...~~:;~ ;:"V~~7i.l..I· Ü:; ~~ ~11~ 1- ~ü.~ü:; y~71v:i~ZLT.. ~\: jj~;:~~:; v7 ".:.:-Y~~~ ~\:~ï;~; · '. ; ...~~~:; û.~~;:; ~.~;:;~û.~~ ~-v~~ ~vv~ ~~;;-;"
happenings". Wh"'reas Happenings were meant to blm the lines between performer and audience, performan e and reality,
Fluxus performances were one-liners and sight gags, The performances sought to elevate the banal and disse ble the high

~~t;;.r:i~f:j~;ii~~s
music. ...V
~oo~ ~ rô~'~";..~~~ èJ~:,
Many artists have associated tl':temselves with Fluxus over the years, inc1uding: "\ '''''~
Ay-O
Joseph Beuys
(ff'Ol'/}f' Rt'f'(',ht
- - - - 0 - - - - - - --

Philip ComerPhilip (Lionel) Corner ( A,prillO, 1933-) is a composer as weil as trombonist, vocalist, and pianist. He has
been active in events with the name Fluxù1S since 1961, was a resident composer and musician with the Judson Dance
Theatre from 1962- 1964 and late
Henry FlyntHenry Flynt (born 1940) is a visullÙ artist, philosopher, violinist, and composer. Like La Monte Young he
st .ed with Pandit Pran Nath, Ile 1S especially c\011cerned .vith 10gîcal paradox and contradiction. Externallinks February
26:-1004 (3 hours) http://ww
Robert Filliou
1 en riatiïi Ken Friedman is a seminal figme in Fluxus, aIl' international experimental art, literature, and music
movement. He has a1so been involved with .. . He has , ..miten extensive1y about Fluxus and
Intermedia, and has edited several Fluxus pu
Al HansenAl Hansen ( 1927, New York City June 22 1995. Cologne, Crermany) was an American artist. He was the father
of Andy Warhol protege Bibbe Hansen and the grandfather and artistic memtor ofrock musician Beck. He was amember of
the FhlXl18 art movement and f.ri
Geoffrey Hendricks
Dick HigginsDick Higgins (born Cambridge, England 1938, died Quebec, Canada 1~98) was a poet and early Fluxus artist.
His most notable contributions include "Danger Music" scores and the use of the term rmt~mn..'trlia to de scribe the ineffable
inter-disci linary activiti
nua J l<.uuà Janssen 1..0. JUiy L'J, l'J''J) is a 1'1UXUS anà maii artÏst trom liîourg in the Netherianàs, K'JlUà Janssen
studied Physics and Mathematics. He became active with mail art in 1980 and did several international
From 1994 till 2001 he has c
Ray JohnsonRay Johnson ( 1927 1995) was an important post- Surrealism, pre- Pop artist. Johnson was also the
fOllndeï of the ~~e"w '(oïk Correspondance School, and theïefore the originatoï OC "_
di, ·p linary art form that uses the po
Ahson Knowles
Jackson Mac LowJackson Mac Low (born September 12, 1922) is an American poet. Mac Low is also a playwright,
musidan, painter, and performance artist, oftenjoined in performance by his wife, A!l.ne Tardo8. Mac LOW'8 work was
heavil ex erimental and he was an advocate of
George Maciunas Yoko Ono
Gustav Metzger Genesis P-Orridge
Larry Miller ", Nam June Paik
Dider ROt Ben PaHerson
Litsa Spathi Yasunao T one
Daniel Spoeni Ben Vautier
Wim T. Schippers Wolf Vostell
1LarûlCC ::Sctmccma:a....
La Monte Young
Q**>
T ^ ..^-==,-...^-r Tr!=.:"î. ecf i;ii i:ini;-.;e:tianf ,,!r;ii-f cnnfeitt.it;-.raiir ité.'laac le< ar.;éc< 1gf.fl nr:i tniirta iti'iitcii-.;le;-nanf

visuelsmaisaussila musiqueet la littérature.

À U en desannéescinquante,dejeunesartistes,influencéspar Dada,par I'enseignement de JohnCageet par la p
Zen, effectuèrentun ryinutieuxtravail de sapedescatégoriesde I'art par uû reje,tsysterratiquedesinstitaM '
notion qre cÎ'"*rt(T,emot "fuxr,s" signifieenlafin le fr.tx, le eor.trant),
La personnatltede LreorgeMacrunagse degagebrentotde ce groupe: c'estlul qul cholsltle nom tluxus en IvÔl
rédigele ManifesteFluxus.Il créeunegalerieen 1961et organisedesconcertsde musiquecontemporaine, ainsi
expositionsde sesamis(JohnCage,Dick Higginsou La MonteYoung)avantde s'installeren Allemagne.En se1
t962,1lorganisele premierconcertFluxus,le FluxusInternationaleFestspieleneuester Musik, q'uimarqueles r
u vvutJ uu |g vs y v ur v lr ! . ut v uwl uvù gl!@!rvJ s ûùtùtwJ s99 u Ir Y Wl tu r l v[Ù ù I o o ù vvr vu Ù vt u vu vvu Ù uolù vw l l v
J l Jl cu i

joyeuseet iconoclaste,l*espace dElïb€rtéqu'ilsrecherchaient.

Durantvingt ans,malgréles scissionset les exclusions,Fluxusresterafidèleà sonutopiede départ: par un hum$
dévastateuret provocant,faire liuéralementexploserles limites de la pratiqueartistique,abolir les frontièresenfre r
i.ni'icfn;i:'e :in liet; *é rttifif *r:fne f+rtr *+ lr r,-ie

Si ftu"us comptapar*i s"s *"*br." despersonnalités et variéesqueJosephBeuys,Nam JunePa.,

aussiprestigieuses
RobertFilliou, Yoko Ono,Dick Higgins,Wolf Vostell, CharlotteMoormann, BazouBrock,HenryFlynt, GeorgeBrecirt
[[MarcelAlocco], SergeGldenbourg(dit SergeIII), BenVautieq Ben Patterson,JeanDupuy,DanielSpoerri,Vytautas
L.andsbergis (ex-président dela R-épublique de 1990à 1992))il ne s'estpascontentéde li:niter soneristence
de I-.itr:anie
alr)(lrwes d'hrstolreset sapfatrque,nolune d'unereflexronprolondeet touJoursd'acnnllte,mrt preuved'uneenergresans
cesserenouvelée.Fluxus réécrità chaqueconcertsaproprehistoire et a certainementmarquéde soninfluence1espratiques
contemporaines.
Fluxusà Allemagnedansles annéessoixante[modifier]
u vu wwrl r l$agJ vt! uw v^lrwriwuwv tvuvtv vu varoYuv vvJvl t vu o Y* v l r w u vu ! sv vv !Av[u ! vo l u l a a ù r tr r r r l vu L . ! vvJwwlu s4

mùdvementFluxus étattd'avoirsurle publicun effet de compréhensionde la vie et de compénétration

aveccettedernière.
La complexitédesactionset desconcertsFluxus,la collaborationdenombreuxartistescommeNamJunePaik,Joseph
Beuys,Wolf Vostell et CharlotteMoorman,permettaitde créerdesinterprétationsprésentantune harmonieentreelles et
u----^ u ^ -. ^^- ^- - . : ^^ l t ^ =, : - +- - - 4
---2 ---^ - - ; j ^ - - l j ) '- ^ -l^

ir, .orrr.ar nf" ur o, ,ooi pur rio, ,"prrssion auditiveen rapportavecdestechnologiessonoresélaborées et parfaitement
accordées. Il n'existeaucunson grave précis,aucunson naturel
intermédiaire ou aigu comme le cristalpour créerun
équilibreacoustique. L'authenticitéincomparable detoutesles actionsdu mouvementFluxuset la passionet la force
d'innovationde sesarhstessr:pposère.nt unetransfbrmaliçnc;uirévolr:tionnal'apparencede 1'art.
uette evolutlonprovoqueepar le presentet onenteevers le nrnrra creela conscrence quetout rndrvrduest,en sol-meme,
uneeuvre d'art, et queI'ensembledela vie peutêtreappréhendé commeuneæuvred'art globale.Lescaractéristiques
spécifiques desconcertsFluxussontunepreuvequele principede causeà effetn'estplusvalableet quele chaosmarquela
réalité de sonsmpreinte.
v @o vw Ju rJ, lwù 4v lr v uJ I rssJ uvyuwur ovuu uvs vrlwlt tvw r vl vé tYe vJ w! ow r0 Jvvr vl vt v! vvl r ù r r l u vt ur
l ,JJvu vr vé tY* vJ

élémentde communication. L'atra d'excentricitédesartistesFluxuset deshappeningsétaittrèséloignéede touteinflusnss

propreau mondedela mode.
de l'expressionde la personnalité
De manièrelibre et autonome,Beuys,Vostell et Paik ont accédéà la condition demythesen Rhénanie,égalementgrâceau
l,a-.^l^--^*^-a l-- r,r.iÊairâf ^* cr:
.\i ^-
iili ^-^1-,^^
âiiâit\F 1^
it *--^L:
aaiÈia:ii- i-+-*^1--,-!
iaia-aaa-,r..rrt Aol-,-+ J--,,:- l-- ,.!:--.:,,-.^-'t:
. tt.tt ....,-,
--i.lL^ ---4-- --^:-'^-+^ -^-:^"-.
-.i.r..l,t "

or r p",rt igoo..r I'influencesoustoutls sesformesdu mouvementFluxus,deshappenings et Vidéo-art.La structureet les

mfens d'expressiondenombreuses Gurresd'art aujourd'huiexposées dansles galeries
sontsouventun hommage
involontairerenduaux pionniersqui, dansles annéessoixante,tavaillaient danscetterégion de la Rhénanieavecle
mor-rve,me.ûtFlr:xus,leshappeaings et les a,rtistes arlv.idéo-art.
4r-liseconsac.raient
tstaroLaunusouvrrtunegarened'art a uoiogneen ryô l, le JtadtrscneMuseumoe wresbaden, qlu presentata prenuere
manifestationofficielle du mouvementFluxus : FLUXUS, le FestivalInternationalde NouvellesMusiquesdu ler au 23
septernbre 1962.Enseptembre1963,Rolf J?ihrlinginauguraà V/uppertalla GalerieParnass. VatdisAbolins ouwit la
GalerieAachenà Aix-La-Chapelleen 1966.E,n1969,HelmutRywelskiet AngarNierhoft avecleur GalerieArt
,---^i:^ ;^ , .^;^*^
rrrùvarfrlgre s! vvavélw, yrgowulwrvu. rs ûv4rlraÉw gvlrvu v! vvrvu r\uillrluvr uv tr vra t vÙrvu , vrl Lt , v, dlé!

