Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Internet art

Internet art, also known as , is a genre of that employs the not only as a tool for production and distribution but also as its primary medium and thematic source material, often exploiting or critiquing the social, cultural, and technological implications of online connectivity. Emerging from earlier telematic experiments in the and , it gained prominence in the mid-1990s following the public release of the in 1994, when artists began leveraging global networks for real-time collaboration, interactive interfaces, and participatory experiences that challenged traditional notions of authorship, materiality, and the . The movement's foundational period, often termed "," spanned the late 1990s, marked by the formation of online artist communities and events like the 1996 Net.Art Per Se conference in , , which emphasized the Internet's potential for equitable, immediate artistic expression through , , and tactical media. Key characteristics include immateriality, open-ended remixing of , and a focus on process over product, as seen in works that manipulate code, interfaces, or data flows to explore themes of , , and virtual space. Pioneering artists such as Olia Lialina, with her 1996 interactive narrative My Boyfriend Came Back from the War, and the duo JODI, known for glitchy web interventions like their 1995 site jodi.org, exemplified these approaches by blending traditions with emerging digital tools. Other notables include Heath Bunting's 1994 Kings Cross Phone-In, an early locative media project, and Vuk Ćosić's 1997 Done, which humorously subverted institutional exhibitions. By the early 2000s, Internet art evolved with platforms, incorporating for critical engagements with on sites like and , while institutions such as the Walker Art Center's Gallery 9 (1997–2003) and Rhizome.org provided platforms for preservation and exhibition. This led to art in the , where artists like blurred realms through locative media and algorithmic works, reflecting broader societal shifts toward data-driven cultures and digital ubiquity. Despite challenges like technological obsolescence and institutional integration, the genre continues to influence contemporary practices, including blockchain-based art and AI-generated interventions, underscoring the Internet's enduring role in redefining artistic boundaries.

Definition and Scope

Core Characteristics

Internet art, also known as , is defined as artistic practices created for, on, or about the , leveraging technologies as both medium and distribution channel. This encompasses web-based installations that operate within environments, networked performances that unfold in across distributed servers, and interventions that disrupt or online spaces. Unlike traditional art forms, internet art inherently depends on the 's infrastructure, including protocols like HTTP and /, to exist and be experienced, often blurring the lines between , viewer, and through participatory . Core characteristics of internet art include its accessibility directly via web browsers, eliminating the need for physical venues or proprietary hardware, which democratizes exposure to global audiences. It features non-physical materiality, where works exist as , streams, or ephemeral digital traces rather than tangible objects, allowing for infinite and mutation over time. interaction is fundamental, enabling dynamic responses to user inputs, conditions, or algorithmic processes, while hybridization integrates with visual, auditory, and textual elements to create immersive, mutable experiences. These traits emphasize the internet's connective and transient nature, fostering art that evolves with technological shifts and user engagement. Medium-specific forms highlight these characteristics, such as art that manipulates to generate abstract or glitchy visuals directly in , ASCII graphics employing text characters to form images in early text-based interfaces, and integrations with browser plugins like Shockwave for enhanced in the pre-Flash era. The term "" emerged in the mid-, originating from a software malfunction that inadvertently labeled an thread, which artists then adopted to describe their internet-centric practices. This nomenclature captured the era's experimental spirit, evolving from the origins in parallel with the web's public expansion.

Relation to Digital and New Media Art

Internet art distinguishes itself from broader digital art through its inherent reliance on networked connectivity and online infrastructure, which enables real-time interaction, distribution, and ephemerality that standalone digital works—such as offline software art or computer-generated animations—do not require. While digital art encompasses any creative practice using computational tools for creation or presentation, often operable in isolated environments like personal computers or installations, internet art demands access to the web's protocols, servers, and user participation via browsers or networks to fully instantiate and experience the work. This networked dependency positions internet art as a performative, process-oriented medium where the viewer's online engagement shapes the artwork's realization, contrasting with the more self-contained reproducibility of general digital imagery. Internet art overlaps significantly with in their mutual emphasis on , multimodality, and the integration of technology into artistic processes, yet it carves a unique niche by foregrounding the 's specific affordances like hyperlinks, data flows, and communal online spaces. broadly includes digital, kinetic, and participatory forms that challenge traditional boundaries, but internet art's dependence on evolving web architectures—such as from static in the to dynamic social platforms—highlights a critique of digital infrastructure itself, extending beyond 's general focus on technological novelty. For instance, while both fields explore user-driven narratives, internet art often leverages the web's global, decentralized nature to foster collaborative or subversive exchanges unavailable in non-networked . The form evolved from the isolated experiments of 1980s cyberart and , which utilized early personal computing for algorithmic generation and screen-based output, toward a more democratized practice following the 's commercialization and the World Wide Web's launch in the mid-1990s. Prior works, like those involving pen plotters or basic programming, were often confined to institutional or personal settings, but the transformed these into accessible, borderless platforms that empowered artists to bypass traditional gatekeepers, fostering communities through mailing lists and early websites. This shift democratized production and dissemination, turning the network into both medium and subject, and marked a pivotal expansion from cyberart's speculative futures to internet art's embedded critique of everyday life. Terminological debates underscore internet art's contested positioning, with "net art" (or "net.art") often denoting the experimental, community-driven works of the 1990s European scene—exemplified by artists like Vuk Ćosić and JODI—while "web art" emphasizes browser-specific aesthetics and "internet-based art" broadens to encompass any online instantiation. Critics like Olia Lialina have rejected the dotted "net.art" for its narrow historicism, advocating looser terms to reflect ongoing evolutions, whereas others, including Heath Bunting, warned against institutional co-optation that commodifies these practices into museum objects, diluting their anti-hierarchical ethos. Such discussions reveal ongoing tensions over whether the field should remain tied to its origins in hacker cultures and open-source ideals or adapt to broader digital commodification.

Historical Development

Origins in the 1990s

Internet art, also known as , emerged in the early alongside the development and public accessibility of the . British scientist proposed the concept of the Web in March 1989 while working at , with a refined proposal in May 1990 and the first website launching in August 1991; it became publicly available in 1993, enabling widespread experimentation with hypertext and networked media. This technological foundation allowed artists to explore the as a medium for creation, distribution, and interaction, distinct from traditional gallery spaces. Key events in the mid-1990s marked the initial institutional and communal recognition of internet art. , founded by artist in 1996 as an email discussion list in , quickly became a central platform for sharing and archiving works, fostering early online exhibitions and discourse among global practitioners. In 1997, the I/O/D collective released The Web Stalker, a custom that reimagined as a dynamic, map-like , challenging conventional interfaces and exemplifying experimental projects presented at events like the gallery's digital festivals. Communities formed rapidly through digital networks, solidifying the movement's collaborative ethos. The Nettime mailing list, launched in June 1995 by Geert Lovink and Pit Schultz during the , served as a vital forum for media theorists, artists, and activists to debate the cultural implications of the , influencing net art's critical edge. Early collectives like JODI (Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans), established in 1994, produced subversive works such as glitchy websites that disrupted browser expectations, embodying the era's playful yet interrogative approach to digital forms. These origins drew from diverse influences, including hacker culture's emphasis on code manipulation and , conceptual art movements like —which promoted anti-institutional, event-based works in the 1960s and 1970s—and pre-internet experiments such as Bulletin Board Systems (). art, like Wolfgang Staehle's launched in 1991 as a dial-up for artists, prefigured by treating networked spaces as sculptural and social mediums. Artists faced significant technical challenges, including dial-up connections limited to 28.8–56 kbps speeds and low that restricted content, often resulting in text-based or minimalist works optimized for slow loading times. Despite these constraints, many viewed the early as a utopian realm of free expression and democratic access, untainted by commercial forces, which inspired bold experiments in and collectivity.

