text: art, culture and
context
collection of writings and musings on art, artists and other related
contextual issues.
How does the tradition of the avant-garde continue on the
Internet in net.art? January 2001
Introduction
Net.artA, being a fairly new and still unresolved phenomena, has been
subject to a variety of interpretations and examinations including
comparisons with traditional art movements or events. Such comparisons
contribute to understanding the diverse aspects of net.art and anchor it
as an art form with 20th Century precedents but fail to fully explain it
as a practice in itself. However an overall explanation is elusive and
would demand far more space than is available here. For these reasons I
have conducted a study as a contribution to the continuing debate stemming
from a comparison made by Brett Stallbaum that certain net.art practices
were continuing a Greenbergian notion of the avant-garde. A deeper
understanding of the relationship of net.art to the avant-garde will be
established through concentrating on theories of the avant-garde. It will
be shown how the tradition of debate on this subject can be continued in
comparison with events taking place on the Internet within the net.art
movement.
In order to achieve this a background of net.art must be presented with
examples of net.art works and projects two of which will be considered in
more depth. Attempts by net.art commentators to explain those practices
will be used to further understand those projects. This will lead to the
introduction of avant-garde interpretations of net.art which I intend to
concentrate on throughout the rest of the essay.
The next stage will be to conduct an investigation into avant-garde
theory for the purpose of understanding issues arising in traditional
debate concerning the avant-garde. The theories I shall be describing and
comparing are written by Clement Greenberg, Renato Poggioli, Peter Burger
and Hal Foster. I intend to demonstrate that their debates can be
continued in comparison with net.art.
The final stage aims to use arguments arising from the avant-garde
debate in comparison to net.art works and projects. When conducted
successfully, this final stage will allow for a conclusion on the
question, "How does the tradition of the avant-garde continue on the
Internet in net.art?"
Chapter 1: Introduction of net.art works and criticism
Given that net.art is a fairly recent development a pervasive
understanding of it has yet to develop. It is necessary for the central
aim of this debate to be preceded with some background on the subject.
There is no 'official' history of net.art but certain important events and
examples recur in debate on the subject. The relevance and dating of
examples used within derive from two important accounts. The first, A
Story of net.art, is an online list of links to projects and important
texts ordered chronologically by Natalie Bookchin, a professor at the
University of California. The second, Web Work- A History of Internet Art
, is a written survey describing and contextualising works together with
some comment on artists strategies. This article was published in Art
Forum magazine and written by Rachel Green who was one of the founding
members of Rhizome, online mailing list and Bulletin Board System, an
important resource for net.art and criticism (to be described in more
detail later). These resources are not critical accounts or theoretical
studies. Other writers have attempted to relate some net.art practice to
earlier art forms and theories which have been useful in developing an
understanding of it. Mail art has been used as a precedent to the net.art
movement and Greenbergian formalism to explain a specific approach by
certain artists. The former connection is noted throughout discussion on
net.art and will be mentioned in more depth later, in particular a
descriptive analysis conducted by Andrej Tisma. The latter is used by
Brett Stallbaum, a net.art critic published on the webzine Switch, who
also adopts the term avant-garde as associated with Greenberg. His use of
the term is narrow and must be considered in more depth as it will be in
the next two chapters.
Beginnings of net.art
It seems relevant that the beginnings of an art movement (or what was
to become one) occurring in and created largely with machines was to be
named by one. The term 'net.art' was, allegedly, taken from an anonymous
e-mail received by Slovenian Artist Vuk Cosic in 1995. Due to some error
the email had been infected rendering the message unreadable apart from
that very word 'net.art'. It is for this reason that the term is used to
describe a variety of practices and activities stemming from groups of
"leftist intellectuals, tech whizzes, subversives and artists" of which
Cosic was a part. These groups of people communicated through the Internet
via Bulletin Board Systems, email lists and Discussion Forums examples
include Nettime.org, Thing.net and Rhizome.org. These service providing
sites were spawned on the Internet between the years 1995 and 1996
lubricating and encouraging community, discussion and promotion of net.art
projects. This context encouraged ideas to flourish across international
boundaries beyond Corporate and (Art) Institutional interests. Art
projects realized in this context actively engage with the internet as a
medium for creation, distribution, communication and criticism of ideas.
Work of this kind differs greatly from the many gallery sites the use the
medium merely for promotion or advertisement of works created outside of
the internet in traditional media e.g. painting and ceramics. These sites
only engage with the medium on a superficial level as a marketing tool not
a creative medium in itself. www.1art.com is an example of this (illus.1).
It's appearance resembles a magazine layout with a photo of the painting
and a description of the work. The distinction between 'net.art' and 'art
on the net' has been raised in order to understand net.art as a unique
practice engaging with the medium on a deeper level.
The Internet in it's early days was characterised by low bandwidth and
simple software (compared to today's standards). It is inevitable that
these factors influenced and limited works produced. In order to assure
fast download time works were simple with low resolution images or none
were used at all. I will first introduce projects by the artists Heath
Bunting, Alexi Shulgin, Olia Lialina and Jodi.
In 1995 Heath Bunting created a piece called 'Visitors guide to
London'. It consists of simple black and white images, enabling fast
download time, of parts of London. Each has compass bearings in the bottom
right corner so the user can navigate through the virtual network of
streets, while simultaneously navigating cyberspace. Much of Buntings
other work revolves around merging networks from different contexts
including the Internet, mail, phone lines, fax and CCTV. Bunting is
important as he was active with the Internet at an early point in it's
history although he won't be used here in any depth.
Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans are the collective behind the project
known as Jodi, their domain name 'Jodi.org' was set up in 1995. The
nature of their work is based around Internet browsing software and html
code (used for creating web pages). They set out to disrupt any intended
functions of both and in the process create websites of abstract text and
image, moving and flashing randomly on screen. This virus infected digital
landscape probes at the essence of the Internet's language(illus.2,3).
This has led to a Formalist interpretation of their practice(discussed
later).
1996 saw important projects from the Russian artists Alexi Shulgin and
Olia Lialona. Shulgin is of particular importance functioning as both
artist and curator. His work uses the networked community as a source and
subject these include 'Refresh', 'Desktop Is' and 'Form Art' . Refresh was
initiated in collaboration with Vuk Cosic and Andreas Broekman. It aimed
at utilising a specific quality of HTML, constructing an international
network and creating an artwork that once begun would continue functioning
according to it's own rules. It started as three web pages that, after ten
seconds, would automatically change to another located on a different
server somewhere else in the world. More people were invited to attach
their pages to the network, the internet community platforms came in use
here, and so creating a continuous flow of WebPages.
Form Art (1997) is an idea of Shulgins and invites a Formalist
interpretation. It extends into an online exhibition where other people
were invited to experiment with his own ideas First of all he a method of
creating web pages using only the inbuilt properties of Internet browsing
software and the 'Form' attribute of HTML. The results of these pages are
abstract displays of buttons, input boxes and scroll bars. The effects of
these solid brick-like forms (illus.4,5) differ form Jodi's abstract works
but share a similar approach to the WWW and Internet.
Olia Lialina experiments with HTML in a similar way but takes a
different direction, she investigates interactive, narrative and 'filmic'
possibilities. 'My Boyfriend came back from the War' (1996) is a story
presented as a single page with black and white images, adding to the
mysterious and poetic feel but probably used to ensure fast downloading
time, and text. As the user clicks on the hypertext links the frames, in
which the images and text are contained, divide presenting the next stage
of the narrative (illus.6). Given that Olia's background was in film it is
understandable that a certain filmic quality is present in her work. What
is impressive is how she has combined the languages of both film and the
Internet and that some sense of life beyond it is retained. Also Olia
becomes an important pivot in net.art history as this work was the first
net.art work to be sold and so beginning a debate about art and the
market.
The next set of works I shall introduce are less interested in the
formal properties of the internet and browsers and narratives. What they
show is a move away from those approaches for a closer look at issues of
ownership, originality, identity, institutions and corporations.
A group with the domain name 0100101110101101.org use plagiarism as
their strategy. Their 'victims', whose sites are copied and re-presented
on 01...'s site, have included a group called hell.com who operate a
private collection of net.art works accessible only with passwords. The
appropriation was committed when hell.com gave access to a limited number
of people for just forty-eight hours. Following this act 01.. were ordered
by hell.com to remove the item as is was an infringement of copyright
laws. The copied site remains intact. The approach used by 01.. is an
example of how authorship and ownership on the Internet becomes difficult
to sustain. Other victims include artists beginning to explore the
possibilities of selling their net.art works, this includes Olia Lialina
mentioned earlier. 01.. expose the contradictions of copyright with
digital media.
As traditional art institutions made their first attempts to associate
themselves with net.art artists were ready to interfere with their
efforts. In 1997 the Hamburger Kunsthalle created a net.art competition
called 'Extension', reflecting the institutions extension into cyberspace.
As a response Cornelia Sollfranck created 288 false female identities,
each with their own address and working email accounts, and submitted
entries for them all . Due to the galleries inexperience the deception
went unnoticed although three men won the competition prizes. Cornelia had
revealed and demonstrated the fragility of identities on the Internet but
didn't really effect the operations of the institution.
The above example is a fairly tame interference into the processes of
an institutional body. Other projects by artists on the Internet use far
more activist or 'hactivist' tactics. A group called Mongrel, who deal
mainly with issues of institutional and corporate racism, have altered
popular search engines so when someone looks for racist WebPages they are
presented with those created by Mongrel. Their pages, created in
collaboration with an international network, sit unnoticed presenting
messages contrary to those expected.
The descriptions of projects above are short but give some idea of
how artists have approached the internet as a creative medium and
functioned within a context outside of the traditional institution.
Previous attempts to explain certain net.art practices
In order to explain some of these projects in more depth I will refer to
a theoretical study by Stallbaum and a descriptive analysis by Andrej
Tisma, both introduced earlier.
Discussion of net.art often develops into an attempt to understand
it's specific qualities, or the specific qualities of the Internet. This
has led to long lists including properties such as, Immediacy,
Immateriality, communities & communication, intimacy, anonymity and fraud.
Many more have been noted (David Ross , Shulgin , Tisma ) and all reflect
the complications in defining net.art. Some of these characteristics have
been used to associate net.art with earlier practices. An essay entitled,
'Web.Art's Nature' by Andrej Tisma, indicates that the communicative,
global and collaborative aspects relate net.art to mail art. Tisma
describes a progression of mail art to Internet based art by tracing the
movement of artists towards the Internet, carrying the same ideals, most
notably through mail art fanzines transferred to the Internet. He gives
the example of Chuck Welch's 'Netshaker on-line' electronic mail art
fanzine initiated in 1994 which he also used to encourage the other mail
artists to join the internet. These events, although remarkably similar,
do not relate directly to the arrival of Nettime etc. but do undoubtedly
resemble them. Tisma fails to give examples of any net.art works in
comparison to mail art so I will give an example. Some net.art projects
realised by communities of artists through the email lists and BBS's such
as Nettime and Rhizome relate to the practices of earlier mail art
networks such as the New York Correspondence school. The NYCS (set up in
1962 by Ray Johnson) served as a loosely organised collective of artists
for exchanging ideas and works encouraging collaboration. It was common
for one person to send a mail artwork to which the receiver would
contribute before passing it on through the network. This is a simple form
of communication and collaboration occurring outside of art institutions.
