The internet is an empowering place for the individual and this
includes the field of art. It is not necessary to find an expensive
gallery as an interface to the public in order to display an artwork
online. With a reasonable amount of technical expertise or
assistance, virtually anyone can present material on the web, be it
artistic or of any other nature.
Of course, whether it is worthwhile is another matter. And who
decides anyway? The internet is certainly very different from any
other medium, and it offers both benefits and drawbacks.
Serious artistic endeavour has only really started on the
internet since the establishment of the web in the early Nineties.
An early example was UK-based Jake Tilson's The Cooker website (www.thecooker.com), with its
distinctively colourful and animated style. Another interesting and
pioneering virtual art museum website run by an individual artist is
the Lin Hsin Hsin Art Museum in Singapore (www.lhham.com.sg), complete with
its own virtual toilet.
I include these two examples at least in part because they are
not in the book under review. A survey of internet art is inevitably
eclectic, and it remains to be seen what history deems important or
not in this field that is barely more than a decade old.
Rachel Greene's book is divided into four lengthy chapters
together with an introductory history of the internet. There are a
few inexactitudes for the technologically pedantic, but the author
is obviously at home with the artistic and social aspects that are
the main point of the book.
As well as the expected compendium of websites with associated
screenshots, sociological facets such as online communities and
"cyberfeminism" are also covered. You will find the author under the
Rhizome.org art community website, for example.
Although there is much interesting material here and some
analysis, overall it is difficult to get a sense of where things are
going from this book, but there is plenty of detail to consider and
digest. Perhaps, not unreasonably, it is up to the reader to try to
make sense of it all.
The book ends rather abruptly with little consideration of the
future. That is probably appropriate and safest in a book of this
type, since it is difficult to predict the route that online art
will take. It is likely to involve the interplay of developing
technologies with lively and unorthodox minds. I am sure there will
be much interesting development over the next decade, with the
potential for a second edition of this book in due course.
There are a worthwhile, compact timeline, glossary and lists of
online resources with web addresses at the end of the book. It would
have been helpful to offer an online version to avoid having to type
URLs. The book's index is good for names, but less comprehensive for
more general terms. For example, "ASCII art" is not included, but is
covered in the book.
The book is well illustrated in colour throughout and represents
excellent value. It is within reach of any individual with even a
general interest in online art. It could be used as the basis for a
course unit on the subject in an arts course, although it is not
specifically designed as such. Anyone curious about this topic is
bound to find something new and of interest, even if they may well
find some favourite website omitted. I am glad to have the book on
my shelf.
Jonathan Bowen is Professor
of Computing, London South Bank
University.
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