Baeckerouwit saGalerieBaeckerà Bochumet la GalerieRenéBlock à Berlin. Tousont soutenules artistesdehappening

et du mouvementFluxus,ont contribuéà leur renomméeet leur permirentde faire réalité cetteévolution de l'art dont
I'influence sefait encoresentiraujourd'hui.

k
k"t Muntadas
t^r4-+ ,!-- niie È.{;;itf*;l;c é!al-.nr-e <.riî i iîtêir*.'le ir;i;<aae i-né'4ia#nrra ÊîîiîFiîi.êî!âiîf ;:--e.'.rifiiiiie
^-- ^^.,-^ --*iéec <ni-,-*rie-.;!i-;

il,-"o*'-ai; ;"** fi",ffi ;; îr"ï'n"i àe";L.;ir"'"pe.,i* puriJo;"e

partir
dars desvidéos conçnesà d'émissions
dumontage/coltage de telévision,it (fustnrit tant f infumsion -Between
publicitaires
theLines(lg7g),WatchingthePress,ReadingtheTelevision(l9S?lque les slogans oupolitiqu€s,Media
Ëcolog;t A(h (t982), Political Arlventisem.enr(lç84).

desjeux depouvoirsà traversdesprojetset

A partir desannéesquatre-vingt,il poursuitsonenffeprisede démantèlement
installationsvidéo plus métaphoriques.
a-! -! ^ , ! - . - . - - , € { ; . p 6 1 p e i.:fa ::r é e l+ l:e iz* cli*ice q I'i rrqtrl !;ti nn T!;ç R i tn*4 R nn:i ; !l $R ?\, ær,rr.,4ri i i -i r,e r;!1e rl a ;' .^' nt;-i .!
^ -,^^ -^
d'administration dont les murs Sont couverts des portraits photographiquesde leadersreligieux influents. A I'emplacement
de leur bouche, h{untadasa inseré dcs mini-téléviseurs diffrrsant des images d'actualité" mettant ainsi en relief la relation
ambigùe qu'enfretiennentces leadersavec les sphèrespolitiques et économiques.
Le thémeàrr stade,rléveloppédansles différentesversionsde Stadium,qr.tis'éeheJonnent enfre 1989et 1992,h,li offre
i'occasiond'insister sur ie caractèredoubie que peut adopter, depuis sesorigines,ce rèceptacle ciesfoules, a Ia iois iieu de
distraction et de propagande.
Avec Between the Frames(1983-1994), Muntadaspasseau crible le monde de l'art contemporain.Cette bandevidéo de
plus de quatre heures, divisée en huit chapitres à visionner en continu, ou intégrée dans une installation intitulée Forum, est
t"*'-:L i__ .-*-*
'*1qa-1*;^'-e*- +' +
ÏEi *e' Er-uÈ-trqu-, E va ruo -;;--*
wrrûtluvJt
vuùùL8u!ù u urv rvrrv u wuuvltvliJ r rulv o r CÛ €C5:eÛËfro lr! ip-rrËr-i, 6flwarùtv5,

conservateurs,
collectionneurs, guides,enseignants... qui estinterrogéentant
C'estici " I'appareil" de I'art contemporain -tta

en
qu'intennédiaireentrel'artisteet le public maisaussi tant qu'instigatew de la valeurmarchande,symboliqueet
esthétiquedel'art.
r, ,^!!-r.l^-- 7n- r?:.tç Pri?înri.iîé<êlféeiti,::,-.!a Riatla!;.'!ef s;nn a aniani à ellp itni;i"+hètne1e i:en<l:i'e à 1'+ncn;ifi"e Ae'!';tl

Dùé unepiècesontempilésdescasiersmétalliquesentrelesquelss'intercalentdesmoniteursvidéoreliésà desbanquesde

de l'inventaire descasde
donnéesIntemet.La communicationainsi établiepermettraauvisiteur deprendreconnaissance
censureet ausside I'alimenter

rt m, #

EÉ.
ih

X}r*=#mUtimédia et desréseaux,il fut un despionniersdeI'Art vidéo(1967)puis du Net.art(1996)on lui doit aussila q

depresse" (Interventionssurles massmédias: Presseécrite,radio,TV, 1972). E
I patenritédes"expériences
E n.--.-*=,,= -{rÉ+--+ + !. Qni-hnnnc i.ri^.fÊs.êiir ,.n Q..ien,^es Jc lrinfnm':*tinii ef ,'le !a ...-.m;-,:ini.'afini: i! rrée eit lli';i:.^c ,;lès 1A4R

Uf.r ot"*i.r, àtiroooements'iiteractifs otitisat I'informatiqueet la vidéo, mais aussiil a su intégrerdanssa démarche
fax, radio, télévision,films vidéo, câble,journaux
ff uttirtiq" tous les supportsde communication: presseécrite,téléphone,
I lumineuxet électroniques, robotique,réseauxtélématiques et bien sûrtoutesles possibilitésdu web.FredForestestco-
[! fondaterrr de mor-ryements
eler.rx importants
a,rrisfiques : tr.rart
soçiologique (1974)et I'Esfhéfique dela çommrmieafi-rrn
S' lrvrs,l L'ensemDte de sonGuwe,touJoursen cours oe ceveioppement, a reJomt le patnmome natronal aunre du depot
légalen juillet 2005,sousformede conventionsignéeavecI'INA (InstitutNationalde I'Audiovisuel) I1 estle seulartiste
françaisvivant d'art contemporain,à cejour, à bénéficierd'un tel statut.
Le parcoursde FredForestestpourle moinsatypiquepuisqu'ilestd'abordcontrôleurdesPosteset télécommunications (de

D'abordpeinfte,puis dessinateur satiriquepourlesjournaaxC.ombatet LesEchos,dèsle milieu desannées1960,Fred

Forest orientesa pratique artistiquevers le champ des nouveauxmédias et destechnologiesde la communication.Pionnier
de I'art vidéoen France,il conçoitdès1968desenvironnements participatifs
et interactifsenutitsant desdispositifs
acrnci;nf iitfni-i-n*fi,.:iie .=t i;i,4én Tnrir à fn;ii' il infècre à <ec ,eii---i';< eî e,'#.^.n< !r r,i'escp ér'i.+e 7; ra.;lin le f;v te mini+el !e

æ.|i;;., i rm i"ritrrr'élecroniquer,iu ,ofotiqur,t., À"u,r* tàetoutlques, truitnteÂet

et aujour<l
"ra""rJrt,
En 1973 il réalise plusieurs actions spectaculairesdans le cadre de la Biennale de Sao-Pauloqui lui valent le Prix de la
communication et son a:restation par le régime militaire.
En octobre1974,ilfonde avec.Jean-Paul Thénctet He.wéFischerle Collectifd' Art sociolofrque(197a-!98Û),mouvement
ralsantl obJetc'unmamreste pub[e oansielournarLeMonrtelrv /4-rv tt). L'Art soclologlque seveutetreunepranque
qui emploiecertainesrnéthodesde la sociologie(enquêtes,documentair€s, etc.) afu de de façon critique les
questionner
rapportscomplexes€ntreârt$.atsûciétés.I1 s'agissaitpour ce collectif de détournerles modesde communicationet de
diffirsion de I'infonnation selonune méthodedela perturbation: renvoyerau speotateurune imagede son conditionnemenf
rv . -rrv r tsvtlwr I Jv r4lrlravlJ'rlg r9ù ,sv9149 W! O ù4r WÇA S! r!ëqu WTITYUV Vt WVs!Wù!g|,|lûV..
pqlrwrl,vr, PVrrVr

Ei*983, à Salerne(Italie) il crée en collaboration avec Mario Costa le Groupe Internstional de Recherchede l'Esthétique
de la Communication.Fred Forest publie le Manifeste de l'Esthétiquede la Communication et réalise un travail de thèsesur
I'Art sociologique et I'Esthétiquede la communication, dont la soutenance,en 1985, se voit transforméeen performance
ridén T .?nltiec#f ;les ite:.fni.rnan.^.ec / *,.tiniii .'le lïr'cd T?nrpsf <a;'if ;le i-nnmire:' e:t niini lec n.^.r:r;ellec te,'hnnlnaiet ila

,orÀ*i*ioo ,t t *r*irrioo a'ir,formationmodifientoot r rufport au réel,àia réalite,au tempset a f'trpu.., faisant

appelà desnotionstellesque: I'ubiquité,I'immédiateté, le tempsréel,lesréseaux,I'actionà distance.
Il estle fondateurdu webnetmuseum.org .Prix dela communication dela Biennalede SâoPaulo(1973),il a représenté la
Franceà la Bienna-le de Veniseet à la Documenta de Kassel (198?).
I1 s'est
v,: déce.rnerle " T.ase,r
d'or " au Festivaldes
Arts btectronlquesde Locafno, puls le Urand pnx de ia vttte de Locamo pour une æuvÏe mul.tlme(lladfifusee par K I Sl, la
Télévision Naticnate Suisseltalienne. En octobre 1996, il met en vente, en première mondiale, une Guvre numérique
Parcelle/Réseauàl'Hôtel Drouot. En septembre1998, il crée une installation spectaculaire,le Centre du Monde, qw
fonctionne en relation avec Internet, à l'Espace Pieffe Cardin de Paris. En mars 1999,1Ise marie sur lnternet avecI'afriste,
rv lJ' ruv lcysçu ltù vrwvut !! u r v t ù v {r v$ w u vr v ul uv r vu l l ! Yu l u w u v r vr fw l l v|l IÈt! olvv
f :.J, v! o v w! ! v vvvoorvtt l ,r vËr u r u u v

une sériede capteurs.En octobre2000,il réaliseà Parisla venteaux enchèressousforme d'un site lnternetune sériede
monochromes numériques. En décembre2005,il réaliseavecle BassMuseumde Miami dansle cadred'Art BaselMiami
Beachle premierhappeningplanétairesurIntemet.De mai àjuillet 2006le PaçodasArtesde SaoPauloconsacre une
-14----^+:-' À -^- é':ïiîê r)ri ? n;:fnhrc a:; !5 ,'léreml',re ?O$6 il nroenice ta Riennrle ,'Ie ltAtr ?OOO r:re l'iennale ;lternefi--'e

et..itique dela2ToBiennaleofficielle de SaoPaulo,implantéeeanste MAC (Muséed'Art Contemporain de SaoPaulo).