When mail art exhibitions took place contributors from the networks were
often asked to submit a work according to a theme and would take place in
a gallery . This process of network, communication and submission is
reflected in some projects initiated by Alexi Shulgin such as Desktop Is
(1997) . This project was announced within the online mailing lists such
as Nettime and Rhizome. Participants were asked to take a screenshot of
their computer desktop and submit it through email to Shulgin who
presented them as an online exhibition which, unlike mail art exhibitions,
take place outside of traditional institutional contexts (illus.7). The
connection between net.art and mail art is essentially that both exploit
communications and distributive channels to realise collaborative art
projects but net.art has more potential to operate independently of the
art institution. This is important when considering net.art as an
avant-garde and will be discussed further in chapters two and three.
Brett Stalbaum has debated the approach of Shulgin and Jodi in
strictly Greenbergian terms of formalism and the avant-garde. Formalism in
this sense is the self-critical approach by artists towards the medium
they employ in order to discoverer it's specific qualities. With the
example set by 60's abstract painters such as Noland and Louis subject
matter and representation became subordinate to abstract form and the
delimitation of the flatness of the support. If this approach is used on
the Internet artists would expect to arrive at the specific qualities of
it as a medium. Stallbaum observed how, "The strategy of formal sites
involves the exploration of the HTTP protocol, HTML, and browser specific
features as a unique medium in a Greenbergian sense." Specific to the
internet is HTTP, the protocol through which data is transferred from
documents to a browser and HTML, the code used to create and link pages on
the WWW, which is read by browsing software. Shulgins Form art and the
Jodi site use various properties of HTML as subject matter in itself.
(illus. 4,5) show screen shots of WebPages created by Shulgin implementing
the FORM property of HTML to create abstract images and animations made
visible within WWW browsing software. Other abstract effects are visible
in the Jodi site where text, lines, and blocks of colour flash and twitch
on the screen due to unconventional or 'bad' use of the ordering and
navigational aspects of HTML. (illus.2,3). Stallbaum maintains that these
approaches to making 'art-of-the-web' depend on, "the discourse of the
avant-garde, where it is the artists role to drive the medium, conquer new
aesthetic territory and open his/her audience to new experiences." It is
true that these sites embody formalist attention to the medium and an
abstract appearance but the discourse of the avant-garde is far more
extensive than described above. Further investigation into the avant-garde
is required before a sufficient assumption can be made (this will be
demonstrated in chapters 2 and 3.)
The approach used by Stalbaum and Tisma observe the relationships
net.art has with preceding art movements or practices. All of them are
relevant in some way reflecting the diversity of net.art and the potential
complications involved in defining and explaining it. I will not, for this
reason, be attempting to define net.art but to consider how the tradition
of debate on the avant-garde may be continued with net.art as a model. The
avant-garde was never a single movement but a recurring tendency reflected
in a number of art practices. I believe this tendency is apparent in a
number of net.art events and projects. The following chapter discusses
important theories of the avant-garde after which some examples of net.art
will be tested accordingly.
Chapter 2: Theory of the avant-garde
Having introduced net.art and some surrounding debate I can begin to
investigate and discuss avant-garde theory. In order to understand
avant-garde theory the following texts will be discussed; Renato Poggioli,
Theory of the avant-garde (1968) and Peter Burger, Theory of the
avant-garde (1974). What they have in common, as we can see in the title,
is a belief that the practices, actions and works of avant-garde movements
can be explained with an overall theory. An essay by Clement Greenberg,
avant-garde and Kitsch, (1939), wasn't written as a specifically
avant-garde theory, although he does highlight his observations on the
characteristics and purpose of it. Also Hal Fosters, Whose afraid of the
Neo-avant-garde (1996) is a critical response to the ideas presented by
Burger and offers a more recent approach to the debate of the avant-garde.
Greenberg's and Foster's texts contribute to the debate about the
avant-garde but don't offer complete theories.
The variety of and differing views constituting the body of writing on
the avant-garde shows how it is a disputed notion, although not to the
extent where each theorist completely reject their predecessors.
The purpose of reading, testing and comparing these different
approaches is to construct a view of the diversity of the avant-garde and
to find a platform with which to criticise net.art. That will be conducted
in the next chapter which will in turn test the possibility of continuing
the avant-garde debate.
Clement Greenberg 'Avant-garde and Kitsch, 1939'
In this essay Greenberg analyses Western culture in an attempt to discover
the origins and influences of it's products. It isn't a theory of the
avant-garde as the above but it does offer insight and an alternative view
of the it.
He uses the terms 'avant-garde' and 'Kitsch' to describe the cultural
polarities observable within the same society. Kitsch is the cultural
property of 'the great masses of the exploited and poor' . While the
avant-garde is dependent upon the ruling classes. Kitsch, we are told,
demands very little of it's audience, just their money. While the function
of the avant-garde was to, "find a path along which it would be possible
to keep culture moving in the midst of ideological confusion and violence"
. This no doubt refers to the struggles between Communism, Capitalism and
Fascism at the build up to the Second World War. A certain level of
responsibility is placed on the avant-garde. By 'Keeping culture moving'
Greenberg contends that artists sought to achieve in their works the
expression of an absolute particular to the characteristics of the medium
employed. Such an autonomous art is exactly that stated by Burger
(explained later) as the target of the avant-garde, not the products of
it. Greenberg's conception of the term excludes the movements Futurism,
Dada and Surrealism. It is less revolutionary, responsible only for
maintaining high cultural conditions. In his essay Modernist painting
(1960-65) Greenberg elaborates on the notion of autonomous art but ignores
any discussion of Kitsch and discards the term 'avant-garde'. He observed
that modernist art had assumed a self-critical stance, culminating in the
discovery and application of each medium's specific qualities. This
processes of modernism, we are told, began with Manet and led up to the
American Abstract Expressionists, whose works emphasised the medium of
paintings particular qualities such as flatness. In this situation, the
Abstract Expressionist's achievements appear at the end of an historic
process. Burger also uses an historicist approach but differs in his view
on the avant-garde, this will be revealed later in more depth.
