As a bit of an aside and considering the discourse around trolling in a
more contemporary context I would invite you to check out Rustle League.
One of the main protagonists (or rather antagonists) is Jaime Cochran and
she really describes the art of trolling in colloquial terms very nicely in
this vice piece from February 2013:

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/rustle-league-are-making-sure-trolling-stays-funny

I gather you are looking for more historical exAmples and as I have only
been dipping in and our of this dialogue over the past few days I apologize
of this is a bit out of context. Nonetheless, anyone who actively trolls
anonymous is certainly worth mentioning!

For Cochran of Rustle League, "Trolling is a form of social commentary or
satirical performance art for people who take themselves too seriously on
the internet." Spot on in my opinion!

Dorian Batycka
Associate Curator
Maldives Pavilion
55th Venice Biennale

On Tuesday, October 8, 2013, Sarah Cook wrote:

> Hi Charlotte and CRUMB
>
> just a quick note, on arrival in Riga for the Media Art Histories
> conference (I'll tweet if I've got wifi) to say thanks for all this
> discussion so far, and I will add in when I can.
>
> The question about spamming and art reminded me of the 12 weeks I spent
> (remotely) with the Walker Art Center and Steve Dietz in 2000 hosting the
> Entertainment, Art, Technology (EAT) mailing list as part of the Art
> Entertainment Network. There were many net art experiments on the
> discussion list, particularly Jon Ippolito redigesting the list in their
> week devoted to the deadly sin of competition (in reference I think to
> their ada-web archive through their Unreliable Archivist project)
> http://www.walkerart.org/archive/D/9853196B7C9C35E6616C.htm
> There appears to be a 404, but I'm sure I've got it all somewhere.
>
> Also, a very early experiment here on the CRUMB list involved using the
> list to exhibit or show email-based art... JODI made the best use of the
> list for creative art purposes... but given the list was barely a year old
> I recall we had to abort the experiment to ensure the survival of the list,
> the sanity of subscribers (and Beryl's own academic email account). I'm
> happy to forward those messages again and see how many unsubscribers we get
> this time around ;-)
>
> more soon,
> sarah
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Sarah Cook <[log in to unmask] <javascript:;>>
> > Date: 4 February 2002 14:44:32 GMT
> > To: [log in to unmask] <javascript:;>
> > Subject: February's topic: artist/critic/curator
> > Reply-To: "Curating digital art - www.newmedia.sunderland.ac.uk/crumb/"
> <[log in to unmask] <javascript:;>>
> >
> > For February (the shortest month), we've changed our tactics slightly
> > and in a very daring move have asked web-based artists and critics to
> > share their perspectives on curating and being curated. We,
> > self-reflectedly, want to know, where do
> > the boundaries of the roles of artist/critic/curator blur most?
> >
> > This month's invited respondents are the participants at the recent
> > debate on net art and art criticism at De Balie in Amsterdam. Organised
> > by Eric Kluitenberg and Josephine Bosma (editor of the online journal
> > CREAM: http://laudanum.net/cream/), the evening's recurring question
> > seemed to be about the nature of value judgements inherent in the
> > practice of criticism. How is curating like art criticism? How does the
> > network of new media art bypass the distinctions between these practices
> > or make them more striking?
> >
> > Be prepared for scathing but respectful commentary - likely in the form
> > of listserv art works - from the likes of
> > JODI, Frederic Madre, Josephine Bosma and others...
> >
> > more info about the other respondents to follow....
> >
> > Sarah
> >
>
>
>
>
> On 8 Oct 2013, at 06:29, Charlotte Frost wrote:
>
> > Watching the comments on my Facebook page alone ­ let alone discussion
> here
> > I am conscious that there are parts of the histories of lists that might
> > never be untangled. Certainly the Syndicate demise caused a lot of pain
> and
> > I have no wish to drag all that up. Perhaps I can swerve the
> conversation by
> > asking if anyone thinks there has ever been/is an art to spamming,
> flaming
> > and trolling? I'll put this question on Facebook and Twitter too to see
> what
> > comes upS
> >
> > Charlotte
> >
>
> ===
>
> Dr. Sarah Cook
> Reader / Dundee Fellow
> Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design
> University of Dundee
> 13 Perth Road DD1 4HT
>
> phone: 01382 385247
> email: [log in to unmask] <javascript:;>
>
>
>
>
>
> The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
>