Ui*8iennale numerique,planétaire,participativeet démocratique,qui a pour supportI'espacevirtuel d'Internetet des
milliers d'internautescommeparticipants.Du3 février at 17mars2007la SloughtFoundationde Philadelphielui consacre
uneexnositionrétrospeetiveel la New Yor&-I-Iniversily,1a-Pennl*Iniversitve.tI'I-Inive.rsitédr-rCoonectieut,I'invitent à
donnerunesenede coruerences sur sonnouveauconceptc' ' Lbuvle-systeme rnvrslDle'. t a pratiqueartisuquece
détournementque Fred Forestmènedepuistoqiours constitueuneréflexion critique sur I'art, la communication,leurs
eodesnlernsfondementsidéologiques,symboliqlreset esthétiques',
r *:-^ * ; ^^ , - ^ ; ; ^ *r
!s ^ rurûv vI -ys
- -welr
- ; ^- v I uv r r- lr
- ^;
o!-r-!.4; -!^4 v r r ù , t r r t v s r u v r f

Fred Forestestégalementconnupour salutte cûntr-eJes

dysfonctionnements du systèmesinstitntionnetret du système
judiciaires
marchandde I'art contemporain,notammentpar les poursuites pour manquede transparence quantalrx
acquisitionscontrele CentreGeorgesPompidouà Paris,poursuitesentreprises dansles années1990.Professeur émériteen
s .^:--.^ =. . . 1-1t: - ç . ^ * - ç - - ^ . J- !^ .^ ^ .::' = - i.- :a tin ; à t' IIn ir;pr"ci térl el |Ti ce - S nnhi a A ;ti r.nl i < l l :'e.'l Frri 'ecf r as<;::'é ai: mi !i ei :

desannées1990t'n€ sériede séminairesà proposdesliensentreartset technologies.

Bibliographie[modifier]
10/18,UGE,Paris1977
Forest,Fred"Art Sociologique-vidéo",
Tin;ecf TreA' Pniii, it;;i.ai't,t,-lt;çt | 'nz'i,\ !'ho;ii.c r!'lntpt'iiet éA 1'Ifanrzaff;n Pqns IQQR

Forest, Fred: Fonctionnementset dysfanctionnementsde l'art conternporain: un procès pour I'exemple, éd. l'Harmattan,
2000
Forest, Fred: Repenserl'art et son enseignementàl'Hatmattan
 Art: ReverseAuthentificatlon 29lOIl09 16:oG
EJ4qeai"

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FlorianSchneider

BorderXing
Guide
Thisworkby HeathBunting
commentson the way in which
movementbetweenbordersis
restrictedby governmentsand
associated bureaucracies. View
documentation cf his 12 month
journeyacrossEurope.

Pôintof Entry,Partof BorderXing

Guide.Photgraph 2002
@HeathBunting

A coyote looks like a medium-sizeddog with a long, tapering muzzle,and erect

pointedears. lts thick coat is greyish,with reddishtinges to the legs and ears, and a
lighter-colouredbelly and neck. Among humans, coyotes have an ambiguous
reputation,being consideredon the one hand crafty, sly and cowardly,and on the other
tireless and highly adaptive.

To some the coyote epitomisesperfidy,to other$ it symbolisesimagination,

independenceand a poweffulwill to survive.NativeAmericansrevere the coyote as a
godhead; settlersonly see their livestockin danger, and denounce the coyote as evil.

In the border area between the United States and Mexico the term coyote also refers
to a very special type of human being: the traffickersin migrants,who for a fee offer
their knowledgeoFhow to 6ioss a state border without the usual paperwork.

In his project, EorderXingGuide, Heath Bunting plays the role of a coyote,or rather,a
virtual coyote,committedto the principleof open source. Bunting collectsborder
experiences,literallyso: for several months he has been walking across borders
between Europeancountriesin many kinds of location,includingforests,rivers,
mountainsand tunnels.He painstakingly documentsthe routeshe follows,and makes

h ttp :/ /www. t at e . o r g . uk / i n t e r m e di aa r t/e n tr y15 4 6 8 .sh tm P age I s ur 3

T ate l nt erm ediaA r t : R e v e r s eA u t h e n tifica tio n zgrclbrÇÇ

a detailedrecord of all his movements.

BorderXingGulde is thus a manual written on foot. The work's web interfacepromises

to providefull informationabout Bunting'sunofficialborder crossings.But in this case
'providing"has a very particularmeaning.lt goes far beyondmakinginformation
availableby just putting it online and waiting to see what happens.

A coyote wouldn't be a coyote and Bunting wouldn'tbe Bunting,if he were not always
a half-stepahead. ln BorderXingGuide, as in most of his works over the last few years
he treats his materialin an entirelypersonalway. For very practicalreasonsthe
presentationo1BorderXingGuide is based on a carefullycalculatedpoliticsof public
relations.

',"iiiî!fi,
,,,,ll,
l. ii

.i i
l:"

Guide.Photograph
AntiClimbFence,Partof BorderXing 2002
O HeathBunting

Anyone trying to access the website o1 lhe BorderXing Guide project is initially doomed
to disappointment,since there is no access for unauthorisedvisitors.Insteadthey are
given a fist of names and postal addressesof contactsworldwide.The BorderXing
Guide can be visited only from this growing but exclusivelist of 'social clients" who
have a static lP (lnternetProtocol)address and who, most notably,have gained the
artist's confidence.

Buntingtakes these things very seriously,and demands considerablepatienceand

understandingfrom the potential users of lhe BorderXing Guide, both for the fact that
they are being refused at the entranceand because they requirea certain appreciation
of how to preserve,develop and mutuallyshare a precariousknowledgewithout
compromisingthe projecl as a whole.

In the western world today the more easily ton"y and goods flow between nations,
lhe more those nationsclose their doors to border crossers,whether they are fleeing
persecutionor seeking,,achahge in their luck. Bunting'sBorderXingGuide
acknowledgesthis paradox,evokingthe everydayexperienceof illegal border crossers
in a processof reverseauthentification.

Suddenly,those visftinga gallery or museum website out of interestor curiosityfind

they have to prove their credentials.But this tactical recreationof a politicalrealityis
absolutelyreasonablein the circumstances:the knowledgeof how to cross borders
has to remain a secret until and unless there is a high degree of trust.

For some time awarenessof the issue of borders has been gainingcurrencyamong

http :/ / www. t at e . or g . uk / i n t e r m e di aa r t/e n tr y1 54 6 8 .sh tm P age2 s ur 3

Tret€;ln "*._redia Art: ReverseAuthe ntification 29l OLl O9 L6:OG

artists,curatorsand art institutions.There is a long traditionof US and Mexican artists

dealingwith the 2000-milelong border between the two nations.Dating from the early
1980s there is a whole history of border art that has addressedthe power relationsthat
structureinterculturalexchange.More recently,the border has become a metaphorin
debates,encompassinga variety of political,culturaland artisticapproaches,on how
societies_arechangingunder the pressuresof informalisationand globalisation.

On the face of it, BorderXingGuide systematicallyignoresthe current metaphoric

dimensionof borders.ln this extendedpersonalexperimenthe downgradestheir
blindingomnipresenceto the banalityof just crossinga line. Bunting in fact reverse
engineersthe metaphoricaloverloadof all the festivalsand exhibitionswhich are
nowadaysflirtingwith the ambiguityof borders,towards a very concreteand singular
practice.Although BorderXingGurdeobviouslydeals with the repeatabilityof each
crossing,no border crossing is like the one before and no crossing is the same as it
has been for somebodyelse.

Bordersare there to be crossed.Their significancebecomes obviousonly when they

are violated- and it says quite a lot about a society'spoliticaland social climate when
one sees what kind of border crossinga governmenttries to prevent.Up to now
Bunting has concentratedon Europe's internalborders.In the next phase of the project
he plans to extend lhe Borderfing Guide to its outer borders,where presumablyhe will
find much tighter controls.

Today, the nature of borders is shifting;what might be called borderlandis emerging.

just demarcationlines anymore, but are being reassignedto so-caltèd
.ders are not
'secure'or'transit' countries.Borders reach out along high-trafficlines such as
'tR-rrd',
interregionalhighwaysand other lransport links, and deep into inner cities. Entire
countrieshave become border areas.

As is the case in most political,social,and culturalareas, networktechnologieshave

replacedtraditionalforms of assertingauthorityon nationalborders.Checks now take
in real time. Chip cards, biometricsystems,and electronic
place practicallyevery-r,vhere
collars, regulateaccess to proprietary,privileged,or othenrise restrictedareas, and
collate images of human movementin giganticdatabases.The surveillanceof the
electronicallyequippedborder by means of heat, infrared;radar and satellite
technologyhas undergonea dramaticchange in significance.Today's borders are not
so much about racisl permissionand refusal of entry as about user profiling.The
ultimateaim of postmodernborder managemenlis above all the filteringof presumably
useful from non-usefulborder crossers.

