I am interested in hearing from more artists on this list, in response to Christiane's posting: what would an ideal economic model look like for new media when it is shown, bought, sold? (and can this be amswered without a coy response?) Rosanna F.

written by Christiane Paul 1/7/002:
I agree with Simon's statement that if an institution cannot afford the fees, they cannot afford the show. The reality often seems to look different though. Particularly among big and prominent institutions, there often seems to be an assumption that what they offer you in return for your work is the stamp of validation and approval that makes you "famous" and boosts your sales (and many artists like to be included for that very reason). The usual
process of commodification, which of course is at the very core of many of the complaints about the "art system." In the context of net art (and most new media art), this simple equation doesn't work because there is no economic model in the first place. So net artists find themselves in the absurd position of getting media attention and still making no money whatsoever (they probably can use the inclusion in a "prestigious" show for a grant application, if that's the route they are pursuing). There's a lot
wrong with this picture and in the end it all comes down to funding models (a corporate funding model for art institutions has serious downsides).

>>> Christiane Paul <[log in to unmask]> 01/07 7:42 PM >>>
Hi Rob & Simon,
I apologize for the inclusion of your projects in the artport resources
section, Rob. I actually did send messages to everyone asking for permission
to include their site in the directory but obviously I didn't notice that I
never heard back from you -- I don't know if I used a wrong address in the
first place or if the messages "got lost" because you went off-line for a
while. (And you're right, time to adequately deal with all the requests
certainly is an issue on my end.) I do think that it would be important to
link to artnetweb and IOLA even if they are archives at this point -- I
consider them very valuable "historical" documents. (Just let me know if I
should take them off or indicate that they are archives with beginning and
end date.)

Robbin Murphy wrote:
>Since Christiane Paul of the Whitney responded to your post previously
I'll
>do a little minor venting about the fact that she included links to
several
>projects of mine in her Whitney ArtPort site without asking me.
-----

Simon Biggs wrote:
I get this list in digested form and have not seen Christiane Paul's
post...which is a bit confusing. I would have thought posts would be
digested chronologically. I will go search the web archive to see what I
can find...I've read her post now...and what she says is all exemplary -
but perhaps Christiane might clarify matters in relation to the Artport
thing you mention, just to foster the discussion. Also, whilst I did not
intend this thread to focus on financial matters I do not think it is
unreasonable for artists to expect to be paid for their work being
included
in shows. If an institution cannot afford the fees then they cannot
afford
the show.