Expansion and Maturation (2000s–2010s)

The dot-com bust of 2000–2002 curtailed the rapid expansion of internet art that had begun in the late 1990s, leading to reduced funding for digital projects and a reevaluation of the medium's viability amid widespread skepticism toward online ventures. Despite this economic setback, the proliferation of broadband internet in the mid-2000s enabled artists to incorporate richer media forms, such as video streaming, which expanded the technical possibilities for dynamic, time-based works beyond static web pages. This technological shift facilitated more immersive experiences, allowing internet art to mature as a platform for real-time interaction and experimentation. The advent of around 2004 marked a pivotal influence on internet art, emphasizing , blogs, and social platforms like that encouraged participatory practices. Artists leveraged these features to create collaborative and interactive pieces, where viewers co-authored content, blurring the lines between creator and audience in ways that echoed earlier foundations but scaled them through widespread accessibility. This era's emphasis on connectivity fostered works that critiqued or extended the participatory ethos of , transforming internet art into a more democratized form. Institutional recognition grew during this period, with major museums integrating net art into their collections and programs. For instance, in 2000–2001, the commissioned and acquired two internet art works by artists Mark Napier and John F. Simon Jr., establishing preservation protocols for digital media. Similarly, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art launched its e.space initiative in 2001, commissioning net art projects to explore online curation. Festivals like further amplified this maturation, awarding Prix categories such as ".net" in 2000 for innovative web-based works, highlighting internet art's role in electronic and interactive media. The global spread of internet art accelerated in the 2000s, with non-Western contributions addressing issues like digital divides through collective efforts. In Asia, groups such as Singapore-based artists explored early internet practices to highlight disparities in access and representation, creating works that interrogated the uneven distribution of digital resources across regions. These initiatives, often emerging from local tech hubs, emphasized cross-cultural dialogues on connectivity, contrasting with Western-centric narratives and promoting inclusive online aesthetics. By the late 2000s, internet art transitioned toward mobile and platforms, with early experiments in automated interventions around 2008–2010. bots, such as those generating poetic or conceptual outputs, exemplified this shift by automating artistic expression within streams. On , artists initiated collaborative projects that repurposed the site's walls for performative interventions, using status updates and groups to foster real-time audience engagement and critique social networking dynamics.

Post-Internet Era (2010s–Present)

The term "post-internet art" was coined by artist and curator Marisa Olson in 2008 to describe artistic practices that engage with the internet's pervasive influence on culture, often extending beyond online platforms into physical or conceptual realms, reflecting an awareness of the medium's ubiquity in everyday life. This shift marked a departure from earlier net art, emphasizing how the internet's saturation shapes artistic production offline, such as through installations that mimic digital interfaces or critique online behaviors in gallery settings. By the early 2010s, the term gained prominence amid the proliferation of social media and mobile technologies, influencing artists to explore the internet's role in identity, commodification, and global connectivity. In response to the rise of smartphones and constant connectivity, post-internet artists began addressing themes of digital addiction and data privacy, particularly following Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations about widespread government surveillance. Works like Suzanne Treister's Hexen 2.0 (2009–2011) prefigured and responded to these concerns by visualizing drone surveillance and , using simulations to critique the erosion of personal privacy in an always-on world. Similarly, Eric Pickersgill's Removed project (2015) captured the isolation of dependency through staged photographs of people interacting with invisible devices, highlighting the social fragmentation caused by perpetual connectivity. These pieces underscore a broader artistic interrogation of how mobile technologies foster addiction while enabling unprecedented data extraction, often without user consent. The emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain-based art from onward introduced new dimensions to practices, merging digital ownership with pointed critiques of financial speculation. Projects like Harm van den Dorpel's Event Listeners (2015) utilized to automate art generation and sales, satirizing the of digital creativity amid the crypto boom. Artists such as further blended these technologies with commentary, as in her There Is No There There (), which repurposed images to question virtual land ownership and speculative value in digital spaces. While NFTs promised verifiable for intangible artworks, they also sparked debates over environmental costs and market volatility, with sales peaking at over $25 billion in before a sharp decline. The from 2020 to 2022 accelerated virtual formats in art, leading to a surge in online exhibitions and -mediated performances that blurred physical and digital boundaries. Institutions like the hosted virtual shows during this period, allowing remote viewers to interact with digital works, while artists like Aria Dean experimented with for glitchy, fragmented performances that mirrored isolation. Such adaptations highlighted internet art's resilience, transforming enforced remoteness into innovative communal experiences. Contemporary trends in post-internet art increasingly incorporate -generated works and explorations, fueling debates over authenticity amid digital oversaturation. Artists like use to create immersive data sculptures, such as Machine Hallucinations (2020–present), which process vast datasets into fluid visuals, challenging notions of authorship in algorithm-driven creation. These developments reflect ongoing tensions in an era where digital abundance risks diluting artistic originality, with critics arguing that tools democratize creation while potentially homogenizing aesthetics. By 2025, post-internet art has further integrated generative models, such as evolutions of , to explore ethical issues like in works critiquing data-driven .

Key Concepts and Themes

Interactivity and User Participation

in internet art refers to the dynamic engagement of users through responses enabled by mechanisms such as hyperlinks, forms, and algorithms, which transform passive viewers into co-creators of the artwork. This approach shifts the traditional artist-audience dynamic, allowing participants to influence the work's evolution in non-linear ways, often blurring the boundaries between consumption and . Unlike , these interactions leverage the internet's networked structure to foster emergent outcomes based on collective input. The roots of this interactivity emerged in the 1990s, coinciding with the web's public accessibility, through experimental forms like chatroom-based art that enabled synchronous multi-user dialogues and choose-your-own-adventure websites that permitted branching narratives driven by user choices. These early practices capitalized on tools like IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and basic HTML to simulate conversational and navigational agency, laying the groundwork for more complex participatory systems. By the mid-1990s, such innovations highlighted the internet's potential for democratizing artistic creation beyond elite institutions. Theoretically, interactivity in internet art is informed by , which conceptualizes as a of loops between humans, machines, and networks, promoting adaptive and self-organizing processes, as explored in telematic art traditions. It also draws from participatory democracy models in theory, which posit the audience not as spectators but as essential collaborators, empowering collective authorship to challenge hierarchical power structures in cultural production. These frameworks underscore how user engagement can enact broader social experiments in agency and shared decision-making. Key forms of this manifest in collaborative wikis, where users iteratively build and revise artistic databases or conceptual maps; crowdsourced narratives, which aggregate diverse contributions to form evolving stories or archives; and gamified installations, employing rules, scores, and challenges to motivate online participation in simulated environments. These structures emphasize open-ended contribution over authorial control, enabling scalable community involvement. In interactive contexts, such user-generated elements often intersect with , as transient inputs can alter or erase content over time. Despite these potentials, interactivity faces significant challenges, including unequal access exacerbated by the , which restricts participation to those with stable connectivity, devices, and , thereby marginalizing underrepresented groups in global art networks. Additionally, troll interference poses a threat to collaborative integrity, as anonymous actors can inject disruptive, off-topic, or harmful content, undermining the intended democratic dialogue and requiring ongoing moderation strategies. These issues highlight the tension between openness and sustainability in participatory internet art.

Ephemerality and Digital Decay

Ephemerality in internet art refers to the inherent transience of digital works, which are frequently lost due to server shutdowns, link rot, and technological format changes. Server shutdowns, often driven by economic or infrastructural shifts, can abruptly erase entire projects, as seen with the 2020 discontinuation of , which rendered numerous interactive net artworks non-functional without alternative hosting. Link rot exacerbates this vulnerability, with a study finding that 38% of webpages existing in 2013 were no longer accessible by 2023, implying an average annual decay rate of approximately 3.8% for online content, a risk particularly acute for art reliant on external links. Format obsolescence further compounds these issues, as evolving standards like the shift from Shockwave to modern web technologies leave legacy works incompatible with current systems. Preservation efforts have emerged to counter these threats, with organizations like playing a pivotal role through its ArtBase, established in to collect, preserve, and contextualize internet-based creative practices. Rhizome's initiatives include updating obsolete code and conserving digital artworks to maintain accessibility, often in collaboration with institutions like . However, challenges persist in emulating historical browsing environments; for instance, modern browsers block original features like pop-up windows essential to works such as Alexei Shulgin's Homework (1997), while emulation tools like oldweb.today struggle with authentic replication of dial-up-era loading speeds and fragmented archival captures, resulting in incomplete or altered experiences. Artists have intentionally embraced as a , incorporating into their practice to reflect the internet's instability. Self-destructing webpages, where content programmatically erases itself over time, underscore themes of impermanence, while aesthetics transform technological errors into deliberate expressions of breakdown, as in Oval's 94diskont (1995), which repurposes CD scratches to create audio from digital detritus. This approach highlights the fragility of mediated experiences, using glitches to the illusion of digital permanence. Philosophically, internet art's contrasts sharply with the enduring of traditional art forms, which prioritize physical permanence, and aligns with post-structuralist notions of and , evoking Jacques Derrida's concept of where digital "ghosts" blur presence and absence in unstable networks. This transience challenges notions of authorship and fixity, positioning the work within a perpetual state of becoming rather than static being, and underscores the medium's resistance to canonical preservation. To enhance longevity, artists and archivists employ strategies such as standardizing code in open formats like to reduce dependency on proprietary technologies, as advocated in preservation frameworks that emphasize migration to interoperable standards for sustained . Case studies, including Rhizome's conservation of net artworks through , demonstrate how adhering to web standards like can mitigate obsolescence while preserving artistic intent, though such efforts require ongoing technical intervention. Interactivity in these works can accelerate decay by introducing user-dependent variables, further complicating preservation.

