To my knowledge the internet has existed as long as we have had the internet protocol. The earliest example of this I'm aware of was in 1974, when it was encapsulated (or at least implicit in) the development of the transmission control protocol (Cerf and Kahn, 1974). Other protocols, with varying capabilities and intentions, were developed around the same time (FTP was developed in 1971, predating TCP, whilst SMTP was developed for ARPANET in the 70's and was standardised in 1982). As we know, HTTP didn't come along for another decade - and then we had the web and everything changed.
My first use of an internet protocol was FTP over a pair of acoustic couplers directly linked to their respective computers (one an IBM mainframe, the other a home built S-100 bus Z80 based machine. That was in 1979. I didn't think of it as using the internet. I just needed to download some code and data from a larger computer that was about 40 miles away from my own machine in my studio. This was in order to develop some code for making what I did then - realtime generative computer animations. I wouldn't think of this as net based art by any stretch of the imagination. The first piece I made that I do consider an example of art made for the net was in 1994. That was a piece called Book of Shadows, which was also released on CDROM as a piece of hypermedia. The CDROM was released in 1996 by ellipsis, who were one of the few mainstream publishers pushing digital platforms back then. This was far from the first piece of digital publishing. The history of digital publishing (and electronic literature) is a lot longer than many people are aware, as is computational art (since the 1950's) and net based art (since the 1970's). Then there's the history of computer music - which is even longer.
People tell me the work I was doing in the 70's and 80's must have been amongst the earliest examples of digital art. However, I was not a pioneer but a third generation artist in the field, with the first generation emerging in the 1950's and the second in the late 60's and early 70's. I was very aware at that time of these earlier examples and took much inspiration from them.
Memory is short and the published histories are often seriously wrong. These historical discussions are always interesting as overlooked pieces of the story are put into the public sphere.
best
Simon
On 4 Oct 2013, at 07:28, © Robbins <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Indeed, there was the WELL.... and, of course, Judy Malloy!
>
> By chance I had the god fortune of working with Mark Graham ( of the Well + Peacenet ) and Lee Felsenstein ( a well known figure in the computer engineering circles ) on the San Francisco component of a global art event and exchange in 1990.
>
> ______________________
>
> Online Against AIDS, 1990
>
> This is an early digital / cultural event ( Before Netscape !) which may well be of interest as it is one that seemingly has been swept behind the screen of most digital media theorists, curators and practitioners. Shortly after graduate school, I unexpectedly found myself as a Co-Director of Icata ’90 ( The International Conference on the Alternative Use of Technology for AIDS ) and On-line Against AIDS, a six city international computer network – a global cultural event if you will–took place between Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco, Rio De Janeiro, Sydney and Tokyo. In Amsterdam, the Seropositive Ball was framed as a comprehensive cultural and political manifestation for people with and without AIDS which, among many other offerings, allowed access to “easy-to-use” Apple Macintosh computers, thus providing information regarding health issues and instantaneous international communication around the Sixth International Conference on AIDS being held in San Francisco in June, 1990. It was then billed as a “ trans-oceanic multi-media communications event . ” Other co-directors included Lee Felsenstein and Mark Graham – both well-known and respected technologists and social activists, as well as Arawn Ebilon and Rama of Act Now. Technically speaking, it was Lee and Mark that brought this global network together using the email, text-based program “Red Ryder. ” Needless to say, it’s fascinating to look back on the exchange.
>
> The support of cultural institutions throughout the Bay Area was remarkable and ranged from “alternative “spaces such as Art Com Network, Capp Street Project, New Langton Arts, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and Southern Exposure to the San Francisco Art Institute to San Francisco General Hospital and the Marriott Hotel. The curatorial programming included a searing performance by Diamanda Galas at Capp St. Project as well as an exhibition which included artists such as Salman Ahmad, Gregg Bordowitz, Gran Fury, Raifka Gonzales, Joe Goode, Lyle Ashton Harris, Jenny Holtzer, Barbara Krueger, Marcus Nizario, Marlon Riggs, Nino Rodriquez, David Wojnarowicz, and Matias Viegner, as well as video programming from Video Data Bank curated by John Greyson, for one.
>
> _______
>
> Also, when I was the Executive Co-Director of New Langton Arts ( a seminal "alternative space" in the USA) in the early to mid-nineties, we had a relatively robust media arts program which focused on video and installations of nascent projects and lectures engaging with digital media ( online and off.) i.e. Sandy Stone and George Legrady's early works.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 3, 2013, at 5:27 PM, Charlotte Frost wrote:
>
>> In 1985, there was no Internet and the WELL was available via dial-up. It
>> was text only. No graphics. No color. There was a conference on the WELL
>> called ARTCOM (the name art.com <http://art.com> has subsequently used by
>> others, as well as "artcom," but the artcom account on the WELL was the
>> first. We did a lot of conceptual art in Artcom. For example, we posted
>> short messages each day we called "Status Reports" that was very much like
>> Twitter, but of course preceded it by more than 20 years. We developed
>> conventions and games. One of the games was Das Casino in which we pretended
>> we were in a casino. That led to creating a benefit party (the WELL was
>> quite poor and needed help upgrading its server) in which we ran a real
>> casino at the Artcom studios. We even had a show with a chorus line. I have
>> cced Freddy Hahne who can provide more details.
>>
>> A media artist, Judy Malloy, did at least two conceptual art pieces using
>> the WELL, "Uncle Roger" and "Badinfo." I have cced Judy Malloy, who can tell
>> you more.
>>
>> In 1994, I put scans of my painting on the Internet via the WELL's member
>> pages, and in 1995 I moved them to my own website at
>> http://www.rheingold.com/art . My art is still on exhibit there:
>> http://rheingold.com/art-gallery/
>>
>>
>> Howard Rheingold
>> http://www.rheingold.com
>> what it is ---> is --->up to us
>
> Christiane Robbins
>
>
> J e t z t z e i t S t u d i o s
>
>
> ... the space between zero and one ...
> Walter Benjamin
>
>
>
> Los Angeles + San Francisco
> CA
>
>
> " The present age prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, fancy to reality,
> the appearance to the essence
> for in these days
> illusion only is sacred, truth profane."
>
> Ludwig Feuerbach, 1804-1872
>
>
> http://www.jetztzeit.net
>
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Simon Biggs
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MSc by Research in Interdisciplinary Creative Practices http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees?id=656&cw_xml=details.php
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