But the borderlandis also a place where tacticstriumph over any strategy.In this
context Bunting'sBorderXingGurdehas the potentialto become a very helpfultool for
an increasingnumber of people:an electronicantidoteagainstany virtual or real border
,,___,ffie,
but gLlgjeclg a real coyote
><
lfiorian Schneide) is a filmmaker, writer and media activist, member of the collective @
ecfidîn€fuffi'/No One r's lllegal and co-organisorof the Crossthe Border campaign

http:/ / www. t at e . o r gu. k / i n t e r m e di a a r t/e n tr y1 54 6 8 .sh tm P age3 s ur 3

 tl
F Tate Intermedia Art: An Ornithology of Net Art ZgltLlas ls:54
4+

--

îÂît .Ur4tL
TATE
intermâdiâArl Horne Proûramr?'les Archive Padcasts Discussions Âbûut Subscribe

Art
lnlr;iln*Cia
t{ewMedia.SoundandPerformance

Viewâll NetArt fvents 3road."-r" tnte*l*s ,.**

An Ornithologyof Net Art 2006

Mark ïribe

TheArt of Sleep

Ëusïn*ïïhf
NetArt commission by Young-Hae
ChangHeavylndustries
Employing theirusualmixof
animaledblackand white
iypography, jazzymusicand humor,
the workexploresthe international
contemporaryart marketfromthe
artists'perspective.

THI N&&R
I
-'eust
o 2000theartists
Dôfi iÀêoooi,scËènsràouyvouNë-HnecnÂr.ronËÀWrrvousiniÈS .

One night in the spring of 2000, afier a long day of studio visits at an art school, I
opened my laptop and found a mysteriousemail in my in box" I clicked on a link, a
browserwindow opened,and giganlic black numbersflashed on screen,counting down
from ten, as an explosivepercussiontrack began to play. \Mat followedwas fu{
Down the Doors!, a 55-secondtext movie tellingthe story of a late-nightdomestic raid
l"'an unnamed authoritarianforce. I was stunned-neverbefore had I experiencedsuch
| /ynamic, emotionallypowerfulwork of art on a computer screen,let alone one that
had reachedme in a hotel room via a 56.6K modem.

Since then, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries-acollaborationbetween Young-Hae

Chang, a Koreanwoman, and Marc Voge, an American man, who live and work in
Seoul-have producedsome 35 works, all in more-or-lessthe same vein: iext--usually
bfack,sometimesred or blue--flasheson screen, synched to the rhythm of a iazz
soundtrack.The technologyis Flash,..atool for, gmong other things, creatingand
deliveringimages and anintationsvia the web. Using some fancy math (known as
vectors),Flash enables artistsand designersto pack a lot of graphic punch into tiny
packagesthat can be deliveredquickly over slow lnternet connections.Although Flash
can be used io do some very complexthings (see, for example,the work of Joshua ra e
Davis),Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industriesbarely scratch the surfaceof the
application'scapabêities.lrstead of exploitingFlash extensiuely,Young-Hae Chang
Heavy Industriesdefve intensivelyinto a small set of the application'sfeatures.Much
as BarnettNewman exploredthe virtuallylimitlessformal and expressivepossibilitiesof
vertical stripes of color on canvas,Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industriesplay with the
narrativepossibilitiesof animatedtext accompaniedby instrumentalmusic.

ln 2001, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industrieswon a Webby award in the art category.

5 2 7 4 .sh tm
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Tate In t ermediaA r t : A n O r n i t h o l o gyo f Ne t Ar t 2el0l/pJslr

On the jury, some arguedthat selectingYoung-HaeChang HeavyIndustrieswould

send the wrong messageto the art world, since their work does not exemplifysuch
distinctivefeaturesof the net art medium as interactivityor a
is arqumentderivesfrorh Clement Green view essence
in the use of characteristicmethodsof a lo criticizethe disciplineitself,
order to subvert it but in order lo entrenchit more firmly in its area of ?
Young-HaeChang "-I*c^JÂ
ifies of the historicaland relationaldynamicsof new

, without art-world intermediaries;collaborativeproduction;and

Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industriesfound their working method and signaturestyle

almost by accidentat a net art residencyin Brisbanewhere they had an opportunityto
learn and experimentwith Flash. Althoughtheir work has been installedin museum
gafleries, such as lhe Ameican Effecf show at the Whitney Museum of AmericanArt in
2003, their primaryvenue is a web site, Younq-Hae Chanq Heaw lndustriesPresents.
Both artists have worked as translators,and many of their projectsare availablein
multiplelanguages.In additionto English,there is Chinese, French,German, Korean,
Spanishand Swedish.Young-HaeChang Heavy Industries'workis globalart for an
internationalaudience.

Since 2000, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industrieshave been embracedby the art world
in a way that few new media artisls have. Indeed,the duo's work may be appreciated
more in the mainstreamart world than among new media aficionados.Perhapsthis is
because their work resemblesolder art forms, such as concretepoetry and
experimentalcinema, and because its emotionallyexpressivevoices and dynamic
visual qualitiescommunicateacross disciplinaryboundaries.But Young-Hae Chang
Heavy Industries'mainstreamsuccess may also have to do with somethingfar more
pragmatic.Unlike most net art, their work is user-friendly,even for those who find
computersalien and discomfiting:no small, hard-to-readtext, no huntingand clicking,
no decisionsto make, no forms to completeor files to upload.Works like Bust Down
the Doors! and The Aft of Sleepcapture one's attention,hold it for a short time, and
then come to a decisiveconclusion.They don't leave one wonderingif one has
exploredenough,or discoveredevery hidden link. To a time-starved,attention-
challengedaudience,Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industriesoffer concisenessand
captivatingclarity.

The mainstreamart world is, in fact, the subject of The Art of Sleep.Commissionedto
coincidewith Frieze,the hottest art fair at a particularlymarket-drivenmoment, The Aft
of S/eepfeaturesan insomniacnarralorwho ridiculesthe art world as "fancy-pants,
smart-aleck,self-anointedso-and-sos"and compares art to "the businessof religion:
it's pretty persuasion.lt's hocus-pocus.lt's a conspiracy."Our narratorreachesthis
conclusionvia a circuitousroute, a literal shaggy dog story in the form of a bedside
journal entry in which the sound of a barkingdog at night leads down a rabbit hole of
logical(and illogical)leaps:from the futility of the dog's barkingto the futility of
everything,the futility of art, art as the most futile of things, art as futility itself,the
"gold standardof futility".At this point, the narrativeshifts "from metaphorto materiality"
and, in the process,comes unhinged.In our narrator'swords, it "leaves the bakery."
Art no longer resemblesthe dog, "it is the dog... art is everything.Nof, art can be
anything.A fart is art! | kid you notl lt's Marcel Duchampall over again! lt's Airde
Pansl See?" What are we.to make.ofthis? i*

The Duchampiananswer to the question"What is art?" is that art is that which one
chooses to call art. Artness is.not a qualitythat things (pictures,stories,performances)
possess in and of themselves;it is a status fhat can be conferredupon absolutely
anything,even ân ampoule-of Parisianair. Art, in this sense, is a matter not of beauty,
or profundity,or crhsmanir,ip, but of context.

To call somethingart is, conversely,to recontextualizeit, to relate it to olher works of

art, both contemporaryand historical.When the Britishartist RichardLong created a
visible path by repeatedlyrelracinghis steps through the wildernessand said, "this is
an art work," he brought his action and its traces into dialoguewith, to name just two
examples,the work of Tehching (Sam) Hsieh and Robert Smithson.He said, in effect,

5 274 .sn tm
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I
I '\* Lev Manovich
/.ïH*tr,S** New Media,from Borges to HTMI-

Introductionto The New Media Reader,editedby Noah Wardrip-Fruinand Nick

Montfort. The MIT Press.2003.

New Media Field: a Short InstitutionalHistory

of New Media Readeris a milestonein the history a new field that,

The appearance
just a few yearsago, was somewhatof a cultural underground.Beforetaking up the
theoreticalchallengeof definingwhat new media actuallyis, as well as discussing
the particularcontributionsthis readermakesto answeringthis question,I would
like very briefly to sketchthe history of the field for the benefitof whosewho are
newcomersto it.
If we are to look at any moderncultural field sociologically,measuringits standing
by the numberand the importanceof cultural institutionsdevotedto it suchas
museumexhibitions,festivals,publications,conferences,and so on, we can say
that in the caseof new media (understoodas computer-based
artistic activities)it
took about ten yearsfor it to move from cultural periphery to the mainstream.
Although SIGGRAPH in the U.S. andArs Electronicain Austria havealready
actedas annualgatheringplacesof artistsworking with computerssincethe late
1970s,the new media field begin to take real shapeonly in the end of the 1980s.At
the end of the 1990snew institutionsdevotedto the productionand supportfor
new mediaart are foundedin Europe:ZKM in Karlsruhe(1989),New Media

Institutein Frankfurt (1990) and ISEA (Inter-Societyfor the ElectronicArts) in the

Netherlands (1990). (Jeffrey Shawwas appointedto be directorof the part of

ZK\[ focusedon visual mediawhile Frankfurt Institutewas headedby Peter
Weibel).In 1990as well, IntercommunicationCenterin Tokyo beginsits activities
k-

innew media art (it movesinto its own building in 1997).Throughoutthe 1990s,

lArt *oohy'J^od';r[ a.v+

gudt; y3^tt tuJi"b
7ûl ** Mdà ,s @
8/ ùùer,'lt""â;. nrolo'oltr.l a.hc'.litn "[ si;W JJr.Â,oin qrlF ltWffiSo^
r"nf\
 -r
-*?
' :../

with new "cool"spacesof bars,hotels,museums,and so on. Medievalmeetsmulti-

national,GaudymeetsDolceand Gabana,Mediterranean time meetslnternettime.
just walking
senseof energywhichone feelsphysically
The resultis the incredible
in my view the most
alongthe street.lt is this hybridenergy,whichcharacterizes
successfulculturalphenomenatoday.This bookthen is a systematicinvestigation
culturedrivenby this hybridaesthetics:the
of a particularsliceof contemporary
slicewherethe logicof digitalnetworkedcomputerintersectsthe numerouslogicsof
',,"be-l-J"
alreadyestablishedculturalforms.