Critique of Internet Culture and Surveillance

Internet art has frequently engaged with themes of , particularly in response to the 2013 revelations by about the National Security Agency's (NSA) global data collection programs, which exposed the extent of state-sponsored monitoring through internet infrastructure. Artists responded by creating data visualizations and mock tracking tools to highlight the invisibility and ubiquity of digital oversight. For instance, Trevor Paglen's photographic and video works, such as those mapping undersea fiber-optic cables used for , visualize the hidden networks enabling mass data interception, drawing attention to the geopolitical dimensions of NSA operations. Similarly, Laura Poitras's 2016 exhibition Astro Noise incorporated interactive elements like visualizations derived from her own intercepted communications, critiquing the expansion of that intensified after Snowden's disclosures. These projects underscore how internet art transforms abstract data flows into tangible critiques, emphasizing the erosion of in networked societies. Critiques of in internet art often target platforms, algorithmic governance, and the through satirical interventions like hacked advertisements and memes that expose exploitative digital labor. A seminal example is Amazon Noir (2006–2007) by Ubermorgen, Paolo Cirio, and Alessandro Ludovico, which used the "Search Inside the Book" feature on to generate and sell invisible, copyrighted book excerpts, satirizing the platform's commodification of knowledge and intellectual property under neoliberal . More recent works address algorithmic control in the ; for example, Mimi Onuoha's projects, such as The Library of Missing Datasets (2016–ongoing), highlight absent data on precarious labor, critiquing how platforms like algorithmically extract value from workers while obscuring inequalities. memes and hacked ads, as seen in WAAMBAT's interventions like Body Paint (2022), which critiques facial recognition biases in advertising by training AI tools with explicit images to reveal algorithmic inconsistencies, further parody the , revealing how algorithms perpetuate capitalist surveillance by prioritizing profit over equity. Internet art also interrogates and , particularly through works confronting online , doxxing, and the dynamics of digital feminism. Artists have repurposed abusive online comments into visual and performative pieces to expose the gendered nature of internet toxicity. Sarah Maple's Comment is Free (2016) project displays troll messages received on in an interactive exhibition, reclaiming misogynistic rhetoric as a feminist of how digital platforms amplify against women. Similarly, Hollaback!'s collaborative projects, including digital mapping tools for reporting street and online , embody digital feminism by data to visualize and resist gender-based violence in virtual spaces. These efforts highlight the intersection of and technology, where doxxing— the malicious release of personal information—serves as a tool of control, prompting artists to foster and algorithmic accountability. From global perspectives, internet art originating in the Global South challenges tech dominance and colonial data flows by reimagining digital infrastructures as extensions of historical . Tabita Rezaire's video installations, such as Deep Down Tidal (2017), trace undersea cables along former slave trade routes to critique "electronic ," where data extraction mirrors resource plunder, perpetuating inequalities between the Global North and South. Likewise, Morehshin Allahyari's 3D-printed sculptures in Material Speculation: ISIS (2015–2016) and her writings on bias address how algorithms encode colonial biases, advocating for decolonial tech practices rooted in Persian and Middle Eastern contexts to disrupt data monopolies. These works emphasize non- epistemologies, countering the Eurocentric narratives embedded in global architecture. Theoretically, internet art's critiques draw from Michel Foucault's concept of the —a of constant visibility inducing self-discipline—and Marshall McLuhan's , which posits that technologies extend human senses while reshaping social structures. Foucault's informs surveillance-themed by illustrating how digital networks create asymmetric visibility, as in Suzanne Treister's HEXEN2.0 (2011–2012), which maps cybernetic histories to reveal panoptic control in online environments. McLuhan's idea of as environments influencing perception underpins critiques of capitalist platforms, where algorithms act as extensions that "numb" users to exploitation, as explored in reflexivity. Together, these frameworks enable artists to dissect power in digital networks, linking historical to contemporary ideological .

Notable Artists and Works

Pioneering Figures

Vuk Ćosić, a Slovenian artist born in 1966, emerged as a central figure in the nascent movement during the mid-1990s, coining the term "" through an accidental software in an email exchange that inadvertently capitalized the phrase in 1995. He played a pivotal role in reviving as a low-tech aesthetic within digital contexts, conducting extensive research from 1996 to 2001 that transformed early computing symbols into a medium for exploring media conversions, such as ASCII audio and moving images. Ćosić's contributions extended to foundational discussions of net.art's identity, including his organization of the 1996 "Net.art per se" conference in , which helped solidify the movement's parameters through collaborative manifestos and statements circulated online. Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans, collectively known as JODI since 1994, were among the earliest adopters of the web as an artistic platform, beginning their collaborative experiments in 1995 with a focus on glitch aesthetics and direct manipulation of source code to disrupt conventional digital interfaces. Based in the Netherlands, they pioneered techniques that exposed the underlying structures of web browsers and software, treating errors and data corruption as deliberate artistic strategies to challenge user expectations and reveal the internet's fragility. Their work from this period laid groundwork for subsequent explorations in software subversion, influencing how artists engaged with the web's code as both material and metaphor. Olia Lialina, a Russian media artist born in 1971, contributed significantly to internet art through her early experiments with narrative structures inherent to web browsers starting in the mid-1990s, creating hyperlinked "netfilms" that leveraged the medium's non-linear storytelling potential. Lialina's approach emphasized the elements of the early web, such as personal interfaces and user agency, while developing critiques of digital nostalgia that highlighted the tension between technological progress and lost online intimacies. Her persistent engagement with these themes positioned her as a bridge between net.art's origins and ongoing reflections on web history. Alexei Shulgin, a Moscow-based artist born in 1963 and founder of the WWWArt Centre in 1995, advanced browser-based performances that interrogated the performative aspects of online interactions and software interfaces during the late . Shulgin developed an anti-software aesthetic through projects like Form Art, which repurposed standard web forms into abstract, modernist patterns, critiquing the functionalism of digital tools and emphasizing their aesthetic disruptions. His curatorial efforts, including statements on desktop interfaces as personal psychoanalysts, further shaped net.art's discourse on everyday computing. The influence of women and artists in internet art's formative years is exemplified by figures like Annie Abrahams, a Dutch-born, France-based performer born in 1954, who pioneered networked from the mid-1990s onward by integrating live video, text chat, and remote collaboration to explore interpersonal dynamics in digital spaces. Abrahams's experiments emphasized collective authorship and the of online connectivity, broadening net.art's scope to include feminist perspectives on and . Her work highlighted the contributions of underrepresented genders in shaping the field's emphasis on participation and vulnerability.

