One of the readings for several of the classes listed in Randall Packer's Course Information is Margot Lovejoy's "Art as Interactive Communications : Networking a Global Culture", chapter 6 (pages 212-247) in Postmodern Currents: Art and Artists in the Age of Electronic Media. (Prentice Hall, 1997, 2nd ed. ISBN 0131587595). I'll leave it to you to buy or borrow it if you'd like to read it, but I would like to list some of the websites which are mentioned there and are still findable on the Web. The fluidity of the Web is such that links can disappear overnight (or be redirected in odd and usual ways) but some really interesting sites have been relocated or still exist. Of course, there is still the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive if you want to find the original thing and you know the original URL. This is a bad site to go to if you are easily distracted - there are links to archives of old recordings and old movies. I've seen a film from 1906 San Francisco there. I've also used the Wayback machine to find a copy of a webpage I had in 2002. Sort of like a Web ghost since I know that the web pages have been totally erased from the server.

But I digress -

According to Lovejoy, "one of the first art works on the World Wide Web" was Antonio Muntadas' "The File Room". It has been at its new site, since 2001. Basically, it is a project having to do with censorship of all types. Incidentally, if you want to read books that have been banned over the years, go to Banned Books Online.

I've been an admirer of Jenny Holzer's work for some time so I'm pleased to see that her "Please Change Beliefs" web installation is still on äda 'web. Julia Scher's "Security Land" is there as well. I found that Scher's installation was better visited after Holzer's, since it is then more obvious that she has 're-arranged' the other artists exhibits.

Lynn Hershman Leeson

It's a month since I last entered anything into this blog. For one thing, I've been taking a class in Entended Media at the University of Saskatchewan, where I work full time in the Library. The art department here has only one class having to do with digital media, and a half-credit class dealing with the history of art on the Internet. My Extended Media projects have been real (whatever that is) installations so far, but I hope that the next two will be computer-based. If my proposal is successful, perhaps I will post the link here.

Back to the purpose of this blog (see the December,2003, archive):

As part of my continuing quest to find information about artists listed on Randall Packer's Zero Gravity, even after links lead to blank pages, 404 errors, and 'could not be found' messages, I would like to report that when I found that the link under Lynn Hershman's name didn't lead anywhere and clicking on the ZKM link took me to the German version of the main web site, I didn't give up. A search of the English version of ZKM's site finds links to some of Hershman's work - text is in German. Near the bottom of each page is the word 'Linkempfehlung' followed by a link to the work on Hershman's site - Examples: America's Finest or Lorna

Lynn Hershman - Private Eye [December 5, 2006 - now called The Art and Films of Lynn Hershman Leeson] is the artist's webpage and while there is a lot of information, including video clips and explanations of her work, I found that the Investigations link didn't work for me although the Timeline link works well. [Dec. 5/06 - Website is updated and links have been renamed.]

As with many things on the Internet, there is more than one way of accessing information about Hershman's work. For instance, in the Timeline, clicking on Conceiving Ada 1994-1997 , and then on 'More Information', provides details of making the film about "the brilliant mathmatician, Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace". Clicking on 'Official Site Link' takes you to audio clips, info on the film and on Lynn Hershman Leeson.

Ken Goldberg et al

The links for the second artist, Ken Goldberg, listed on the Zero Gravity web site all lead to active web pages. The Telegarden site has links to several other projects. The Mori installation is ongoing, so viewers can watch "streaming seismographic data" of the Hayward Fault in California. Goldberg's home page looks very ordinary but the links lead to technical papers for those who want to know the details behind the art. Other links take you to the artworks themselves which are well documented, and offer video clips or live interaction. There is even an online Tele-Twister game.

The Audio and Video Archives link of the Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium, curated by Ken Goldberg, leads to audio and video files of "lectures from invited artist and media theorists", including Sara Diamond, Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky, and Christiane Paul. You will notice that I'm not including very many links here. Clicking on 'Zero Gravity' above will take you along a web journey to these sites and half the fun in travel is the side trips.

I've looked at the InterCommunication Center (ICC) site several times and I haven't found links to archived performances or lectures. There seems to be live internet feeds of some conferences but I haven't been online when any of them were being presented. Exploring the site will find information about past exhibits, artists's statements, and descriptions of installations. The site is tricky to explore but each time I visit it I find more links and more information. For instance, the image of four faces on the home page leads to lots of other webpages, if you have patience.

In the fall, 2000, class description for Electronic Media and Culture, Randall Packer has a link for Zero Gravity, a list of artists, galleries, and publications. As I explore this list, I'll do a write-up on what I found for each entry on the list.

Showing once again how annoying, and/or wonderful, the Web can be, none of the links for Shu Lea Cheang will lead you directly to her works. Exploring the sites that are indicated will find her works eventually. Buy One Get One is described at http://www.ntticc.or.jp/Collection/Icc/Buy/index.html. Clicking on the link listed there takes you to a webpage for the work - watch out for the persistent Java applet, and read the lines scrolling across the bottom of your screen.

The link from the artist's name leads to a '404 not found' but if you go to Bomb magazine's main site and then check out the archives, you can find an interview with Steve Earle and some very nice audio files. Browsing through the back issues will find some very interesting interviews, including one by Atom Egoyan of Janet Cardiff. Leaf virtually through the magazine to find artists and writers of your choice.

The Guggenheim link for Brandon sent Netscape's icon twirling aimlessly, but a visit to the Guggenheim Museum site's Virtual Projects page provides information that the work has been archived. You can find Mark Napier's Net Flag from 2002, apparently still a work in progress - it can be changed by the viewer and has been, often.

A Google search for Cheang was frustrating until I found some of her works at the Video Data Bank. The VDB site has video clips from works by many other artists, including Laurie Anderson and Bruce Nauman.

Randall Packer's class in Intermedia Studio

In the Spring, 2003, session, a class in Intermedia Studio was offered. Students from MICA and other college classes collaborated on projects using audio and video. Some are digital only, some are part performance and installation. Macintosh computers and programs were used. Max/MSP/Jitter which is a "software environment" for controlling audio and video input/output was used in several of the projects. The Cycling '74 website describes the programs, which are also available, some in beta, for Windows XP.

Some student projects are listed at http://digitalmedia.jhu.edu/Gallery/Gallery.cfm, although I'm not sure that all are from students of this class. [The page seems to be updated regularly with new files. /March 7, 2006] Some of the projects are very good, and make me wish I used a Mac. My favourite is the last project on the list - "The Little Things", which uses 3D animation.

The Sample Project Proposal has a description of the steps needed to set up a collaborative project and would likely contain useful information for anyone having to take part in a collaboration for an art class.