In conclusionlet me offeryou a differentmetaphorto thinkwith aboutthis cultural.-,

slicewhichwe alsocall"newmedia."This metaphoris thatof "remix."I oftenlookat
A.ir*r, contemporary culturein termsof threekey processes- threediffirentkindsof
remixes.The first remixis what alreadyfor a few decadeswe refenedto as "post-
modernism"-the remixingof previousculturalcontentsand formswithina given
and fashion).The
mediaor culturalform (mostvisibletodayin music,architecture,
secondtype of remixingis that of nationalculturaltraditions,characters,and
both betweenthemselvesand also interactingwith a new
sensibilitiesintermingling
"globalinternatiohal" "Newmedia"
style.In short,this is the remixof "globalization."

,l then can be thoughtalongsidethesetwo typesof remixesas the thirdtype.lt is the

t.h.t,tt remixbetweenthe interfacesof variousculturalformsand the new software
\_,
techniques- in short,the remixbetweencultureand computers.lts culturallogicis
ullttc f
new not becausethis is "modernistnew"whichtriedto erasethe past- on the
contrary,it is new becauseof the scaleof the remixprocessat work, its speed,and
the componentsthemselvesinvolved.Someof the results,whichare being
Whilecomputeris a very
geneiated,are trivial,someare OK, and someare brilliant.
powerfulremixinstrument,what comesout from it is ultimatelyup to the creative
who are at the controlsof the computers- you.
individuals
 tol28

computermultimedia,computergames,CD-ROMs and DVD, Virtual Reality,and

,æ --
coTpyter-generate s all fall undernew media.Other cultural objects
which use computingfor productionand storagebut not for final distribution--
televisionprograms,featurefilms, magazines,books and other paper-based
publications,etc. - are not new media.
The problemswith tbis defin@ are three-fold.Firstly, it hasto be revised
every few years,as yet anotherpart of culturecomesto rely on computing
technologyfor distribution(for instance;the shift from analogto digital television;
the shift from film-basedto digital projectionof featurefilms in movie theatres;e-
books,and so on) Secondly,we may suspectthat eventuallymost forms of culture
will use computerdistribution,and thereforethe term "new media" definedin this
way will lose any specificity.Thirdly, this definition doesnot tell us anythingabout
distributionon the aestheticsof what is
the possibleeffectsof computer-based
being distributed.In otherwords, do Web sites,computermultimedia,computer
games,CD-ROMs and Virtual Reality all have somethingin commonbecausethey
are deliveredto the uservia a computer?Only if the answeris at leastpartial yes, it
makessenseto think aboutnew mediaas a useful theoreticalcategory.

, 3. New Media as Digital Data Controlledby Software.

K
The Languageof New Media is basedon the assumptionthat, in fact, all cultural
delivery do sharea
objectsthat rely on digital reprgsentationand computer-based
numberof commonqualities.f
ln t I aniculatea numberof principlesof ne
\tx,^!#
ry\rfi^eri\&Ê) modularity,automation,variability and
media:numericalrepresentation,
-".lrlo,,'i,hi,
a^rFor^al' , coding.IHo not cultural objectwill
computer-based
,.ræô*biti\t,-
necessarybe structuredaccordingto theseprinciplestoday.Rather,theseare
( tnrtnscoÀ"g.
tenlen4gs of a"cultureundergoingcomputerizationthat graduallywill manifest
themselvesmore and more. For instance,the principle of variability statesthat a
new media cultural object may'existin potentiallyinfinite different states.Today
tS exa$ples of variability are commercialWeb sitesprogrammedto customize
Wèb pagesfor every useras sheis accessingthe site particularuser,or DJs remixes
 ,.7

tu28

of alreadyexistingrecordings;tomorrow the principle of variability may also

l,l;ù< structurea digital film which will similarly exist in multiple versions.
I deducetheseprinciples,or tendencies,from the basicfact of digital
representationof media.New media is reducedto digital datathat can be
manipulatedby softwareas any other data.Thisallows automatingmany media
operations,to generatemultiple versionsof the sameobject,etc. For instance,once
an imageis representedas a matrix of numbers,it can be manipulatedor even
gegeratedautomaticallyby running variousalgorithms,suchas sharpen,blue,
colorize,changecontrast,etc.
More generally,extendingwhat I proposedin my book, I could say that two
/
I basicways in which computersmodelsreality - throughdatastructuresand
l-
alsorithms- can also be appliedto media onceit is representeddigitally. In other
I
\\\ words, given that new mediais digital datacontrolledby particular"cultural"
\\oftware, it make senseto think of any new media object in termsof particular data
\
ètructuresand/orparticularalgorithmsit embodies.aHere are the examplesof data
structures:an image can be thought of as a two-dimensionalarray(x. y), while a
movie can be thought of as a three-dimensionalarcay(x, y, t). Thinking about
digital mediain terms of algorithms,we discoverthat many of thesealgorithms
can be appliedto any media (suchas copy,cut, paste,compress,find, match)while
somestill retainmedia specificity.For instance,one can easily searchfor a
particulartext string in a text but not for a particularobject in an image.
Conversely,one can compositea numberof still or moving imagestogetherbut not
differenttexts.Thesedifferenceshaveto do with different semioticlogics of
different mediain our culture:for example,we are readyto readpracticallyany
imageor a compositeof imagesas being meaningful,while for a text string to be
meaningfulwe requirethat it obeysthe laws of grammar.On the other hand,
languagehas a,,prioridiscretestructure(a sentenceconsistsfrom words which

û,I 4I don't meantherethe actualdatastructuresand algorithmswhich may be

usedby particularsoftware- rather,I am thinking of them in more'abstract
rfay: what is the'structureof a cultural objectsand what kind of operationsit
enàblesfor the user.
 r4128

case,both metaphoricallyand literally, as a designerplaceshot spotsover an

existingimage) over an older representational convention.Another wjtyjg thin.k
aboutthis is to t
and fictional
managementis mixed with a techniqueof fictional representation
jarrationJ will use anotherexampleto illustratethe oppositeprocess:how a
and narrationis
cultural conventionnormally usedfor fictional representation
"superimposed"over softwaretechniquesof datamanagementand presentation.
The cultural conventionin this exampleis the mobile cameramodel borrowed
from cinema.In The Languageof New Media I analyzehow it becamea generic
interfaceusedto accessany type of data:

Originally developedas part of 3D computergraphicstechnologyfor such

applicationsas computer-aideddesign,flight simulatorsand computermovie
making, during the 1980'sand 1990'sthe cameramodel becameas much of an
interfaceconventionas scrollablewindows or cut and pasteoperations.It became
an acceptedway for interacting with any data which is representedin three
dimensi,ons- which, in a computerculture,meansliterally anythingand
everything:the resultsof a physicalsimulation,an architecturalsite, designof a
new molecule,statisticaldata,the structureof a computernetwork and so on. As
computercultureis graduallyspatiaÉzingall representations and experiences,they
becomesubjectedto the camera'sparticulargrammarof dataaccess.Zoom,t\lt,
pan and track: we now usetheseoperationsto interactwith dataspaces,models,
objectsand bodies.s

sum up: new mediatoday can be understoodas the mix betweenolder cultural (
\
accessand manipulationand newer
rventionsfor datarepresentation, \
accessand manipulation.The "old" dataare
representation,
of visual reality and humanexperience,i.e., i-ug.t, tt^t-buttd ald
representations
audio-visualnarratives- what we nonnally understandby "culture." T-s "ney"
data\isnumerical daTa.
As a restrltof th.i.smix, we get suchstrangehybrids as clickable"image-
maps,"navigablelandscapesof financialdata,QuickTime (which was def,nedas
the formât to representany time-baseddatabut which in practiceis used
icons - a kind of micro-movies.of
e4clusivelyfor digital video), ar-rimated
s ùanovich, The Languageof New Media, 80.
 15t28

computerculture- and so on.

As can be seen,this particularapproachto new media assumesthe existence
of histori icular aestheticsthat characterizesnew media,or "early new
media," today.(We may also call iiàe "aestheticsof early information culture.")
This aestheticsresultsfrom the convergenceof historically particularcultural
forces:alreadyexisting cultural conventionsand the conventionsof HCI.
Therefore,it could not have existedin the pastand it unlikely to stay without
changesfor a long time. But we can also definenew media in the oppositeway: as
specificaestheticfeatureswhich keepre-appearingat an early stageof deployment
of every new modernmedia and telecommunicationtechnologies.

5. New Media as the Aestheticsthat Accompaniesthe Early Stageof Every New

Modern Media and CommunicationTechnoloey.

