Unknown Author

Internet Art and Nomadic Networks

Interpretive notes by Dani Day...

The World Wide Web originated in the 1960’s with ARPANET and was further developed with the help of the National Science Foundation. Tim Berners-Lee conceptualized the protocol used for the current World Wide Web that uses hypertext to transfer information across the Web.

In the beginning, WWW was dominated by education and research, but is changing from an information-sharing tool to a more commercial application. Net art is a presence on the web that is changing from a purely textual attack on the code and process of the Internet to an even more undefined exploration of semiotics. The creation of alternative browsers and Web colliders is no match for the wave of characteristics inherent to the Internet that perpetuate the model of the printed book.

Mark Napier has tried to break the boundaries of territorial conventions like domains, sites and pages by collapsing them and challenging the notion of ownership and authority. Napier demonstrates how the Internet resists these territorial notions.

Multiple User Dungeons (MUDs) and Muds Object-Oriented (MOOs) are significant aspects of the Internet as they create environments that allow for exchange and communication between cultures and communities. This cross-cultural communication is amplified by the nomadic expansion created by devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones and global positioning systems. These devices are being used more and more for art. Net art will be available in various platforms and travel readily via these nomadic devices.