Greenberg's conception of the avant-garde associated with formalist
art is the same version adopted by Stallbaum in comparison with the
net.art works of Shulgin and Jodi. In continuing this investigation with
Poggioli's and Burger's theories it will be shown how the characteristics
of the avant-garde are far more extensive than mentioned above. Further
comparisons of these theories with net.art in the next chapter will reveal
a more in depth relationship of the two than mentioned by Stallbaum.
Poggioli's 'Theory of the avant-garde'
Poggioli's theory revolves around a series of 'moments' he has
identified within the avant-garde movements. These four moments, Activism,
Antagonism, Nihilism and Agonism are used by him to articulate his
observations and ideas concerning the developmental stages of an
avant-garde movement.
I will introduce these moments starting with Activism.
This is a situation where, "a movement takes shape and agitates for no
other end than its own self, out of the sheer joy of dynamism, a taste for
action..." Elaborating further Poggioli highlights the political use of
the term, "the tendency of certain individuals parties or groups to act
without heeding plans or programs, to function using any method..... for
the mere sake of doing something." This could create a potentially
dangerous or anarchic situation. An example of this impulse can be seen in
the Italian futurists glorification of mechanics, speed and indeed war,
for its own aesthetic properties in the early 20th Century. Although
Poggioli uses the political description as a model he maintains that the
avant-garde's concerns are with cultural, not political, problems.
Activism is, we are told, the least important or least characteristic
moment.
Antagonism, the second stage, appears with more control and purpose,
with specific subject's worthy of antagonising. Simply put it is to,
"agitate against something or someone.." . Poggioli insists that Tradition
and the Public are antagonised by the avant-garde due to psychological or
professional problems between them. A description of any particular
psychological or professional problem isn't given but we are told that the
antagonistic acts are, "made up more of gestures and insults than of
articulate discourse." In order to understand this further and
demonstrate how Poggioli's definitions can be applied I will use Dada as a
model of study.
All the events, moods and gestures understood as part of the Dada
movement embody, in one way or another, the characteristics of an
avant-garde as understood by Poggioli and Burger. To concentrate on
Poggioli first, and in particular the 'Antagonistic' moment. Any
psychological and professional problems between Dada artists and Tradition
or the Public was reflected in their activities. Richard Huelsenbeck,
participant and commentator of German Dada, spoke of the Dadaist,
"Instinctively he sees his mission in smashing the cultural ideology of
the Germans." This statement together with the description of,
"demonstrations at which, in return for a suitable admission fee,
everything connected with culture and inwardness was symbolically
massacred," are undoubtedly anti-tradition. The First World War, during
which Dada begun, was a major influence contributing to the nihilistic
attitudes of the movement. And it is the term 'Nihilism' used by Poggioli
as the third moment. Speaking of it as the joy of beating down barriers,
an extreme form of Activism, "beyond the point of control by any
convention or reservation." It was in Dadaism, he claimed, that, "the
nihilistic tendency functioned as the primary psychic condition." This
condition was embodied most particularly in the performances of the
Cabaret Voltaire. Initiated by Hugo Ball these events were untamed,
unadulterated performances beyond, or below, any convention of theatre,
poetry, art or music. (the demonstrations described by Huelsenbeck may
well be these events) In so doing the participants, including Tristan
Tzara, Huelsenbeck and Hans Arp, were 'beating down barriers' of cultural
ideology 'beyond the point of control by any convention or reservation.'
The final moment is Agonism, which is, according to Poggioli, of
unlimited importance as it represents one of the most inclusive
psychological tendencies in modern culture. He explains that, "the
movement and its constituent human entity can reach the point where it no
longer heeds the ruins and losses of others and ignores even its own
catastrophe and perdition...it welcomes or accepts this self ruin as an
obscure or unknown sacrifice to the success of future movements." This
condition is the most extreme so far mentioned, it can be seen as the
final state of the prior moments, a point from which the avant-garde can
move no further. Poggioli uses the notion of 'transition' as the central
agonistic tendency. That is where, "the current generation and the culture
of our day become a subordinate function of a culture to come" . This mood
is apparent in the closing lines of Huelsenbach's 'En Avant Dada', "but if
Dada dies here, it will some day appear on another planet with rattles and
kettledrums, pot covers and simultaneous poems, and remind the old God
that there are still people who are very well aware of the complete idiocy
of the world." A metaphorical tone on the future prospects of the Dada
effort.
The notion of Transition used here by Poggioli contrasts the
historicist approach of both Greenberg and Burger who explained the
avant-garde in terms of historical processes.
What is unique in Poggioli's approach is his dedication to an
analysis of the states of mind, instincts and feelings of individuals and
groups as the basis of a theory for the avant-garde. This detaches it from
any specific historical location, unlike Burger and Greenberg. Although
the political analogies, for example in the Activist moment, fail to
concentrate enough on specific artistic approaches, although it may be
said that the avant-garde maintains a close relationship to political
situations of the time
Peter Burger, Theory of the avant-garde
Following on from Poggioli's theory of the avant-garde I can introduce
that of Peter Burger. This theory is based on an historicist approach.