Ratherthan reservingthe term new media to refer to the cultural usesof current
network technologies,someauthorshave suggested
computerand computer-based
that every modernmedia and telecommunicationtechnologypassesthroughits
"new media stage."In other words, at somepoint photography,telephone,cinema,
televisioneachwere "new media." This perspectiveredirectsour researchefforts:
ratherthan trying to identity what is unique aboutdigital computersfunctioning as
mediacreation,mediadistributionand telecommunicationdevices,rwemay instead
look for certainaesthetictechniquesand ideologicaltropeswhich accompanyevery
new modernmedia and telecommunicationtechnologyat the initial stageof its
introductionand dissemination.Here are afew examplesof suchideologicaltropes:
new technologywill allow for "better democracy;it will give us a betteraccessto
the "real" (by offering "more immediacy" and/orthe possibility "to representwhat
it will contributeto "the erosionof moral
beforecould not be reptresented");
values";it will destroythe "natural relationshipbetweenhumansand the world" by
"eliminating the distance"betweenthe observerand the observed.
And hereare two examplesof aestheticstrategiesthat seemto often
k-

accompanythe appearanceof a new media and telecommunicationtechnology(not

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Af ekst€rn lektor og anmetder Àndreas Brogger l::,:::|: ::t',i:::1:::i.t t tS:i::t-1:,;r't:ii:,iIti'j'\:*i"j

I. l . - r i ::::j 'j î . , i -
::f iillii;i
ia:T.ir:t-:ïr 3i.ct'i,ii I l:,:r:. :i:**
Den folgende tekrt er et uddrâg af en artikel om nett€Ës rotte og betydning i
fra midt i 1990erne og frem til i dag. Den it, t'..j+ â.1::t;'.:.:a'I lf ii*tl i: .. lf ti.r ra-ti
danske kunstsammenheenge
endelige ârtikel vit optræde i en antologien Yi elsker din computer, der er i{.'{..,:r,t:11 ail+',.1:v,r 1il. I tl::riti. i,::iiial'.?:l
lii tt ,:r!. 1lil..r':5l:,çe :; l;i:,ili *-trlii1li:l si
under udgivelse pâ Det kgl. dan:ke Kunstakademi (red, Jacob Lillemose) med
:. ..: li
tekstÊr af danske og int€rnationale kunstnere og teoretikere om netkunst.

Netkunsten er ligesom det medium, den er udsprunget af, et internationalt

fænomen. Dens udsvende kunstnere og de mange kritikere og teoretikere, der
er vokset {rem sammen med netkunsten, kommer fra vidt forskellige steder:
Slovenien, Sydkorea, Hottand, ililexico, England, Rustand,USA,Brasitien,
Nettet som foresti llingsrum
Tyskland, Austratien, osv. Ja, rnan kan i princippet hævde, at begreber sôm IN?TRNITTTT
OVTRSIST'
Kunsten og de nye medier nationâtitet og kulturette tilhorsforhold er mindre relevante i forhold tiFen
kunst, der skabestil, distribueres og modtages via det gtobâle netværl#Àlen t{âYD:TIITET
For en lss subjektivitet er alle
naturtigvis er dette i sidste ende en abstraktion, idet bàde netkunstens *ulrsïr:{ râA t{uN3ï*g\9
medier lige gyldige
afsendere og modtâgerÈ befinder sig pâ bestemte (eventuelt skiftende)
Nettet som alternâtive space lokatiteter, er underlagt forskellige tekndtogiske begrænsningerog er vokset op r*a$* *YilÂà{t
i kulturer, der har sat deres præg pà derr-ogsâ for nettets udbredetse.
Lr*rR - lliTrR$g?Trï
lvlenhvordan kan man gribe en korttægning af netop den DANSKEnetkunst an, hvis man onsker - pâ god kunsthistorisk vis
- ât medtænke den ku[turelte kontekt, kunsten er udsprunget af? Giver det mening at afgreenseen særtig DANSK TE?IEEgTlIt
netkunst, nâr denne form for kunst i princippet attid alterede optraeder pà en gtobal scene? Endeliger det hôjst relevant #10 LiY,Kropog Teknologi
ât spsrge, om det overhovedet giver mening at tate om "netkunst" som et mediespecifikt fænomen i dansk #9 NyeOffentligheder
sammenhæng?Fà danske kuilstnere (om nogen) kunne vel finde pâ'at beskrive sig selv som "netkunstnere" i den #8 Kapitâlismeog Humanisme
forstand, som internationale netpionerer har gjort det under betggnelsen net.art - det er simpelthen for snæver en #7 Tyrkiët
stiltingsbetegnelsei dansksammenhæng. #6 Kritik
#5 tnternettet
gav mening i
lMit indtryk er, at nettet i reglen blev inddrâget i kunstneriskesammenhængei den udstrækiling det nu #4 De intellektuella
tit alterede ekisterende diskurser og praksisserpà den danske kunstscen€. Kunsten pà nettet udviklêde sig netop
forhotd #3 ArbejûiiY
lkke i isotation fra denne scene, som titfældet har været for dele af den internationale net.art. Det gor ikke den danske
#2 Terrorisme
fnetbaserede kunst mlndr€ interessânt, snarere wærtimod!
L #1 Dannelse
En anatyseaf den danske netbaserede kunst med et parattelt kunstkritisk btik pà den internationale nef.drf (og
efterfotgende opblsdning til "netkunst" etter "webkunst") kan tydetiggore, at man herhjemme har vaeret ganske tidligt
ude med kunstneriske eksperimenter pà nettet. Her tænker jeg for eksempet pà Artsp@ce{senere Arhode}, der kom
frem næsten sâmtidig med det amerikanske adoweb {grundtagt af Benjamin Weil og John Borthwick i efteràret 1994. Pà
Artnode og et site som afsnitp.dk finder man projekter, der tiltige holder et hajt niveau màlt med den netbaserede
kunsts globale màlestok,

Nettet fungerer langt hen ad vejen som den danske 1990er-kunstsforlængede virtuelle arm, der rækker ud i nye
'-'ntekster,
herunder internationale, men det er samtidig en gestus, der er præget af kunstscenensformetle og
tendenser.
---ndholdsmæssige

Denne art'iket betyser gennem en række nedstag i værker, udstiltingssteder og tekster, hvordan nettet btev inddraget i
forskellige sammenhængepà den danske kunstscene i 1990erne. Artiklen, der bestemt ikke dækker fettet
fyldestgorende, placerer:ig sâtedes - imeltem to yderpoter. Pâ den ene side har vi fænomenet "kunst pà nettet", der
opstâr nâr museerne scanner deres kunstsamlingog taeggerden ud pâ nettet som var der tale om et virtuelt katalog, og
pà den anden side er der den mediespecifikke "netkunsti', kunst der forholder sig formelt elter indholdsmæssigttil
mediet, og ofte kun kan eksistere her (og netop ikke i en traditionel museal samling). Mettem disse to poter finder man
pâ 1990ernesdanske kunstsceneen række initiativer, hvor nettet optræder i museâte sammenhaenge(Ârtnodes t0Û
tegninget pâ Kobberstikamlingen og tJser's Glub pâ stateTb À,tuseumfor Kunst) og hvor nett€ts specifikke teknologiske,
æstetiske og bredere kutturetle omstændigheder afsoges, men ikke nodvendigvisud fra en tilgang elter overbevisning,
der adskitler sig væsentligt fra den sâmtidige ikke-netbaserede kunst. Iil

il TIr ?gr I

b NrrrrT sûM roR[sTttt!i{ûga*s

I f "l think new technolffis creatJl new structurà of thinking. As a matterbf fact, this new structure of thinking does not
I manOatoryexpress itself through these technotogies. Internet does not give rise to ârtists who use Internet. lnternet
I
r creates new possibilities iri our consciousness.New technologies penetrate art. This is an ilstrument which gives
I
opportunity to do somethingdifferent"
I
I Ni c ot a: B ou r r i a u d f i i l
l-r
Da nettet for alvor var brudt igennem midt i 1990erne fik det hurtigt en praktisk funktion pà den danske kunstscenesom
en ny muttimedial kanat for formidling a{ kunst cg kunstrelateretmateriale. Nettet blev ogsàgenstandfor en

h ttp:i /www. t urb ul en s .n e t / t em a er / i n ter n e tte t/d u nsten fr a kun ste n /wor ldw i dew ebogdendanskekunstscene/ P age I s ur 4
 T u rb u lens 2elÊr4l

Yb
6 rr X-me dies pec if i k u d f o r s k r i n g ( : e f .e ks.Attsp @ ce - yo le kte r n e fr a lg g 5 o gfrempâA {tnadesw ebsi te,desenereproi ekterpà
v' websitet Afsnitp.dk elter afsogningenaf mediet pâ Stedet3.dk, et site stottet âf Statens Kunstfond). iiiil Disseto u,r,!rù É "JeF i
grundtæggendedimensioner kan kun i teorien adskilles, de fieste værker og projekter indeholder begge. Her skat det
primært belyses, hvordan nettet (og forestillingerne om det) pà forskettige planer interagerede med den selvforstâetse
frir*o-* %n-
ag de udviklingsretninger, der kendetegnede særtigt den fremspirende, unge kunstscene i Kobenhavnmidt i 1990errie.
Her taenker jeg pà de mange undergrundsgatlerierog nye konsteltationer af unge kunstnere, hvis tidstypiske idegrundlag
syntes hsjst kornpàiibett med det ligetedes fremvokende warld wide web. ldegrundlaget var pâ ingen màde en direkte
fotge af riettet eller âf datidens cyberd'iskurser{ftere af gallerierne og konstetlatioterne opstod for sidstnaevnteblev
udbredt), rneil nettet spillede uden tvivl en rolle som inspirationskilde cg som ideotogisk rygststte for nogle af de
initiativer' der btev sasat midt i 1990erne. Nettet forstærkede farnemmelsen af, at noget nyt var ved at bryde frem, at
man var pâ rette spor, og det nye medium blev uden tvivl betragtet som er form for attieretl Nettet var el frirum, et
territorium der endnu ikke var korttagt, hvor hvem som helst kunne fà sig et slykke land og opbygge en hjemmeside. <XPO
Nettet var rhizomatisk og var sâleder et immaterielt og dog reelt eksempe[ pà, at en pluratistisk og ikke - hierarkisk
verden kunne etâbteressôm alternativ til de eksisterendemâgtforhold.Man kunne tave sin egen parallellescene,
riojagtigt som de unge kunstnere og kuratorer gjorde det i begyndelsenog midten af 1990e199,,!