Landmark Projects and Exhibitions

One of the earliest landmark projects in internet art was the "Very Cyberfeminist International" conference organized by the Old Boys Network in Hamburg, Germany, from December 13 to 16, 2001. This event, the third in a series of cyberfeminist gatherings, brought together over 60 participants from diverse global backgrounds to explore the intersections of feminism, technology, and digital networks through workshops, performances, and discussions. It emphasized collaborative, non-hierarchical structures, challenging traditional power dynamics in online spaces and producing a reader that documented contributions, influencing subsequent cyberfeminist discourse. The project's impact extended through its viral dissemination via online archives and networks, garnering hundreds of scholarly citations in media studies and art theory texts by the mid-2010s, and inspiring museum acquisitions of related cyberfeminist ephemera, such as OBN publications, by institutions like the ZKM Center for Art and Media. A pivotal exhibition, "net_condition" at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in , , ran from September 1999 to February 2000, marking one of the first major museum presentations of internet art with over 50 works addressing global media networks, , and societal transformations. Curated by and Walter van der Cruijsen, it featured projects like Jeffrey Shaw's Net.Art Browser and showcased the medium's potential beyond screens, integrating physical installations with online components. The exhibition's catalog, published by , sold over 10,000 copies and received extensive scholarly citations, solidifying net art's institutional legitimacy, while several works were acquired by ZKM's permanent collection, demonstrating early curatorial investment in . The 2011 "" exhibition at the (MoMA) in expanded internet art's scope by including net-based interactive designs within a broader dialogue on human-object communication, running from July 24 to November 7 and attracting over 100,000 visitors. Curated by Paola Antonelli, it highlighted net art elements such as David McCandless's "Hierarchy of Digital Distractions" visualization and Kate Hartman's Twitter-linked Muttering Hat, blending online participation with gallery experiences to critique digital mediation. Its hybrid format—physical displays augmented by web access—fostered viral online engagement, with related projects shared millions of times on social platforms, and led to MoMA acquisitions of several digital works, underscoring curatorial shifts toward accessible, participatory formats. Later projects like Hito Steyerl's 2013 video installation "How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File" satirically instructed viewers on evading digital surveillance through pixelation and camouflage, addressing themes of invisibility in data-driven worlds via a 14-minute single-channel work. Exhibited widely, including at the 2013 Art Basel and Tate Modern, it achieved viral spread with over a million online views by 2015 and hundreds of scholarly citations in surveillance studies, while being acquired by MoMA's collection in 2014, highlighting internet art's critique of algorithmic visibility. Legacy Russell's "Glitch Feminism" manifesto, initially published online in 2012, theorized as emancipatory tools for and racialized identities in digital spaces, inspiring related internet art projects like performances and virtual avatars that disrupt binary norms. Its influence manifested in viral online dissemination, with the essay cited over 500 times in academic works by 2020, and informed curatorial projects such as the 2018 "Glitch Feminisms" series at Pioneer Works, where hybrid digital-physical installations explored embodiment, leading to acquisitions of by institutions like the . Curatorial trends in internet art have evolved from purely online-only shows in the , such as browser-based exhibitions on platforms like , to hybrid physical-digital formats by the 2010s, integrating tours, overlays, and live-streamed interactions to bridge virtual ephemerality with tangible experiences. This shift, evident in events like the 2020 Serpentine Galleries' digital pavilion during the pandemic, has enhanced accessibility, with hybrid exhibitions reaching global audiences 10-fold over traditional ones, while prompting museums to develop preservation strategies for volatile net works.

Tools and Technologies

Essential Software and Platforms

In the formative years of internet art during the , basic and CSS editors played a crucial role in enabling artists to craft handmade web pages without advanced programming skills. , released in its first version in by Bare Bones Software for the Macintosh platform, emerged as a popular freeware tool for editing and text, allowing creators to build simple, static websites that formed the backbone of early experiments. These editors facilitated the amateur aesthetic characteristic of the era, where artists manually coded pages to explore digital expression. Pre-2000s technologies like Java applets and further expanded the possibilities for interactivity in internet art. Java applets, small Java-based programs embeddable in web pages, were widely used in the mid-1990s to create dynamic, interactive elements, as seen in pioneering works like Mark Napier's net.flag (2002), commissioned by the Guggenheim Museum, which relied on applets for real-time flag-waving simulations across global servers. Similarly, , originally FutureSplash Animator launched in 1996 and acquired by Macromedia (later ) in 1997, became a staple for animated and net art from the late 1990s onward, enabling rich, vector-based interactions that defined projects like those archived in the Net Art Anthology. These tools democratized access to motion and user engagement but introduced ephemerality risks as browser support waned. Early hosting platforms were essential for distributing internet art to wide audiences. GeoCities, launched in 1994 and operational until 2009, provided free web hosting organized into thematic "neighborhoods," fostering a vibrant culture where artists created personal and experimental sites as a form of folk . By 2003, emerged as a pivotal platform for dynamic websites, initially forked from /cafelog as an open-source that simplified blogging and site updates, allowing artists to produce evolving, database-driven without deep coding expertise. Open-source software staples from the early 2000s supported specialized aspects of internet art creation. , initiated in 2001 by and Ben Fry at the , is a programming language and environment tailored for visual artists, enabling the generation of graphics, animations, and data visualizations through accessible Java-based sketches. Complementing this, Pure Data (Pd), developed by Miller Puckette in the as a free alternative to Max/MSP, offers a visual programming interface for real-time audio and multimedia processing, widely adopted in for networked sound installations and interactive performances. Hosting options evolved in the 2010s to prioritize low-cost, accessible deployment for artists. , introduced in 2008 as a free static site hosting service integrated with repositories, has become a go-to platform for internet artists to publish /CSS/JavaScript-based projects directly from version-controlled code, supporting collaborative and iterative web art development. Similarly, (AWS) free tier, offering always-free usage limits on services like S3 storage and EC2 compute instances since its launch in 2010, enables low-cost or no-cost deployment of dynamic internet art sites, particularly for hobbyists and independent creators managing bandwidth-intensive works. To enhance accessibility for non-programmers, tools like have lowered barriers in interactive internet art. Launched in 2009 by Chris Klimas as an open-source platform, allows users to build nonlinear, text-based stories and games through a simple drag-and-drop interface that exports to , empowering artists without coding backgrounds to create branching narratives central to digital fiction and participatory .

Integration with Emerging Tech

Internet art practitioners have embraced to push the boundaries of digital expression, fostering novel interactions between virtual and physical realms while interrogating the infrastructures that underpin them. , artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and the (IoT) serve as extensions of net-based practices, enabling artists to track ownership, generate content collaboratively, create immersive web experiences, and link online networks to tangible environments. These integrations not only enhance artistic experimentation but also highlight the ethical dimensions of technological proliferation, such as data biases and ecological footprints. Blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized tracking in internet art by providing immutable records of ownership and on decentralized ledgers. Introduced as a standard for unique digital items, NFTs allow artists to embed metadata that verifies the origin and transfer history of artworks, mitigating issues of inherent in web-based media. A seminal example is the 2017 project by Dapper Labs, where blockchain-minted virtual collectibles inspired artistic derivatives, such as generative visuals and interactive breeding simulations treated as , demonstrating how scarcity and traceability can redefine value in digital creations. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have empowered generative tools in internet art, enabling real-time collaborative creations that blend human input with algorithmic output. Platforms like Runway ML democratize access to machine learning models, allowing artists to train custom systems for video synthesis, style transfer, and without extensive coding expertise. This facilitates web-embedded projects where users co-author evolving artworks, such as browser-based animations that adapt to collective inputs, extending the participatory of early into AI-driven ecosystems. The WebXR standard, first published in 2018 by the W3C and advanced to Candidate Recommendation in 2022, has facilitated web-based virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences in internet art, seamlessly integrating immersive elements into browsers without dedicated apps. This API supports device-agnostic rendering of 3D scenes, enabling artists to overlay virtual objects on physical spaces or craft fully navigable online worlds accessible via standard web links. Projects leveraging WebXR, such as metaverse exhibitions, blend viewer movements with real-time data streams to create hybrid environments that critique the seamlessness of digital-physical divides, allowing global audiences to engage in shared, location-independent installations. IoT and sensor technologies have enabled networked installations in internet art that bridge online interfaces with real-world devices, capturing environmental data to inform dynamic web visuals. Artists deploy distributed sensors to monitor urban phenomena like or traffic, streaming live feeds into browser-based dashboards that visualize . For instance, Stanza's city-scale works use arrays to sonify and map sensor data in , transforming physical inputs into interactive that reveals hidden patterns in everyday infrastructure. Ethical considerations in these integrations have prompted internet artists to confront biases embedded in AI datasets and the environmental costs of computational technologies. Works addressing AI biases expose how training data perpetuates racial, , and cultural stereotypes in generative outputs, using web platforms to remix flawed algorithms into critical interfaces that invite user reflection. Similarly, projects quantify the carbon emissions from AI model training and blockchain mining, employing data visualizations to advocate for sustainable practices, such as low-energy alternatives in production.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

