Net Art Part 2

Anne Marie Schleiner's curation writing provides insight with different scenarios that clarify the role of a net artist. Once again, I found the humor, specifically ironic humor to feed my interest in this writing. With Artists X, Y and Z leading examples of the life of a Net Artist, I also saw how these different ways of working overlapped with some of the other contemporary art practices today. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, I see a continued parallel between Bourriaud's relational aesthetic theory to the experimental, interdisciplinary, and collective workings of Net Artists. Bourriaud's curation of the show Altermodern at the Tate Britain showcased various works of art that demonstrated his belief that post modernism is dead.

Here is Bourriaud's Manifesto to the Altermodern Exhibition:

A new modernity is emerging, reconfigured to an age of globalisation – understood in its economic, political and cultural aspects: an altermodern culture

Increased communication, travel and migration are affecting the way we live

Our daily lives consist of journeys in a chaotic and teeming universe

Multiculturalism and identity is being overtaken by creolisation: Artists are now starting from a globalised state of culture

This new universalism is based on translations, subtitling and generalised dubbing

Today's art explores the bonds that text and image, time and space, weave between themselves

Artists are responding to a new globalised perception. They traverse a cultural landscape saturated with signs and create new pathways between multiple formats of expression and communication.

The Tate Triennial 2009 at Tate Britain presents a collective discussion around this premise that postmodernism is coming to an end, and we are experiencing the emergence of a global altermodernity.

Liz Filardi is one of the Net Artists who is also working within these parameters. Her work I' Not Stalking You; I'm Socializing: Facetbook is a playful, yet critical look into global, social networks, specifically Facebook. I could relate to Filardi's anxiousness over the constructed identities portrayed through these self-focused Internet venues. It brings to attention psychological aspects of identity presented to the public through on the web. In addition, issues of the the spectator and privacy are apparent in Filardi's exploration of multiplicity, identity and the inter-connectivity of the world wide web. Liz's work takes form through social interventions and performance. She engages with other people by exploring boundaries through everyday experiences of communication.

The work Yeas and Nays by Christian Croft provides a web plug in in order to create an interactive platform for viewers/users.
Croft explains:
"Yeas and Nays is a space that tranforms any webpage into a means for contacting Congressional representatives. Using Yeas and Nays, a citizen can connect via phone to speak with her representatives, and the resulting shift keeps a record of the call located on the website that informed it."
This brings to mind the notion that the viewers of Net Art also partake in their active role as an Internet user. This reminds me of the piece The Machine is Us/ing Us. Both these pieces point out the power of collectivity that feeds the Internet and of course in effect, Net Art. The Yeas and Nays allows the viewer/user the opportunity to partake in the creative process and as a result produces the work in a collaborative effort. It allows for activism to become embedded in the interactivity of the passive Internet user. I am also interested in the DIY (Do it Yourself) component of the piece, which seems to work on another level of empowerment by providing a means for enhancing the users Internet fluency.