Denne tendens kan spores titbage til koilstetlationer og udstiltingssteder som Baghu:et {startet i 1987 af Peter Rôsselog
Peter Holst Hencket), gruppen Koncern {Jan 3âcktund, Jorgen Michaelsen,Soren Andreâsen og Jakob Jakcbsen] og
Galleri CampbeltsOccasionty,der blev startet op af Jakob Kolding og Nicolai Waltneli begyndelsenaf l990erne. Onsket
. om at €tablere steder, der ikke var undertagt de normale kriterier for at opnâ synlighed pâ kunstscenen, og hetter ikke

yngre kunstnere, udstillingsrækken Black 8ox arrangeret af Globe i sommeren 1993, etableringen af Galleri Nicotai
Watlner i 5t. Kongensgâdei efterâfet 1993. Samme âr àbnede det kunstnerdrevne Max Mundusog i àrene umiddelbart
efter futgte bt.a. Saga Basementog "Udstillingsstedet" i Nsrre Farimagsgade(senere N55). Her kunne kunltneret der
endnu ikke var færdiguddannet pà Kunstakademiet irfobenhavn, udstitle sammen med medstuderende og
ândsbestægtededaûske og internationale kunstnereuer vâr tate om netværker, der gerne forstod sig selv som
selvorganiserendeog uafhængige a{ de ekisterende magtstrukturer, uden dog nodvendigvis at vaere i direkte opposition
hertil (at âgere traditionet avantgarde var for attmod'isch).Sceneneksisterede i egen setvforstâelse - og pâ
netværkagtig vis - parallelt med den "gamle kunstscene" bestâende af kunstnersgnmenslutninger, gallerier og museer,
der ikke uden videre var tit sinds at give h€lt unge kunstnere en ptads i rarnpetysef lsær den elektroniske musiksceneog
dj-figuren udgjorde et forbillede tor kunstens undergrund, og fænomenerne smeltlededa ogsâ i ftere tilfætde sâmmen,
nàr fredag aften bod pà ftere og flere vernisseringer,der blev mere og rnere cluô-agtige. Kulmination pà denne
subkulturelle konvergensvar uden tvivl den storstitede, Cartsberg- og Kutturby96-ststtede {men selverktærede
undergrundsevent) update i Turbinehallerne i 1996. Det fsrer tor vidt hef ât komme ind pâ dette projekt. der lsb i mere
z{Ù end en màned, Utoi?âffit med seertigtaje for nettet nævûes, at updats ogsâ bod pâ netadgang, webprojekter og et
bibtiotek, hvis formâl ifotge arrangarerne var "at stille spargsmàtyed de eksisterende bibtioteksm$tter, og ât prave at
Jùwlu nlT,.lt"'(
udforme en alternâtiv struktur der stemmer bedre overens med nutidige medier og tanker". fivl I
.. lt rlt rsr l

x.uilsïâr.i
*û *{ NYsÀÂ;*tËR
at sige,ât fra midtenaf 199ûerne
Deter fristende etlerkultureteventmedr€spekt
starreudstilling
skulleenhver for sig
selv have mindst en pc stâende et sted med netâdgâûg og/etler titbyde et kata[og med tilhorende materiale pâ video,
ftoppydisk etler CD-ROM.{vl De nye medier var et plus} setvom de endnu kun var i færd med at blive udforsket
kunstnerisk, endsige havde vundet accept pà den etablerede kunstscenesom kunst i sig selv.

,i4entalitetshistariskbegyndte nettet for alvor at tone frem atlerede med diskussionerneomkring "virtual reality" og
"cyberspace" i begyndetsenaf 1990erne, altsâ for "cyberspace" blev tit "world wide web". Kunstkritikeren AÊders
$lichetsen skrev jævntigt herom i Weekend-avîsen,hvcr han rapporterede fra mediekunstfestivaller rundt omkring i
verden og lavede interviews med teoretikere og kunstnere som Roy Ascott, Norbert Botz og SaskiaSassen.Michelsens
brede perspektiv pâ den fagre nye digitale verden, hvor kommercialisering, kaosteori, krops- og konsproblematikker,
samt postkotoniate perspektiver optràdte side om side med cyberutopjsrne rg teknokritik, var et godt tegn pà, at nettet
ikke kGîæèe-hR€'ETEa-d?en danske kunstsceneuden en vis kritisk stil{ingtagen.

Selvom nettet fremstod som et afgorende nyt og spændende medium i overgangsperioden1993-1994, hvor BB5'er bl.ev
til hjemmesider og tekstinput blev tit multimediebaseret browsing, skal man ikke gtemme, at det var i slutnjngen af
l980erne og i begyndelsenaf'1990erne, at den pe$ontige romputer for alvor blev udbredt i danske hjem. Fsr hypertinks
pà nettet kom sàledes hyperlinks i muttimediesoftware pâ PCen. Computerkunst og CD-ROM-kunst(sôm man akkurat
nâede at betragte som et nyt kunstnerisk medium inden nettet kom til) optrâdte fôr netkunst, og de tidlige
eksperimenter pâ nettet bsr derfor ogsâ sesi retation ti1 den digitate mediekunst, som et ti[e antal danske kunstnere
hâvde udtsrt i begyndelsenaf'1990erne, | 1993 viste Niels Bonde for eksempet sine "Recovered Files" - afbildninger af
filer som Bonde havde he*tet op af folks virtuelte skraldespande- pâ en udstitting hos Galerie Nicotai Wallner, som blev
nysgerrigt anmeldt i de fleste danske dagbtade under overskrifter som "Hacking som billedkunst", "Computerens
underbevidsthed" og "Skærmbilleder" trnan diskuterede pâ det tidspunK gerne forsketten mellem computerbitledets
æstetik og de svrige bittedmedier). Inden det mest markante site for netbaseret kunst og kunstformidting, nemlig
Artnode, gik i luften i 1995, hâvde tre af sitets grundtæggere - Niels Bonde, MogensJacobsenog Kim Borreby - ârbejdet
med lignende problemstit(inger under overskriften Hrgh Dersify, mens andre âf sitets medlemmer - Christian fleide,
Nikotaj Recke og Martin Pingel - etâblerede udstillingsstedet Arfsp@cep:r nettet i sommeren 1995. Det er værd at
huske, at CD-ROM-medietvar i futdt vigor pâ kunstscenenfor og ogsâparattelt med nettet (der endnu var hæmmet af
lângsomme tetefonforbindetser og endnu var uden Flûsh), og skal man beskaeftigesig med datidens eksperimenter med
interaktive fortættefôher, sà g-ver det ikke mehfng at begrænsesig tit enten CD-ROMetler netbaserede værker. selvom
de naturtigvis i flere heRseenderer forskellige medier.
II TT! Tl F I

$*q g* t*s sr.J*JË9{T}v:TilT xR ÂtL{ sË*t[* t-:*r *YL*tûg

5elvom der vâr meget hype omkring nettet som nyt medium, sâ stred en udpræget fokusering pà det nye medium i sig
setv mod €n fremherekende tendens pà kunstscenentil at betragte alte medier som lige gytdige. Man forsogte kort sâgt
ikke at q6re karriere som enten "mater, "fotograf" eller "bitledhugger", men benyttede sig gÊrne af flere forske[ige

h ttp :/ /www. t urb ul en s . n e t / t e ma er / in te r n e tte t/d u n sten fr a kun ste n/wo r ld w i dew ebogdendanskekunstscene/ P age2 s ur 4
Tu;bçlens 29l 0l l O9 L5:L7

medier.
Den pluralistiske indstjtling til de enkelte kunstneriske medier var selvsagt ikke kompatibet med den overdrevne
fokusering pà nettet som specrtkf medium, der kunne iâgttâges internationâlt med den snævre, samtidige îet.art-
bevægetsehos btandt andre Vuk Cosic, Atexei Shutgin og Otia Lialina. Selv.Arfnode, der kan siges at figge tættest pâ
dette internationale fænomen i kraft af især medlemmernes indsigt og interesse i netlgts-gæ-lgBlglggi:8ggg ,U*,li,hLiÀ*-tth'
kultureltefâcefter, opererede ud fra tidens pt{i4!!:!!:!g.j@!Sgi. Som man kunne læse i en pressetekst fra mârts 1996 i lu
anlêdîiË-g
--<.' 5f en df gruppens forste aktiviteter, en præsentation af video og netbaserede værker af skandinaviske
kunstnere oâ Smartshow i Stockholm:

"Artnode.dk has chosento presenta ùdeo show with Danishand foreign artists with whom artnode.dk coltaborates.
From the start artnode.dk has found it important to cotlâborate with ârtists who have the capacity to work in several
different set-ups, therefore the presentation format in stockhûlm is not computerbased, but video. The many different
set-up5 that pictoriat ârt has to its disposal now each hold their own characteristic expressive range, white none of them
can presumeprimary status."

Dette er kârakteristisk midt-1990er-retorik fra en kunstscene, hvor man i stedet for àfgrænsning og speciatiseringtagde
vægt pâ udveksling, processerog ftydende grænser. I kraft af sin immaterialitet og flygtighed var nettet kompatibett
med disse præferencer- Nikotaj Recke og Martin Pinget gik begge pà Kunstakademiet i Ksb€nhavnog frekventerede som
sâ mange arldre studerende i lobet af deres studietid bâde en materskole etter billedhuggerskole og sà den nye
medieskole, der forsogvis var blev€t oprettet i 1989, og i 1994 btev permanent etableret med sin fËrste professor,
kunstneren Torben Christensen. Her havde man i modsætning til de andre skoter tidtigt netadgang og udforskede
mulighederne i det nye medium, men netop i relation tit den eksisterende praksis, hvor videokunst jo i sig selv endnu var
et nyt up-and-and- coming medjum. Pà mediekunstskolenog flere af de nye udst'illingsstederetablerede rnan videoarkiver
og âfhotdt fo.evisningsrækker med videoværker af kunstnere fra pericden, ekempelvis den fire dogn lange Sociat ùdeo i
sommeren 1994 arrangeret af Udstitlingstedet i gatleriets vindue ud til Nsrre Farimagsgadeetter (for nu ât tage et
eksempet i den anden ende af den institutionelle skala) Elektroniske understrsmme arrangeret af Torben Christensenog
Lars Movin pà Statens Museumfor Xunst i 1996.