Influence on Broader Art Practices

Internet art has significantly hybridized with traditional art practices by adapting ephemeral digital works for physical gallery contexts, often through screenshots, performances, and sculptural translations. For instance, the Artbase 101 exhibition at the in 2005 displayed 40 selections from online archives as printed screenshots to make internet-based pieces accessible in a conventional space. Similarly, the Art Center's "Let’s Entertain" in 2000 incorporated physical representations, such as a revolving door embedded with screens for the Art Entertainment Network, bridging online interactivity with tangible . sculpture exemplifies this fusion, as in Carlo Zanni's "Altarboy – Oriana" (2004), a portable server-sculpture that materializes web data into a sellable object critiquing digital . These adaptations, seen in institutions like the Whitney Museum's Programmed exhibition (2018–2019), reflect how digital processes now inform material artworks, such as John F. Simon Jr.'s software-based Color Panel v1.0 (1999) displayed on modified hardware. In art education, internet art has reshaped curricula since the by integrating and net ethics, fostering critical engagement with . Secondary programs now use web authoring tools like to teach students to create and analyze , demystifying its aesthetics and encouraging purposeful exploration beyond superficial use. This includes examining works like Olia Lialina's My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (1996) to address ethical issues such as and online commerce, challenging pre-internet teaching models reliant on . Despite barriers like training costs, these elements promote and ethical reflection, evolving art pedagogy toward networked, participatory practices. The participatory and subversive strategies of internet art have crossed into commercial realms, influencing , meme culture, and by emphasizing virality and audience interaction. projects like 0100101110101101.org's "Nike Ground" (2003) parodied corporate campaigns, mimicking tactics to critique while demonstrating how digital interventions can spread rapidly online. This blurring extends to contemporary practices, where digital platforms like merge art imagery with ads, leading advertisers to adopt aesthetics for emotional engagement in consumer campaigns. culture, rooted in internet art's remixing ethos, now drives strategies, as brands leverage to replicate the organic sharing seen in early collectives. Internet art's low-barrier online publishing has democratized access, amplifying marginalized voices globally by bypassing traditional gatekeepers. Platforms like and enable artists from underrepresented groups, such as Indigenous creators James Jones and Shina Nova, to share cultural dances and songs directly with international audiences without institutional approval. Similarly, LGBTQ+ creators like and Natalie Wynn use these spaces to explore identity and philosophy, fostering inclusive narratives that challenge dominant art markets. This shift promotes diversity, as acts as a virtual gallery allowing previously sidelined artists to build followings and secure commissions through accessible digital tools. Metrics underscore internet art's institutional and economic influence, with biennales like the featuring dedicated spaces such as the Internet Pavilion since 2009, including the 2011 "BYOB" projection event that highlighted participatory net works. Further recognition came in 2022 with "Assange Is Internet Internet Is Assange," using NFTs to address digital permanence and free speech. In the art market, digital art sales reflect this impact, with the sector valued at USD 5.8 billion in 2025 and projected to reach USD 11.81 billion by 2030 at a 15.28% CAGR, driven by and online marketplaces that comprise 78% of 2024 revenue. These figures illustrate how internet art has scaled from niche to a significant portion of global art commerce.

Societal and Ethical Considerations

Internet art raises significant equity concerns, as the often excludes artists from non-Western regions and low-income communities who lack reliable , high-speed connectivity, or the hardware necessary for creation and distribution. This disparity limits participation in global networks, where Western-dominated platforms and exhibitions prioritize those with technological resources, perpetuating cultural imbalances in the . To counter these barriers, initiatives like open-access archives have emerged, providing free, decentralized repositories for digital artworks that enable broader discovery and preservation without financial or geographic restrictions, thus fostering inclusivity for underrepresented creators. Ethical dilemmas in internet art frequently revolve around consent in participatory projects, where users interact with works that collect personal inputs—such as text, images, or behaviors—often without explicit, informed agreement on how that will be used or stored. Ownership of in these interactive pieces further complicates matters, as artists and platforms may claim rights over contributions, blurring lines between collaboration and exploitation under varying laws. Additionally, the environmental of internet art's reliance on servers contributes to substantial and carbon emissions, with hosting exhibitions or NFTs requiring constant computational power that exacerbates challenges. Efforts to mitigate these include adopting energy-efficient hosting and advocating for transparent practices, though implementation remains inconsistent across the field. Internet art has driven cultural shifts by serving as a medium for , particularly in challenging and on digital platforms. Projects under the banner have mobilized against algorithms that suppress artistic expression, using decentralized networks to bypass restrictions and amplify marginalized voices in regions facing authoritarian controls. These works not only critique but also shape public discourse on technology's societal role, encouraging broader awareness of how online spaces influence free expression and cultural production. For instance, the "Don't Delete Art" initiative documents and redistributes censored artworks removed from , highlighting algorithmic biases and advocating for artist rights in virtual environments. In response to events like the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, which exposed the misuse of millions of user profiles for political manipulation, internet artists produced critical works examining data privacy and corporate overreach, such as interactive installations that simulate harvesting to provoke reflection on and . These responses underscore internet art's capacity to engage with real-world ethical breaches, transforming scandals into platforms for discourse on digital accountability. Looking ahead, the sustainability of internet art faces debates amid AI's growing dominance, which automates creation processes and raises questions about authorship, job displacement for human artists, and the of AI training on vast server farms. Potential regulations, including reforms to protect human contributions in AI-assisted works and mandates for energy-efficient practices, are under discussion to ensure equitable , though inconsistencies in policy could widen existing divides; for example, the U.S. Copyright Office's January 2025 addressed the ability of AI outputs, while the EU AI Act's prohibitions on high-risk AI took effect in February 2025.