That the avant-garde evolved, appeared as part of a developmental process
in the history of the European art institution. Burger described this
process and from it built his thesis.
To be brief, he mentions how it developed from the Sacral to the
Courtly and finally the Bourgeois. Sacral art is that of the Middle Ages
where the artworks were produced collectively and received collectively as
cult objects. Courtly art was produced by an individual for the
glorification of courtly life and received collectively. Under the
Bourgeois, who took power after the French revolution, art became less
constrained. Artworks were produced by individuals for individuals and
attained a market value. It was under these conditions, he claims, that
art approached an autonomous status both institutionally and
aesthetically.
This system of institutions and their attributes are important issues
in this theory. We are told that the avant-garde's dispute is against the
concept of autonomy because an autonomous art, whose purpose is for a
unique aesthetic experience, is removed from the praxis of life.
Avant-garde artists attempt to reinitiate art and life, therefore, their
first task is to criticise the institution. Burger clarifies the situation
as such, "The European avant-garde movements can be seen as an attack of
the status of art in bourgeois society. What is negated is not an earlier
form of art (a style) but art as an institution that is unassociated with
the life praxis of men." This union of art and life is to be seen, not in
the subjects of individual works, but as the way it functions in society.
The difference in these approaches, criticising a style or the
institution, are explained more specifically by Burger. Borrowing from
Marx the notions of 'system immanent criticism' and 'self-criticism' . The
former is criticism within an institutional category. For example one
school of painting such as abstract expressionism may criticise the
approach of Social Realism, both occurring within the institution of art,
to be specific, painting. The latter, on the other hand, would criticise
art as an institution, that is, the productive and distributive apparatus
and the prevailing ideas of art at a given time, as Burger would have us
believe.
Greenberg's descriptions of self critical approaches to the medium could
be understood on Burger's terms as 'system immanent criticism'. The
avant-garde assumes a self-critical stance to art as a whole. This,
according to Burger was apparent in Dadaism as he states, "Dadaism, the
most radical movement in the European avant-garde, no longer criticises
schools that preceded it, but criticises art as an institution."
Marcel Duchamps 'ready-mades' serve well as an example of this. These
were functional objects chosen by him and exhibited as any other artwork.
One important example 'fountain, 1917' (a urinal) was submitted to a
non-juried open art exhibition in New York. It was rejected on the grounds
that it was 'immoral' and 'plagiarism' . By choosing a mass-produced
object, a functional element of life, Duchamp denies individual
authorship, originality and the autonomy of the art object. This action
criticises art as an institution as it then stood, it wasn't directed
against a preceding art school or style. The conventions of the art
institution had been challenged.
Burger claims that avant-garde gestures such as this, including the
Dada events mentioned earlier, is an historical phenomenon that failed to
achieve it's aims. That is, only those movements from the early 20thC can
be considered avant-garde. Later movements with similar characteristics as
these, such as the 'Neo-Dada' of Rauschenberg and Johns and the Fluxus
group, are in this case 'post avant-garde'. The reason being is that the
effects of the historical movements had by that time become accepted under
the autonomous realm of art. In this situation the avant-garde becomes
impossible and so he further states, "art has long since entered a post
avant-garde phase." In a post avant-garde phase, the institution accepts
everything asserted as art. Burger assumes, from this position, that the
avant-garde becomes impossible, incapable of criticising the institution.
But why should art produced later in the century, resembling early
avant-garde work, such as Rauschenberg be considered neo-avant-garde? It
is at this point that Hal Foster's ideas be presented. He believed that
Burger's historicist approach assumed the avant-garde was 'punctual and
final' . If this was the situation, the avant-garde, such as Dada, would
have only one chance to achieve it's aims, or the aims it had assumed by
Burger. After which it would be considered impotent. Foster approaches the
situation differently. He believes in a post-historical view of the
avant-garde. In his understanding of the notions of 'Parallax', the idea
that an object changes according to the position of the spectator, and
'deferred action', that an event is understood through a process of
'anticipation and recollection'. Under these terms he claims that the
historical avant-garde (burgers term) anticipated the neo-avant-garde
which in turn recollected the historical avant-garde. Here it becomes
possible to reconsider historical events according to the present, or as
Foster Proposed, 'might the neo-avant-garde comprehend it [the historical
avant-garde] for the first time' . If this is so then any recollection of
historical events will encourage a re-evaluation of the past.
The above discussion sets an in depth understanding of what defines the
avant-garde. Each writer mentioned holds his own interpretation but some
points recur within their theories. Burger's theory can be likened with
Poggioli's definition of the Antagonistic moment that is to react against
something or someone. These for Poggioili were the tradition and the
public but for Burger they are the institution under the bourgeois and the
status of art (autonomy) that antagonism is directed towards. This
description suits Dada considered by both as a typical avant-garde
movement. Hal Foster presents a strong case for the continuation of the
avant-garde by disregarding Burger's notion of a post avant-garde era.
From all the ideas presented and discussed above I have separated some
key issues that will be most valuable for the discussion in the next
chapter:
- Poggioli's moments that reflect the psychological tendencies within
avant-garde movements.
-Burger's insistence that the avant-garde is critical of the institution
of Art, in particular it's modes of production and distribution and
speculation of a post avant-garde era.
-Fosters post-historical approach encouraging the continuation of the
avant-garde that reflects the aims of it's earlier manifestations.
In conjunction with examples from net.art these points will form the
basis and criterion for my conclusion as to whether net.art can be
considered an avant-garde. A successful analysis will also add fuel to the
continuing debate on the avant-garde.
chapter 3: Investigation in the avant-garde characteristics of net.art
context and projects
Given the ideas presented and discussed in the previous chapters, a
background of net.art in the first and an investigation of avant-garde
theory in the second, it is possible to move closer to answering the
initial question set. This chapter deals with the final task of
discovering whether net.art is a continuation of the avant-garde and so
completing the investigation and purpose of the dissertation.