Ogsâ pà andre niveauer var der en vis overlapning metlem brugen af nettet og andre medier. Mulighedenfor setv at
prpducere og distribuere indhold pâ nettei gik sâtedes i princ'ipp€t tint i hak med optagetheden af den persontige
aring og det subjektive vidnesbyrd herom, der var sà udbredt pâ den unge kunstscene midt i 1990erne bâde i
Ynmark og internat'ionatt. De fleste kunstnere var naturligvis bevidste om, at tysten tit at pâtage sig identiteter og
anbringe jeget i forsketlige sociale sammenhængekunne fâ frie tojler i cyberspace, hvor afsendere og modtagere kunne
operere under anynomitet og pâtagede identiteter. Men hvor mange kunstnere benyttede sig af personlige, umiddelbare
og simple udtryksmidter, sâsom hàndskrevnetekststykker, snâpshots,hàndhotdt video og hverdagsgenstande- en trqsi-
og ekspressivhverdagsæstetik var fremherskende pâ datidens udstillinger - vatgte de fteste dog at lade professionetle
webarbejdere (sàsomfotkene bag /rtnode) stà for produktion og distribution af deres bidrag pà nettet.
fi ?tn TgF I

NrTTfi sûÀ,!.4i TË'ÊÀrA rJvg SPécr

Nettet repræsenterede ogsâ en mulighed for at distribuere kunst og ikke mindst formidle viden herom uden at skulle
bekymre sig om trykkeomkostninger og optâg, avanceret redigedngsudstyr eller distribution ùa ekisterende medier. Det
var et af udgangspunkternebag Ârfsp@ce(der som nævnt blev tia Artnodel, hvor man (mêdlproducerede og hostede
projekter som <inserrs>- 67 kvindelige kunstnere i Danmark i 1997 (red. Sanne Kofod Otsen, SusanHinnum og Malene
€r
Landgreen). ldee *inserti>, der egentlig skulle have vaeret udgivêt i bogform, var at gsre opmærksom pà
ulighedsforhold i dansk kunst, nemiig underrepræsentationen af kvindelige kunstnere. I Artnode fandt projektet €t
"udstillingssted" etter "digitalt tidsskrift", der ifotge redaktsrerne var ideelt i forhotd til projektets idegrundlag. I tràd
med den unge kunstscenesjust-do-it-yoursef tankegang pàbegyndte man med "ifferts' en egen dokumentation af
kvindelige kunstneres aktiviteter, og nærede et hâb om at projektet til stadighed kunne udvides og ændre karakter, helt
i tràd med datidens kontekstuelte bevidsthed og mediets rnulighed for lsbende opdatering.

.Denneide om nettet som forum for alternativ oe fri udveklins af information hotdt i hvert fald àrtiet ud, og en ênden
t, Annette Etgaard,Hanne-Louise
v,rannesen, Stinne Bo Schm'idtog Utrikke Vind). Omsfif{fng var et udstillingsprojekt med deltagetse af skandinaviske
kunstnere, der havde fàet til opgave at bidrage med stedsspecifikke cg variable værker, dêr skulle rejse til fire
forskellige udstitlingssteder i Norden. Pâ hvert sted skutle kunstnerne i princippet nytænke og pâny titrettelægge deres
bidrag. Med kuratorernes egne ord: "Omstitting er et kunstprojekT, et koncept og en prakis; en bevægelse og en
udviktingshistorie; et spejl, en diatog, et netværk og et atternativ." Det virkede derfor optagt at kobte
udstittingsprojektet tit det variabte og ftygtige medium par excellence, nemlig nettet, og der blev sat en sàkatdt net-
stàfet i gâng parattett med udstiltingsrækken. Her bidrog en række skribenter efter tur med indlæg af forskellig art:

"NET-sTAFETTINer et dynamisk forum, der hele tiden producerer ôg f6jer nye tekter og dermed betydninger til
OMSTILLING. OMSTILLING tematiserer'det onstittelige vætk' og tidens generelle oplevetse af ftygtighed; den relativering
af grænser og sandheder som vi àlte tit dagtig ôplever og pàvirkes af. Da synsvink[enpà omstillings-temâet selvfstgetig
ogsà skat være omskiftelig og ftekibet, har vi inviteret skribenter med forskellig titgang til sàvel omstiltingssituationen
som kunstbegrebet. NfT-STAFETTENer pga. sin fleksibititet og rilgængelighed et perfekt katalog tit OMSTILLING.Under
OMSTILLINGs rejse kan der hele tiden inviteres nye skribenter sà den pàgaetdendeudstitting het€ tiden êfspejtes'i Net-
Kataloget".

(f ra http: / lwww.omff*ing - netstâfet.dk)

S*colroolcçl.L'l'

"Without âny euforic Utopiânism we regard the Internet simply as â medium for communjcation. lts orrly real potential is
a: a space for ârt to avoid being objects & to b€ a p.actice tnstead. The art work has to be a commodity of commerce to

http: / /www.tu rbu lens.net/temae r/ i nternettet/ du n stenfraku nsten /worldwidewe bogdendanskekunstscene/ P age3 s ur 4
T u rb ulens 29/C.1,t09 1y"-1.7

be distinctively ân gbject. ls art not à commodity it cannot be fetichized, can art not be fetichized it cannot
distinctively be art {in other worets,it becomes a procegs}. [...]But tike any other information piece here the art work is
not the corr,nodity in the cyberspace of telecommunication technotogy. To enter cyberspace you have to buy yourself
access."

(fra http: I /www.artnode.dk/text/text-dk/kornum-m1.htmt)

il q
Ensretnirigi form af censur og kommercialisedng 1â som truende understromme parallelt med ât nettet muliggjorde 1og I \
mutiggeri fri udveksting med relativt tâve produkt;ons- og distributionsomkostninger. Supeflex' Proiekt SupercÀanne!-t r'
btev etableret med kulturministeriel stgtte og sendte for forste gang fra udstillingsstedet 1.v.i 1999. ldeen var at
demokratisere adgangen til tv-med;et bl.a. ved distribution vja nettet, at eliminere forskelten mellem producent ag
bruger, og at bringe mediet ud i en række atternative sociale kontekster. Superchannetbestàr i 2005 af 33 kanater o. S"?'-TLX
forde{t pâ forsketlige lande og Superftex kan i nærværende sammenhængfremhæves som endnu et eksempel pà, at
nettet blev brugt som en btandïTlffiirenge, som kunsten i 199ûerne spittede pâ (jf. gruppels vidt forskellige, men
ideologisk bestasgtedeproiekter on- og offline).

I et projekt fra 2000 tog Niets ûonde putsen pà denne udvikting, hvor nettet ikke kun havde karakter af et frirum, men
ogsà tenderede mod forsketlige [ukninger:

More and more peopte go to f€wer and fewer websites. The tendency on the WWW cf more and more concentration of
vaffic has become clear. The top 10 websites are estimated to be getting between 2't,and 32 percent of the surfers
âttention, august 1999. lt is cruciat to get the attention ûf the user,and ke€p it. Sû here we are, fighting for attention,
trying to infuse the media with content, and expand the possibilities"

(fra Niels Bonde: Hrgfi Density - flowcharts & diagramsl

To be continued,..

Iil I stedetfor en specifikmediepraksis, der tagerudgangspunkt i modsætninger mellemnettet og andremedief,tigger

der ekempetvisi Artnodesformàlserklæring en intentionom at brugemÊdieti flere forsketligehenseender: "The aim of
Artnodeis to supptycontemporâry aft with a digitaioutlet andthussupportinternationalcontacts.Artnodeptans,
createsanddistributescontemporary art projectsin currÊntandupcomingdigital media.Thefoundationaimsat
devetoping andsilpportingproiects,usingthesenew mediaas artisticpfatforms- not just âs distributionchanné1s." {
-
ti!lFrainterYiewmedNicolasBourriaudpâhttp://www.boi1er.odessa'net/engtish/raz1in,u,o,'n.ffi.
inierviewlra Artforum iAprit 2001,ved BennettSimpson) retter Bourriauden kritik af netkunstenfor at være
"overakademisk" i sin direktefokuseringpâde teknologiske aspekter:" Today,the way that the lnternetchangesour
frâmeof mindis not onlyfett on the Web.MostInternetârt is superâcademic at this po;nt.Àt the sametime, indirectly,
this newtechnologyis what hasauoweda t[L]ilæ$:u to think the way he does". 4,

Iiiil Nærværende uddragomhândterkunen litte det af de projekter,der er blevetreatiseretpâ nettet i dansk

sammenhæng. MintêÊngere oversjgtsâ*ikelbeskæftigersig med bt.a. Àfsnitp.dk,Webmuseum.dk, Stedet3.dk,for ikke \
at tale om de storstitedecyberprojekter,der blev realisereti forbindelsemedKulturby1996,sàsomCapenhagen \
Cyberport,Bitlederlra det fjerne og llpdate. Hetvar chancenfor at eksperimentere i stor skalamedde nye I '
teknologier,og en kunsthistoriskvurderingaf dissestatsstgttedeprojekterer bestemttiltrængt; Daf6rst luften var gâet / '
ud af kulturbyballonen stodmantitbagemedoplevelsenaf en rækkehsjt profileredestunts,der i farten mer€fik ,/
karakteraf nediebegivÊnheder end kunsthistoriskemilepæte.Manlærer setvsagtmegetlidt rent kulturpotitisk,
af denneform for glemsel...
kunstkritiskog kunsthistorisk

ElJ Citeretfra materialepublicereti forbindelsemed Updote.Forundertegnedes af Update,se "Asketernes

anmeldelse
mareridt"i lnformation,3,|.mârts1996.

Iyl Kâtatogettit udstiltingenRlôt pà Portaleni Hundigei 1995indeholdtbl.a. en diskettemedSuperflex'SUPERGAME,

NikotajUdstitlingsbygning udgavkatalogermedvideokassetter, Updatei 1996titbcd internetadgang)
osv.
TITIT TCF I

:i

ÈE

h ttp :/ / www. t urb ul e n s .n e t / t e m a er / i n te r n e tte tld un ste n fr a kun ste n /wo r ldw i dew bogde
e ndanskekunstscene/ P age4 s ur 4