References

  1. [1]
    Internet art | Grove Art - Oxford Art Online
    Sep 22, 2015 · Art that uses the Internet not only as its tool of production and distribution but also as its source material or medium, and exploits or ...
  2. [2]
    Internet Art Movement Overview | TheArtStory
    Mar 26, 2023 · Advances in telecommunications technology have inspired artists to create artworks that made use of global connectivity, real-time information sharing.
  3. [3]
    Histories of the Digital Now | Whitney Museum of American Art
    Instead, digital art might be defined as art that explores digital technologies as a medium by making use of its medium's key features, such as its real-time, ...
  4. [4]
    WEB WORK: A HISTORY OF INTERNET ART - Artforum
    Net.art stood for communications and graphics, e-mail, texts and images, referring to and merging into one another; it was artists, enthusiasts, and ...Missing: scholarly | Show results with:scholarly
  5. [5]
    Internet Art | Tate
    Internet art is art that is made on and for the internet, also known as net art. It encompasses various sub-genres of computer-based art including browser art ...
  6. [6]
    What is net art? - Net.Specific
    Net art is an elusive and sometimes anarchic art form which uses the Internet as its primary material. Net art works often draw on data from other Internet ...
  7. [7]
    INTRODUCTION TO NET.ART (1994-1999) - WIRED
    Oct 17, 2013 · 1. Definition a. net.art is a self-defining term created by a malfunctioning piece of software, originally used to describe an art and ...
  8. [8]
    The Philosophy of Digital Art
    Feb 23, 2015 · ... Internet art. With this growth, we can expect to to learn a great ... digital art curators specify the features of digital art works.
  9. [9]
    What's Postinternet Got to do with Net Art? - Rhizome.org
    Nov 1, 2013 · "Postinternet" emerges as a useful term for tracking artists' shifting relationships with the rapidly-changing cultural objects we know as "the internet."
  10. [10]
    [PDF] Josephine-Bosma-2011-Nettitudes.pdf - Institute of Network Cultures
    by using the term 'Internet Art' instead of net art. As I described earlier ... Internet art = Web art. Internet art is a form of Web design. Internet ...
  11. [11]
    A short history of the Web | CERN
    Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first proposal for the World Wide Web in March 1989 and his second proposal in May 1990. Together with Belgian systems engineer Robert ...
  12. [12]
    A Net Art Pioneer Evolves With the Digital Age: Rhizome Turns 20
    Sep 1, 2016 · After launching Rhizome, Tribe moved back to the States in 1996 and ... In 1996, Slovenian artist Vuk Cosić made his first net art work, Net.
  13. [13]
    <nettime> community
    History. The formation of <nettime> goes back to the spring of 1995. A first meeting called <nettime> was organized in June 1995, at the Venice Bienale, as a ...Nettime-L · Tldr.nettime · Archives · Publications
  14. [14]
    JODI | Whitney Museum of American Art
    JODI (Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans), or jodi.org, started pioneering Web art in 1994. Based in the Netherlands, they were among the first artists to ...Missing: collective | Show results with:collective
  15. [15]
    Fluxus Movement Overview - The Art Story
    Fluxus artists encouraged a playful and open-minded approach to art-making, creating a wide range of unconventional works, often using ordinary objects and ...
  16. [16]
    “Did We Dream Enough?” THE THING BBS as an Experiment in ...
    Dec 16, 2020 · Rhizome champions born-digital art and culture through commissions, exhibitions, scholarship, and digital preservation.
  17. [17]
    History and Evolution of Net Art | Art and Technology Class Notes
    The internet revolutionized art in the 1990s, giving birth to net art. Artists like Vuk Ćosić and Jodi.org pushed boundaries, using the web as their canvas.
  18. [18]
    Digital Utopianism: Where Do We Stand 10 Years Later?
    Jun 21, 2023 · In the 1990s, almost everyone agreed: the internet would give individuals a new voice in public life and make it possible to create a society ...
  19. [19]
    [PDF] Situating Internet Art in the Traditional Institution for Contemporary Art
    This thesis provides a critical analysis of the relation between Internet art and the traditional institution for contemporary art in the North American and ...
  20. [20]
    History of Streaming Media | Infographic - Wowza
    Feb 21, 2023 · Broadband penetration was increasing and mobile cellular technologies were advancing. Adobe Flash was living its best life, powering 98% of ...Missing: proliferation | Show results with:proliferation
  21. [21]
    Hz #16 -"Grains of Gold in All This Shift" - HZ Journal
    WEB 2.0 AND PARTICIPATORY ART. Origins of and issues around participatory art. Several theorists describe the development of participation in art today in ...
  22. [22]
    [PDF] Context and Archive: Presenting and Preserving Net-based Art
    2000-2001 to commission and acquire into the permanent collection two works of Internet art by. Mark Napier and John F. Simon, Jr. In collaboration with the ...
  23. [23]
    PRIX - Ars Electronica Archiv
    The Prix Ars Electronica Showcase is a collection where all the artist submissions for the Prix since 1987 can be searched and viewed. The winning projects are ...
  24. [24]
    Excavating Amnesia: A Media Archaeology of Early Internet Art from ...
    By drawing upon Jussi Parikka's elucidation of media archaeology, two early instances of internet art by Singaporean artists will be analysed: Ocarina (1994), a ...
  25. [25]
    Meet the artists who were built by a bot factory - Apollo Magazine
    Feb 3, 2021 · In the more optimistic age of the early 2010s, accounts such as @everyword, @deepquestionbot and @tinycarebot were celebrated examples of ...Missing: 2008-2010 | Show results with:2008-2010<|separator|>
  26. [26]
    The creative uses of Facebook as a tool for artistic collaboration
    Based on a practical performance-based research project 'Feedback', this chapter focuses on the use of Facebook as a tool for creative collaboration and ...
  27. [27]
    Post-internet art - Monoskop
    Marisa Olson, "On the Internet, No One Knows You're a Doghouse", eFlux Post-Internet Cities Conference, 2017. "An Overview of the Post-Internet Art Movement and ...
  28. [28]
    The Digital Culture Odyssey of Post-Internet Art | Frieze
    Nov 7, 2023 · Post-internet art ran parallel to the rise of social media and a corporate, advertising-based internet landscape.<|separator|>
  29. [29]
    Post-Surveillance: Suzanne Treister's riposte to 'Post-Internet' art
    Sep 9, 2014 · Drones and surveillance culture in general have since become key themes in Treister's art. Long before the Edward Snowden leaks, she was ...
  30. [30]
    Communication issues? Eric Pickersgill found the solution
    Jan 21, 2016 · He decided to illustrate the psycological and social effects of how addict people have become to smartphones. The portraits show individuals who ...
  31. [31]
    Snowden: NSA Collects 'Everything,' Including Content Of Emails
    Jun 17, 2013 · Self-described NSA leaker Edward Snowden has made some stunning allegations during a live chat with The Guardian today.
  32. [32]
    NFT art bubble? 2017 crypto bust could spell out the future of current ...
    Mar 31, 2021 · NFT art bubble? 2017 crypto bust could spell out the future of current boom. Mania for non-fungible tokens is gripping the art world, with one ...Missing: critique post-
  33. [33]
    The Truth About Digital Artists, NFTs & the Art World — CAI
    Sep 10, 2024 · NFTs were invented in 2014 but only gained significant attention around 2017, followed by an astronomic rise in 2019. Unlike cryptocurrencies ...Missing: critique post- internet
  34. [34]
    Cryptoart: ethical challenges of the NFT revolution - Nature
    Mar 6, 2024 · This study will delve into the ethical aspects underlying what is known as the NFT Revolution, particularly impacts related to the abuse or destruction of ...
  35. [35]
    The Top Ten Online Exhibitions of 2020 - Smithsonian Magazine
    Dec 31, 2020 · From a Smithsonian show on first ladies to Mexican muralists, Rembrandt and the making of the Met, these were some of our favorite virtual experiences.
  36. [36]
    Art in a virtual reality: the platforms bringing culture home
    Oct 6, 2022 · Our pick of virtual art platforms, exhibitions and initiatives offering creativity from home during Covid-19.
  37. [37]
    The next act: how the pandemic is shaping online theatre's future
    Sep 21, 2020 · A current Zoom series made by the Gate theatre, called Letters, similarly focuses on pandemic life: two artists read out letters to each other ...
  38. [38]
    The Future Of Art: Generative AI, Web3 And The Immersive Internet
    Jul 28, 2023 · The generative AI, the metaverse and Web3 technology are set to revolutionize the art world, offering new opportunities for artists and ...
  39. [39]
    Digital Art and the Metaverse: Benefits and Challenges - MDPI
    We discuss the concept of the Metaverse, its structure, the role of artificial intelligence and the benefits (and limitations) the technology holds for digital ...2. Background · 2.1. Metaverse Structure · 4. Results
  40. [40]
    Digital art work and AI: a new paradigm for work in the contemporary ...
    Feb 20, 2024 · This paper explores a paradigm shift in work culture in the contemporary art sector due to digital transition and the introduction of AI.Digital Art Work And Ai: A... · Ai Adoption And Regulation... · Impacts Of Ai On Art, The...
  41. [41]
    https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/91cb3f7c-e7d5-4fd6-862f-7c595c86ca9a/content
  42. [42]
    [PDF] Aspects of Gaia: Roy Ascott's Art and the Embodiment of Second ...
    today is known as Net art or Internet art, but ... kinetics, interactivity, audience-participation paralleled with the gaining currency of cybernetics.
  43. [43]
    (PDF) "Interactive Art for a Challenged Democracy" - Academia.edu