This study will bring together net.art and the theory of the
avant-garde. I will be asking questions about net.art in relation to
avant-garde theory described in chapter two. From Poggioli's theory I can
ask, ' Are the psychological tendencies of avant-garde moments observable
in net.art?' Burger raises the question 'Does net.art criticise the
institution of art, specifically it's modes of production and
distribution?'. I will briefly ask, after Fosters suggestions, 'Are any
aims of the historical avant-garde realised for the first time in
net.art?'
It is vitally important that net.art be considered not as a series of
individual works by individual artists but projects occurring within a
unique context. This context gives the work meaning and is necessary for
understanding it as an avant-garde. The first chapter introduced this
context and some projects, an explanation of them will be extended here.
The development of community structures on the Internet created the
context in which net.art grew. It didn't arise as a phenomenon out of
individual projects spread across the vast World Wide Web but evolved
through communication. A variety of online meeting points were necessary
for this to be realised. One such important 'place' is called Nettime
which is a discussion forum that uses Bulletin Boards and email lists. It
was created in 1995 by a mixture of media theorists and artists as an
"effort to formulate an international, networked discourse that neither
promotes a dominant euphoria (to sell products) nor continues the cynical
pessimism spread by journalists and intellectuals in the 'old' media who
generalise about 'new' media [..]" The tone of this statement indicates
the non-commercial anti-institutional approach of the forum. The debates
undertaken on the list more generally concern Internet culture than any
strict 'Art' approach. What is most important about Nettime in this
discussion is that it created a platform on which net.art developed. Ideas
were debated between members of the list projects were announced,
manifesto's and interviews were posted. Other forums such as 7-11, Rhizome
and The Thing serve similar purposes. It was arenas such as these that
allowed artists working on the Internet to gather an audience, conduct
critical discourse and produce work beyond the realms of the traditional
art institution therefore enabling an effective critique. This brings me
to the question I set earlier, "Does net.art criticise the Institution of
Art, specifically it's modes of production and distribution?" I have
described how independent contexts have been created that operate within
their own modes of production and distribution. I shall use an example of
an art project that uses this context and asserts its own authority beyond
the Institution.
Alexi Shulgin, introduced in the first chapter, has been involved with
the Nettime forum using it to conduct important projects that form part
of the net.art movement. Some of the works he conceived and initiated were
based on collaboration and therefore dependent on the virtual community of
which he was a part. Projects such as Desktop Is, described earlier as
related to mail art, are realised through collaboration within the
network. Another useful example here is the 'WWWart award' . This project
was undertaken at a time when the World Wide Web was fairly new in 1996.
The absence of conventional Art Institutional infrastructures on the
Internet at this time gives Shulgin a considerable level of independence
and authority on artistic matters in that arena. Giving him, and others,
an opportunity to comment on those 'old' structures without any worry of
recriminations or disapproval from the Institutional forces.
The WWWart award was initiated as an attempt to comment on the
occurrence of and distinctions between creative activities on the Internet
and their status as art in this ambiguous space. The WWW medal was awarded
to a selection of 'found' sites discovered by a team of people who had
gathered in the online community spaces, some of whom were artists such as
Shulgin, Vuk Cosic, Heath Bunting and Rachel Baker. The criteria of the
award allowed for, "websites that were created not as art works but give
us a definite 'art' feeling." The level of this 'art' feeling was in the
hands of these judges informed by their own experience with the internet
but also each project was paired with a comment from a piece of 'found'
conventional art criticism. This served to, "test old hierarchical sign
systems and language against new." If we considerer one of these award
winners such as 'Concise guide to some common traffic signs of the world'
. This site is, as the description implies, a collection of traffic signs
with some descriptive information. The piece of found criticism paired
with this site explains that, "Semiotics has shackled the western mind
thus inhibiting our intuitive passion for life." Either this statement
is an excessive description for a site on road signs or genuinely
compliant with conventional art critical standards. It must be agreed upon
that such a website, to be considered as an artwork, is incompatible with
the description given . Therefore the WWWart award serves to reveal the
incompatibility of such conventions with creative developments on the
Internet while simultaneously indicating the limits of those conventions.
This situation is comparable to Duchamps 'Fountain' that was unacceptable
in the prevailing critical climate of his time.
Overall this project, together with the independent infrastructure
provided by Nettime, serves as a critique of the conventions, productive
and distributive apparatus of the Art institution. For this reason it may
be considered as avant-garde under the terms set by Burger.
There is room for further discussion of the relationship between the
institution and the independent communities and networks since the
expansion of traditional institutional systems onto the internet. What
implications does this have for the independent status of net.art and does
this move by the Institutions indicate an acceptance by them that the
Internet, and net.art, is a relevant art space and form? Also, what does
this mean for the existence and effectiveness of an avant-garde in this
context? This debate recalls Burgers claim of 'neo avant-garde' and with
that Hal Fosters counter argument.
The Institutional acceptance, or interest, in net.art has occurred in
different ways. One of the earliest examples of this was the inclusion of
net.art in the international Documenta X exhibition in Kassel (1997) which
included the Jodi web site. This move was less a threat to net.art as it
was a means to give it, and the exhibition, a larger audience. But the
inclusion has been criticised as the work was presented without an
Internet connection. Outside of it's original context some parts of the
work failed to operate. A more substantial attempt for Inclusion has been
made by the Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, who have extended the
infrastructure of the museum into the Internet. Opening in 1999, this was
the first online gallery. Steve Dietz, who operates 'Gallery 9' , spoke of
it, "we created the gallery so we could commission Internet and new media
art" . Gallery 9 is the central point to access these commissioned works.
