Before reading this article, I was not aware of how important net.art became. One part of the article that immediately stood out to me was “Building an equitable community in which art was conspicuously present in one’s everyday activities was a collective goal.” (page 1). I really like this idea of “conspicuous art,” art that isn’t too obvious or in your face but required enough attention and patience to be noticed. Additionally, this makes this kind of art much more elusive, because not everyone will notice it, they could miss it altogether.
The community surrounding net.art described in the article reminds me somewhat of what we learned about the Zine community. Free of bureaucracy or art-world institutions, and following/subscribing to favorite artists. Although, the net.art community thrived online.
I enjoyed reading about a time when the internet was mostly uncluttered and free from pretentiousness. I can imagine how the internet became a sort of safe haven for those exhausted by “white-cube galleries” (page. 2), and commercial art culture. It made me wish that I was alive during this time, before the internet became what it’s like today. I feel as though even in my youth, especially the early 2010s, the internet was so different. It was comparatively so much more lighthearted and there was much more room (less cluttered).
Of course, this could not last forever, as unfortunate as that is. I checked out Mark Napier’s digital landfill site (page. 7), where you can dump a chosen website and watch it get trashed. This kind of response to the takeover and clutter of the web feels very cathartic, I enjoyed it!