    ... participatory" democracy such as Jean-Jacques and Rakowitz's methods and ... interactivity. An unconstrained counter-segmentation needs. To illustrate ...
  44. [44]
    https://monoskop.org/images/2/2d/Bishop_Claire_2012_Digital_Divide.pdf
  45. [45]
    [PDF] Digital Divide - Monoskop
    Sep 1, 2012 · ClAiRE BiShOP iS ASSOCiATE PROFESSOR in ThE Ph.D. PROGRAM in. ART hiSTORy AT CUny GRADUATE CEnTER, nEw yORK. For notes, see page 534.
  46. [46]
    Rearranging Authority through Acts of Deception - Academia.edu
    Trolling serves as a participatory art form, challenging authority through irony and deception. Historical context shows that avant-garde movements began to ...
  47. [47]
    Archiving the Ephemeral: Guerilla New Media Art Preservation
    Sep 9, 2024 · At any moment, servers can be shut down, file formats made obsolete, and websites deleted. When archiving files, errors and malicious actors ...
  48. [48]
    When Online Content Disappears - Pew Research Center
    May 17, 2024 · A quarter of all webpages that existed at one point between 2013 and 2023 are no longer accessible.
  49. [49]
    Conservation in Collections of Digital Works of Art - Cultural Heritage
    In 1999 the Rhizome ArtBase was founded as an online archive that sought to collect, preserve, and contextualize the creative practices that had emerged in the ...
  50. [50]
    The Challenges of Preserving Digital Art - Google Arts & Culture
    Rhizome's tools are already preserving a growing number of digital-born artworks, and together we're making them accessible online for free.
  51. [51]
    [PDF] The Unending Lives of Net-Based Artworks: Web Archives, Browser ...
    May 23, 2017 · I provide an overview of challenges and approaches to the preservation of net-based artworks, illustrating how these processes shape the ...
  52. [52]
    [PDF] Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Information
    These cases exemplify all of the modes of loss discussed in this paper: physical decay of media, loss of information about the format, encoding, or compression ...
  53. [53]
    Glitch, the Post-digital Aesthetic of Failure and Twenty-First-Century ...
    First of all, a glitch draws attention to the process of mediation. As already stated, by hampering a technology's conventional functionality, glitches ...
  54. [54]
    Art and ephemera post-structuralist perspective: visual art ...
    Jan 26, 2011 · Forms of art and ephemera exist as statements about conditions of change, and, of these, key pieces illuminate the impact of people in their own ...Missing: philosophical implications
  55. [55]
    Longevity of Electronic Art - Howard Besser's Site
    It examines the various hardware and software issues surrounding digital longevity, then discusses the special characteristics of electronic art that make it ...Missing: net | Show results with:net
  56. [56]
    NSA files decoded: Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations ...
    Nov 1, 2013 · In the last five months, the NSA's surveillance practices have been revealed to be a massive international operation, staggering in scope.Missing: art | Show results with:art
  57. [57]
    Trevor Paglen: The Man Making Art From Government Surveillance
    Dec 9, 2018 · Trevor Paglen thinks about being monitored by things you can't see: secret military bases, tapped cables, spy satellites.
  58. [58]
    At the Whitney, Pulitzer Prize-Winner Laura Poitras Presents ... - Artsy
    Feb 4, 2016 · At the Whitney, Pulitzer Prize-Winner Laura Poitras Presents a Haunting Study of America's Post-9/11 Surveillance State ... “This all needs to get ...
  59. [59]
    Amazon Noir - V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media
    The "Amazon Noir" crew (Paolo Cirio, Alessandro Ludovico, Ubermorgen.com) stole copyrighted books from Amazon in 2006/2007 by using sophisticated technology ...Missing: net | Show results with:net
  60. [60]
    Artists Against Algorithms - Right Click Save
    Feb 10, 2023 · Artists such as Johanna Burai, Stephanie Dinkins and Mimi Onuoha have developed ways to evade and confront the coercive activities of the algorithm.Missing: satire e- commerce
  61. [61]
    The artist turning internet trolling into art | Dazed
    Apr 5, 2016 · Social media abuse and online trolling is as an inevitable by-product of creative expression today, but that doesn't mean it hurts any less.
  62. [62]
    Turning Online Harassment and Abusive Comments Into Art | WIRED
    Dec 19, 2018 · Victims of online harassment are using their experiences to inform their work—subverting spiteful comments to create meaningful art ...
  63. [63]
    AI Bias and Digital Colonialism; A Conversation with Morehshin ...
    Oct 16, 2023 · Morehshin Allahyari: I am an artist who works at the intersection of technology and activism. My work is often research-based, and over the past ...
  64. [64]
    [PDF] Ways of being seen: surveillance art and the interpellation of ...
    Critical artworks about surveillance introduce compelling possibilities for rethinking the relationship of people to larger systems of control. This paper.
  65. [65]
    [PDF] MCLUHAN AND THE CULTURAL THEORY OF MEDIA | MediaTropes
    Media are surely central to Western societies of the past several centuries and to the emerging global societies of the contemporary era and the future.
  66. [66]
    Vuk Cosic | net-art
    Works and experiments with moving ASCII , ASCII audio, ASCII camera and such, are all directed towards conversions of contents between one media platform and ...
  67. [67]
    Vuk Cosic about net art - Absolute One - Ljudmila.org
    I did the first website that could be called net art in May 1996 for a conference called "Net.art per se" that took place in Trieste in Italy.
  68. [68]
    Biography - JODI - Electronic Arts Intermix
    Internet provocateurs JODI pioneered Web art in the mid-1990s. Based in The Netherlands, JODI (Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans) were among the first artists ...Missing: glitch manipulation 1995
  69. [69]
    [PDF] glitch.pdf - Espacio Byte
    Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans, who work under the name. Jodi, are clearly spiritual ancestors of modern data corrupters. In addition to being Skyped in ...
  70. [70]
    Speaking in Net Language: My Boyfriend Came Back from the War
    Nov 10, 2016 · This article accompanies the presentation of Olia Lialina's My Boyfriend Came Back from the War as a part of the online exhibition Net Art ...
  71. [71]
    Olia Lialina - Artforum
    Mar 31, 2020 · Pioneering Net artist Olia Lialina was one of the first to make work for networked browsers and she's one of the few from that first wave to persist.Missing: nostalgia | Show results with:nostalgia
  72. [72]
    Olia Lialina's Most Famous Net Art Piece Turns 15 - VICE
    Aug 9, 2011 · This charmingly simple yet poignant work, along with the overwhelming sense of nostalgia ... work is concentrated around vernacular web culture. I ...Missing: critique | Show results with:critique
  73. [73]
    https://artsandculture.google.com/story/form-art-preserving-the-browser-with-oldweb-today-rhizome/ewUhHbXmUf76Kw
  74. [74]
    [PDF] The Aesthetics of Net.Art - The Thing
    Mar 4, 2003 · The 'objects' of Internet art are far from being conventional art objects. ... In 'form art', Alexei Shulgin makes formal, modernist patterns out ...
  75. [75]
    Addictive Behaviours: Interview with Artist Annie Abrahams
    Oct 22, 2017 · A highly regarded pioneer of networked performance art, Abrahams brings her academic training in both biology and fine arts to develop what she ...Missing: non- | Show results with:non-
  76. [76]
    Annie Abrahams - Monoskop
    Dec 15, 2022 · She is known for her net art and collective writing experiments and is an internationally regarded pioneer of networked performance art.Missing: women | Show results with:women
  77. [77]
    Annie Abrahams. Allergic To Utopias • Digicult | Digital Art, Design ...
    Oct 1, 2010 · Abrahams's work most often employs networking technologies: she produces networked performances, net.art pieces, collective writing projects ...Missing: non- binary internet<|control11|><|separator|>
  78. [78]
    [PDF] obn conference - Old Boys Network
    'very Cyberfeminist International'. The conference took place in December 2002, and with its more than 60 active partici- pants was the biggest ...
  79. [79]
    Old Boys Network - Monoskop
    Oct 28, 2025 · Very Cyberfeminist International conference, Lichtmess-Kino, Hamburg, 13-16 Dec 2001. Organised by Old Boys Network (Verena Kuni, Helene von ...the truth lies in between · Events · Publications · About Old Boys Network
  80. [80]
    Cyberfeminism - Furtherfield
    The cyberfeminist alliance Old Boys Network, however, agreed in 1997, at ... very Cyberfeminist International, Hamburg, 2001. CS+ RB: Many thanks for ...
  81. [81]
    net_condition - ZKM Karlsruhe
    Sep 23, 1999 · It's about the artist's look at the way society and technology interact with each other, are each other's »condition«.
  82. [82]
    net_condition - Monoskop
    Sep 9, 2024 · net_condition: Art and Global Media was an exhibition of net art held at ZKM in Karlsruhe from 23 September 1999 through 27 February 2000 ...
  83. [83]
    Net.Condition: From The Network To The Coffee Table
    It's about time net-culture got its own coffee-table catalogue and Net_Condition: Art and Global Media is as close as it gets. Edited by Peter Weibel and ...
  84. [84]
    Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People ... - MoMA
    Talk to Me explores the communication between people and things. All objects contain information that goes well beyond their immediate use or appearance.
  85. [85]
    Hierarchy of Digital Distractions @ MoMA - Information is Beautiful
    “Talk To Me”, curated by the legendary Paola Antonelli, explores how innovations in communication design are transforming our lives. It features interactive ...
  86. [86]
    Talk to Me - MoMA
    Talk to Me explores this new terrain, featuring a variety of designs that enhance communicative possibilities and embody a new balance between technology and ...Missing: internet examples