The introduction of commissioning works of net.art is contrary to the
operation of early projects which occurred within a networked community
and developed through communication and collaboration. In an Interview
conducted two years prior to Walker Art's moves, Alexi Shulgin and Jodi
spoke of their distrust of Institutional involvement, "One should neglect
these existing institutions and go ones own" asserted Dirk Paesmans from
Jodi. This was followed with Shulgin suggesting that, "We can create some
independent or parallel infrastructure." These structures worked
effectively to begin with which is evident in the successful projects and
developments of their works described earlier. The problem with such
proposals is that well promoted Institutions with status in the 'real'
world bring a whole new audience with them. This may threaten the
existence of a net.art avant-garde especially as it is accepted as
'official' art. This Brings us back to Burger's suggestion of a
neo-avant-garde, where anything asserted as art is accepted by the
institution, rendering a critique impossible. It is true to suggest that
the acceptance of net.art reduces it's avant-garde status but the
achievements of the artists can't be forgotten. A successful critique was
accomplished and developments of communities and networks empowering them
to operate as an institution in themselves realises some of the aims of
historical avant-garde attempts. The relationship of net.art to mail art,
introduced in the first chapter, demonstrates how the ideals of the
earlier movement are fulfilled to a greater extent with net.art. This
complies with Hal Fosters suggestions of anticipation and recollection.
In order to continue this discussion of the avant-garde I will bring
Poggioli's theories into the argument. He offers an approach different to
burger and allows other aspects of both net.art and the avant-garde to be
included. As discovered in the second chapter part of poggioli's theory
revolves around a series of observations made by him concerning the
psychological tendencies within the avant-garde. Described as 'moments'
these tendencies, Activism, Antagonism, nihilism and agonism will be dealt
with here.
Firstly, Activism we are told is the least characteristic of the
avant-garde partly due to it's political usage and similarities. A
concise description is action for actions sake using any method. It is a
recurring theme in the debate about net.art and is resembled in practice
but not completely resolved in terms of art. These range form hacking
search engines, appropriating corporate, commercial or institutional
websites, faking emails and the sponsorship and coordination of programs
to sabotage corporate products. Hacking search engines is a method
employed by the groups Etoy and Mongrel in order to mislead and redirect
web surfers to content contrary to that expected. The group 011100...
have copied artists and institutional websites on the grounds of elitism
and commercialism. Finally, the group Rtmark operate a website providing
a service to those willing to invest or engage in the sabotage of
corporate wares. Each of these groups display activist tendencies and
deserve investigation into their compatibility with descriptions of the
avant-garde, however, this would need far more discussion than is
available here.*
The remaining debate will be dedicated to the group Jodi who were
introduced in the first chapter. Having already been subject to
interpretation in the net.art context, mainly in formalist terms, I
believe further examination is possible under Poggioli's theory.
Jodi's work is an ongoing project begun in the earliest manifestations
of the Internet and Web technology. I will be explaining how the
psychological tendencies of Antagonism and Nihilism are, to some extent,
present within it. The former can be understood as an attempt, "to agitate
against something or someone" due to psychological or professional
problems. While the latter represents, "the point of extreme tension
reached by antagonism toward the public and tradition." and is
characterised by, "the act of beating down barriers." Both are closely
related and may be explained together.
Agitation against the public and tradition can be observed within the
Jodi project but takes different form to the kind understood by Poggioli
as manifested in Futurism and Dada. The members of such groups antagonised
a bourgeois audience and their traditional artistic values. Jodi, as
described in chapter one, have been described as implementing a
traditional formalist approach in a new medium. Such acceptance differs
from the founders of Nettime who explicitly denounced traditional
commentary associated with the Internet. However antagonist and nihilist
tendencies in Jodi's work occur toward the public of web surfers and the
traditional conventions imposed onto Internet technology by software
designers. Designers and programmers construct the technology in such a
way as to continue conventional presentation of information, resembling a
magazine layout, allowing for a commercial application. Jodi reject such
limiting possibilities suggesting that their pages are formed, "Not from
layout, not from a way of creating an order that puts this fat title and
then a chapter...A magazine on the net. We can do nothing with this."
Agitation takes form through the application of incorrect or
unconventional use of web page coding including viruses that, when read by
a browser, causes the screen to flash, flicker and generally appear
completely out of control.(illus.2,3) This act of beating down barriers of
the inbuilt ordering principles in web browsers is characteristic of
nihilism and represents the "point of extreme tension" toward conventions
and the public. As with the activist practices mentioned above,
unsuspecting users become confused sometimes worried, "People think: A
virus gets into my computer.. or: What's happening to my screen! This is
because it cannot be grasped. You get short, direct reactions from
panicking people." described Joan from Jodi. The form of this agitation
reflects those described by Poggioli which he insists are, "made up more
of gestures and insults than articulate discourse." Jodi's site embodies
a gestural use of technology, a spontaneous 'insult' to conventions,
intentions and ideologies of those controlling it's development. It is for
all these reasons, and their involvement in net.art structures described
earlier, that Jodi can be considered as avant-garde.
Poggioli's description of Agonism will not be used here for comparison
with the artworks. That is not to suggest it isn't, or won't ever be,
relevant to the discussion of net.art as an avant-garde. The central
tendency of the Agonist 'moment' is where the movement and artists, "no
longer heeds the ruins and losses of others and ignores even it's own
catastrophe and perdition" as a, "sacrifice to the success of future
movements." Given that net.art is still developing it would be premature
to suggest any such tendency, however, further examination could be given
to certain points already introduced. The relationship of net.art to
Institutional and Corporate operations on the Internet could lead to a
more confrontational stance from the activist groups mentioned earlier.
