Discussion - Net.Art is not art on the web

Most individuals may not know the difference between net.art and artworks on the web when such difference is as important as knowing one’s A, B, Cs. First, artworks on the web are literally what the description states; they are scanned, photographed, documented information of artworks that are housed on the web. Simply, one can say that artworks on the web are like artworks on a digital museum known as the web. On the other hand, net.art are not artworks on the web; of course net.art can be presented through the web, but the key difference are their medium of artwork. Net.art is a specific genre of Net Media Art where the medium used to create the presented artwork is the internet. Net.art utilizes the internet and its codes to the best of its abilities to present an idea into a visual form. Another way to visualize what net.art is, the internet for net.art is like the paint used for a painting. Net.art are not artworks documented on the web (artworks on the web), but are artworks created from the internet.

With net.art, the codes used can be with .htm and .html with css. By using specific names (such as style, fonts, colors, etc), artists can begin creating the visuals of their idea in the form of typography, shapes, colors, movements, sounds, and other factors of design. Examples of net.art are from our previous reading with Rhizome’s Net Art Anthology include Automatic Rain by JODI and Female Extension by Cornelia Sollfrank. With JODI’s Automatic Rain, found images from the web along with the aesthetics and functions of the 90’s web creates three web pages that make a statement on the clash of perfection and imperfection in the world; JODI particularly focused on the sprinkler systems used in the Silicon Valley through symbolism and images that relate to the location. To further emphasize the precision and timed feature of the sprinkler system, JODI incorporates codes that allows one of her three webpages (page with a list of blue links) to refresh itself; this one and off features allows the linked numbers to appear like jets of water shooting out to water Silicon Valley at a synchronised, precise time. Female Extension by Cornelia Sollfrank utilizes net.art, each only a maximum of 5 megabytes of data, submitted by multiple artists online for a competition named Extension. With the submissions, Sollfrank pushes the boundaries of presentation by remixing the submissions and applies them to three hundred fake artists to then be judged and awarded at a press conference. This decision Cornelia Sollfrank takes to remix net.art websites allows her project to become net.art rather than a contest that houses artworks online as artworks on the web.