If we're going into pre-internet archaeology, maybe there should be a plug for the fabulous late seventies initiated French videotex or "Minitel" system, which had bulletin boards and chat lines galore... Annick, I recall you being a pretty vigorous user? It also had well endowed high speed networks ensconced within major corporations like Electricité de France that I used to work for (streamlining operations of 50+ standardised nuclear plants creates incentives).
We didn't use it so much in the artists' coop I belonged to but it was an excellent communications platform. Of course there were lots of faxes flying round - Cairn published an international trimestrial journal for which most material arrived over the wires - and everyone attended Don Foresta's pioneering network events at the American Cultural Centre where people on black and white screens across the Atlantic never got tired of saying hello are you there to each other. France Telecom was sadly too monopolistically myopic to see that Minitel had given them prime position for WWW development - on the contrary, I recall one of their lead reps seeking to ban the word "internet" from Imagina events and info in the early 90s!
Asynchronous Transfer machines were widely used too, back in the early eighties, but this comes from the "industrial" side of the fence where I was subsidising my "intellectual" work, so apologies if it's not relevant for Art Historians. Then again, I get the odd feeling at times that we're overlooking a hidden part of the iceberg representing not just the "non-cultural" world often dismissed as insignificant and/ or loathsome, but moreover the "non-cultural" world many of us frequent/ed from necessity, precisely in order to maintain our activities in the "cultural" world. And that there's a lot more cross-over and contamination/ pollenisation between these different existential places and regimes than is sometimes imagined.
off topic perhaps. but enjoying the mix
best
sj
________________________________________
From: Curating digital art - www.crumbweb.org [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Paul Brown [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, 6 October 2013 8:20 p.m.
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] October's theme: Art History Online, an introduction
A point on the early internet:
I got my first email account in 1984 using a 300-baud audio-coupled modem.
I was working as a consultant to Bond Corp. in Perth (I was in London) and
was one of a team developing a large digital LED screen to hang on the side
of one of his airships. He (his lieutenants) insisted all consultants had
email for real-time reporting - real innovation for that time.
There wasn't much to do back then - the main use for me was a fax gateway -
I could email the gateway and my message was then faxed to the recipient
who could fax back and I would get an email reply. It was a private system
(most probably gated into Bitnet?) and pretty closed. Some discussion of
the difference between Bitnet and Arpanet may be interesting? I think the
WELL was on Bitnet??? Here are the three addresses of fineArt forum from
vol.1 No. 18, August 28, 1987:
ARPANET: [log in to unmask]
BITNET: FINEART@umaecs
CSNET: [log in to unmask]
That issues also also gave a direct dial-in line and the first item is
the instructions for use:
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/nph-wb/20000810130000/http://www.cdes.qut.edu.au/fineart_online/Backissues/Vol_1/faf118.html
Some network game stuff (MUD-like) was going on in 1977-79. Steve Bell was
involved (we were both at the Slade at that time) and may know more. I'm
not sure if he monitors this list. I seem to remember the late Douglas
Adams was also involved (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) - he was doing
scripts for Dr. Who back then.
Also - has anybody brought mail art into this discussion? It was big in
the 1960-70's and an important precursor to first fax art,
telecommunications art and then net art.
Paul
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Paul Brown - based in the UK April to October 2013
http://www.paul-brown.com == http://www.brown-and-son.com
UK Mobile +44 (0)794 104 8228
Skype paul-g-brown
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Honorary Visiting Professor - Sussex University
http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/ccnr/research/creativity.html
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