Perhaps then this final stage would become more apparent.
It should now be clear how net.art began, developed and functioned with
the intentions of an avant-garde movement. I have shown how Shulgin's
projects can be considered avant-garde under the terms set by Burger and
the same of Jodi to the theory of Poggioli. This represents a deeper
relationship of net.art to the notion of the avant-garde beyond that
suggested by Stallbaum, mentioned in chapter one.
It has also been revealed how the notion of the avant-garde remains a
viable interpretation of art practice within the context of the Internet.
The tradition of the avant-garde has continued onto the Internet not just
with artist works but the debate surrounding it.
Summary
Chapter 1
describes how the origins of net.art on the Internet depended on mailing
lists and Bulletin Board Systems. Explains that gallery sites presenting
photo's of traditional art works don't fit into the category of net.art.
Examples of net.art introduced, some of which used throughout the essay in
more depth. Indicate previous attempts to explain net.art - mail art
comparison by Tisma - formalist avant-garde comparison by Stallbaum. Both
are useful but don't serve as complete descriptions of net.art. Notion of
avant-garde expanded from thereon.
Chapter 2
First mention Greenberg, as begun in first chapter, disregard this
approach as narrow view of the avant-garde. state net.art needs more
thorough analysis than given by Stallbaums use of Greenberg. Describe
Poggioli's 'moments' as he articulates his theory through them.
Introduce Burgers theory, concentrating on critique of institution and
post avant-garde era.
Include foster as critique for Burger's post avant-garde theory. Finish
with comparisons of theories discussed, indicate what is valuable from
chapter in order to proceed. Mainly that the avant-garde criticises the
institution of art, can be understood in terms of psychological tendencies
such as nihilism and the avant-garde can realise aims of previous
avant-garde movements.
Chapter 3
Uses questions according to theories presented in second chapter to test
the avant-garde status of net.art. Reintroduce Nettime and their founding
principles which are relevant avant-garde tendencies. Use Shulgins WWWart
award, as first example of a net.art work tested according to Burger's
notion of a critique of the Institution of art. Describes how the
institutional absorbsion of net.art is a typical occurrence in avant-garde
tradition as noted by Burger. Begin use of Poggioli's moments with which
to compare net.art. Start with activist net.art practices, essentially
anti-corporate but decide not to elaborate as it deserves a discussion of
it's own. Reintroduce Jodi and describe in terms of antagonist and
nihilist avant-garde characteristics derived from Poggioli's theory.
Overall I described how the examples used can be described in terms of
avant-garde theory. The traditional debates stemming from Greenberg
through to Poggioli, Burger and Foster concerning the avant-garde are
demonstrated as continuing into the Interenet with net.art.
Conclusion
Having completed all debate concerning net.art and the avant-garde this
investigation is now complete. This initial question set, How does the
tradition of the avant-garde continue on the Internet in net.art? can now
be answered.
The tradition of theoretical analysis concerning the avant-garde has
served to demonstrate how the avant-garde continues onto the Internet.
This can be seen in the comparisons made with the writings of Greenberg
the theories of Poggioli, Burger and a critique by Foster as compared to
net.art. Brett Stallbaum had initiated the inclusion of a Greenbergian use
of the term avant-garde in order to analyse net.art which served as a
starting point from which to elaborate. The introduction of this term
re-ignites the tradition of debate associated with the avant-garde
compelling me to delve deeper into that notion. It has been demonstrated
here as relevant for understanding the complexities of net.art as an art
movement. The art projects initiated by Shulgin and Jodi were discussed in
depth and shown to relate to a variety of avant-garde characteristics.
The avant-garde qualities of net.art can be seen in the critique of the
Art Institution implemented through community and collaboration within an
independent infrastructure made possible by the Internet. Some practices
are characterised by activist, antagonist and nihilistic tendencies.
Alternative modes of production, distribution and criticism are
facilitated to effect the critique. The 'cultural loop' of avant-garde
practice being subsumed by the traditional art institution returns. It is
demonstrated by the extension of traditional museum infrastructures onto
the Internet and the inclusion of net.art projects into conventional
gallery spaces. Involvement of this kind reinforces the artistic status of
net.art serving as an indicator of the growing tolerance of institutional
values.
This study sheds new light on the nature of net.art and the
avant-garde, encouraging a deeper understanding of them.
A fair number of problems have been encountered in conducting this
investigation parts of which could inevitably be improved. Many examples
of net.art bare too little resemblance to traditional art forms causing
difficulty in convincing the reader that those works can be considered as
art. Net.art is complex and difficult to understand as a single coherent
movement given the variety of it's products. I attempted to narrow my
examples down to the most easily understood as artistic.
This essay is not so useful for those approaching net.art for the first
time. It has been difficult balancing an introduction of it, making a
convincing argument that it is art while further attempting to explain
that it is avant-garde art. As a result of this the essay is too brief for
a history of net.art or an explanation of the avant-garde. A much more
critical approach to the material used was needed. I seemed constantly in
favour of net.art as an avant-garde without sufficiently considering it as
not
Essentially this study serves to begin and demonstrate an argument
relevant to debate concerning both net.art and the avant-garde which could
be expanded.
Other examples of net.art exist that would have provided more complex and
challenging arguments. Especially those with politically charged and
anti-corporate tendencies. The Internet creates a closer relationship of
independent art initiatives, demonstrated in net.art, to Museum and
Corporate infrastructures. A further study on this subject to be
considered should be, what are the consequences of such a close
relationship of Artistic, Institutional and corporate forms on the
Internet?
dan@sparror.cubecinema.com