speed show : extra credit
april 5 : 3-5pm : 115 misciagna : penn state altoona
organized and hosted by a. bill miller and VAST
speed show : extra credit
a campus computer lab re-purposed as an internet art exhibition space.
A group artists who regularly create Internet-based art were given the following assignment:
Create a web-based response to the following question: What is "Internet"?Their responses and submissions make up this SPEED SHOW exhibition. Each work is presented on its own work station within the lab. The lab becomes a space filled with participants in two roles:
- artists working individually within the larger connections of the Internet
- exhibition visitors investigating artworks within the larger connections of the Internet
These two groups of participants take control of the campus computer lab work station and navigate, investigate, explore and consider what the Internet could/might/will be.
About The SPEED SHOW exhibition format:
Hit an Internet-cafe, rent all computers they have and
run a show on them for one night. All art works of the participating artists need to be on-line
(not necessarily public) and are shown in a typical browser with standard plug-ins. Performance
and life pieces may also use pre-installed communication programs (instant messaging, VOIP, video
chat etc). Custom software (except browser add-ons) or off-line files are not permitted. Any creative physical modification to Internet cafe itself is not allowed. The show is public and takes place during normal opening hours of the Internet cafe/shop. All visitors are welcome to join the opening, enjoy the art (and to check their email.)
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photos from speed show : extra credit
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thoughts on speed show : extra credit
a. bill miller
As an artist, I sometimes find it difficult to understand why I am drawn to some work and not to others. This is especially true when I focus on artwork that is Internet-based. Probably it stems from the fact that there is no real defining characteristic that I can think of other than that the work is realized in a web-browser. The work could be narrative, image, video, interactive, etc etc etc.
In hosting ' speed show : extra credit ', I worked to include artists whose work I have been following over the past couple of years. The reasons behind my interest in their work is as varied as the things that they produce and post online. My hope was to generate a cross-section of Internet Art practices and to use the exhibition as a way to introduce to my community the work that I enjoy seeing everyday. In this way, the community of artists invited to participate in the show became physically involved with our everyday computer lab work spaces as accessed by people almost entirely unaware of Internet Art.
I won't link to individual works, those links are above, in this page. With the variety of work that was submitted to my admittedly leading/open-ended question ( "What is Internet" ), my intentions with the show became real. Some works scraped the database of existing and changing media content online. Other works sourced material from Internet users. Still others presented interactive narratives or explored aspects of Internet history and media. Work was participatory, interactive, performed, static, active, experimental, conceptual, and more. These are all characteristics that make the potential of Internet Art fascinating and compelling. An unexpected feature of speed show : extra credit was our ability to have a live stream of the event. In a Tinychat, artists exhibiting were able to directly interact with exhibition visitors and myself. Again, the community of artists were true participants with those browsing the work in a way the corresponds to the idea of the Internet at large - that remote locations become one space within the network. In this way, Altoona, in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, was a node within a diverse and expansive Art space.
Over the course of about an hour and half of the two hour Speed Show, there were approximately 30 exhibitions visitors. Although this might seem small in a larger Art context, it surpassed my expectations. New connections were made for those physically in the space and those visiting the show add up to much more when considering the works' existence online. In addition to the unique event with 18 or more works being shown on machines in one room, as Internet Art, the collection and presentation of the work can extend further - through linking/sharing/liking/retweeting/reblogging/etc etc etc.
The Internet Is/Was/Will Be
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video from speed show : extra credit
a quick video tour around speed show : extra credit
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other stuff from speed show : extra credit
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