  87. [87]
    Hito Steyerl. How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational ...
    Hito Steyerl. How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File. 2013. Video (color, sound). 14 min. Committee on Media and Performance Art Funds ...
  88. [88]
    How to become invisible | SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT
    Dec 22, 2020 · To become invisible one has to become smaller or equal to one pixel. Excerpt from Hito Steyerl's video work. Hito Steyerl, How Not to Be Seen: A ...
  89. [89]
    Surveillance in Hito Steyerl's How Not to be Seen
    Mar 5, 2021 · New media art, surveillance, Hito Steyerl, Visibility, Invisibility ... In this paper, I analyze Hito Steyerl's artwork How Not to be Seen: A ...
  90. [90]
    Digital Dualism And The Glitch Feminism Manifesto - Cyborgology
    Dec 10, 2012 · Digital Dualism And The Glitch Feminism Manifesto. Legacy Russell on December 10, 2012. This piece was supposed to be about porn star James ...
  91. [91]
    https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/13950
  92. [92]
    'I Say Tear It All Down': Curator Legacy Russell on How 'Glitch ...
    Sep 27, 2020 · 'Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto' by Legacy Russell tackles the liberating potential of the digital for queer and other marginalized ...
  93. [93]
    [PDF] From Presenting and Collecting Digital Art to Networked Co-curation
    online world of the Internet and the physical world of art. I like to organize physical shows without being physically present but it's always better if I ...<|separator|>
  94. [94]
    (PDF) Art curation in virtual spaces: The influence of digital ...
    Aug 25, 2024 · This study delves into the intersection of digital technology and art curation, and attempts to explore the multifaceted and transformative influences of ...
  95. [95]
    The Future of Digital Curation: Transforming Art Galleries - Intuiface
    Aug 22, 2024 · Explore how digital curation is reshaping art galleries and museums, enhancing visitor experiences, and transforming the way we engage with art in the future.
  96. [96]
    BBEdit HTML and text editor - Web Design Museum
    Bare Bones Software released the first version of the BBEdit freeware HTML and text editor. The editor was designed for the Macintosh platform.
  97. [97]
    Conservators and computer scientists join forces to update older ...
    Apr 13, 2020 · The basis of net.flag was Java applets, a technology used to make interactive applications that is no longer supported by today's internet ...<|separator|>
  98. [98]
    RIP Adobe Flash: Five Takeaways About the Plug-in's Legacy in Net ...
    Dec 18, 2020 · Artists and digital archivists share thoughts regarding its demise and what open source tools are accessible to archive old Flash-based works.
  99. [99]
    WordPress in 2003 - Web Design Museum
    Relive the early 2000s with the WordPress in 2003. Visit the Web Design Museum's gallery and experience the evolution of the internet.
  100. [100]
    Welcome to Processing! / Processing.org
    Since 2001, Processing has promoted software literacy within the visual arts and visual ... Processing is an open project initiated by Ben Fry and Casey Reas. It ...
  101. [101]
    Pure Data
    Pure Data is an open source visual programming environment that runs on anything from personal computers to embedded devices (ie Raspberry Pi) and smartphones.
  102. [102]
    Show it to the World! Build a Free Art Portfolio Website on GitHub.io ...
    GitHub.io (also known as GitHub Pages) is a great option if you want to host a static website for free. With basic tools such as HTML, JavaScript, Jekyll and ...
  103. [103]
    Free Cloud Computing Services - AWS Free Tier
    Start your AWS journey with up to $200 in Free Tier credits. Gain access to 30+ always free service. Explore and experiment with AWS services at no cost for up ...FAQs · Terms · Free AWS cloud security trials · AWS Lambda
  104. [104]
    Hi! - Twine
    Hi! Twine is an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories. There are a few things you should know before you get started.
  105. [105]
    [PDF] Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative ...
    Jun 28, 2021 · “Net art” is a general term for art in which the internet is the primary medium, which can only be encountered and engaged with online. The more ...
  106. [106]
    https://twinery.org/2/
  107. [107]
    Runway ML puts AI tools in the hands of creators everywhere
    Jul 10, 2019 · A new program called Runway ML aims to make this process easier by providing artists, designers, filmmakers, and others with an “app store” of machine learning ...Missing: creations | Show results with:creations
  108. [108]
    New API to Bring Augmented Reality to the Web - Mozilla Hacks
    Sep 10, 2018 · The WebXR Device API has two goals that differentiate it from WebVR: support for new user inputs like voice and gestural navigation, ...Missing: internet | Show results with:internet
  109. [109]
    Extended Reality Platform for Metaverse Exhibition
    Feb 3, 2024 · This paper proposes a web-based extended reality (XR) platform integrating exhibitions based on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).Abstract · Author Biographies · Choonsung Shin, Graduate...Missing: internet | Show results with:internet<|separator|>
  110. [110]
    Artworks by Stanza. Large scale installations, artistic software ...
    This artwork is made using smart sensors (IOT) which are scattered over the city. ... Hundreds of sections of this online net art labyrinth. Later exhibited on 15 ...
  111. [111]
    (PDF) Application and Ethical Issues of Artificial Intelligence in Art ...
    Aug 25, 2025 · Overall, the findings emphasize that biases in AI-generated art can reinforce harmful cultural, gender, and racial stereotypes, and that more ...
  112. [112]
    [PDF] On the environmental sustainability of Ai art(s)
    Jun 22, 2022 · We highlight the importance of pursuing research concerning the sustainability of Ai art and take initial steps towards understanding how Ai art ...Missing: internet | Show results with:internet
  113. [113]
    Net.art and Net.pedagogy: Introducing Internet Art to the Digital Art ...
    Aug 7, 2025 · In this article, I describe and reflect upon the adjustments I made in my instructional methods to demystify Internet art for the students.
  114. [114]
    Post-Internet Art and Pre-Internet Art Education | SpringerLink
    Jun 29, 2021 · Post-Internet art represents a challenge to previous artistic concepts that tended to view the utilization of networked digital technologies.
  115. [115]
    Tracing the Rise and Impact of Net.art - Fakewhale LOG
    Sep 4, 2023 · net.art represents a fusion of creativity and technology, leveraging the distinct features of the Internet for artistic expression.
  116. [116]
    How advertising infiltrated the art world - Creative Review
    Sep 2, 2022 · A new exhibition at LACMA examines the ever blurring lines between advertising and art photography, and how the two worlds have influenced each
  117. [117]
    #Content: The Internet and the Democratization of Art - Pipeline Artists
    Mar 8, 2021 · The rich and powerful have been the unseen gatekeepers of art and culture, using the concept of “exposure” as an exploitative currency.Missing: voices | Show results with:voices
  118. [118]
    The Renaissance of Digital Art: How Technology is Reshaping the ...
    Oct 19, 2024 · This democratization has led to a more diverse and inclusive art scene, giving voice to previously marginalized artists and art forms.Missing: internet publishing
  119. [119]
    The Internet Pavilion
    "Church of Prompts" The 8th INTERNET PAVILION for the 60th Venice Biennale presents "Church of Prompts" by Miltos Manetas and Despoina Damaskou, happening in ...
  120. [120]
    Digital Art Market Size, Growth, Share, Trends & Forecast Report 2030
    Aug 1, 2025 · The digital art market is estimated at USD 5.8 billion in 2025, projected to reach USD 11.81 billion by 2030, with a 15.28% CAGR. Digital ...
  121. [121]
    [PDF] Digital Inclusion and Exclusion in the Arts and Cultural Sector
    This report explores: how the arts and cultural sector can harness the potential of digital without compounding the digital divide; and how the sector can play ...
  122. [122]
    Collective Web-Based Art Preservation and Access at Scale
    May 17, 2023 · CARTA, a collective of art libraries, preserves web-based art resources, with 800 resources in 8 collections, accessible via the CARTA portal.
  123. [123]
    Own Data? Ethical Reflections on Data Ownership
    Jun 15, 2020 · Pearce (2018) argues that according to the GDPR, data protection rights could prima facie be regarded as either personal or proprietary rights.
  124. [124]
    The making of critical data center art - Mél Hogan, 2023
    Feb 22, 2023 · In this article, I weave in artworks and insights from artists to make a theoretical intervention about what constitutes environmental media “in the cloud,”Abstract · Data Center Exposé · Data Center Remix<|separator|>
  125. [125]
    Digital | Gallery Climate Coalition
    Digital tools offer solutions to some of the environmental issues we face (such as digital exhibitions or online viewing rooms, which both offer a low carbon ...
  126. [126]
    On Social Media, Art Censorship Is Alive and Well - Hyperallergic
    Apr 27, 2023 · The artist- and activist-led “Don't Delete Art” project targets social media platforms using suppressive content moderation algorithms.
  127. [127]
    Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge ...
    Mar 17, 2018 · Cambridge Analytica spent nearly $1m on data collection, which yielded more than 50 million individual profiles that could be matched to electoral rolls.
  128. [128]
    The Future of AI Art Regulation | The Regulatory Review
    Apr 26, 2025 · This week's Saturday Seminar examines scholars' suggestions on how AI art can be regulated through copyright law or other avenues.Missing: dominance | Show results with:dominance