Event

Chat Room

Chat Room is a quarterly forum on art in the age of the Internet, with a new topic for each edition. Chat Room aims to demystify the fundamental questions about art and its broader place in society through presentations, videos, and candid discussion. Join us for this special installment of Chat Room, on Net Art Aesthetics.

Unwieldy and ever-evolving in its shape, Net Art encompass digital work distributed through or in reference to the Internet. Net Arts emergence can be traced back to the 90s when artists were experimenting with websites, new softwares and electronic interconnectivity, such as wwwwwwwww.jodi.orgs deconstructionist approach to HTML. In 2016, the genre of Net Art may evoke slick 3D-rendered objects and assertively vivid colors as seen on New Hive or Felt Zine.

When is Net Art beautiful? Is Net Arts aesthetic experience visual, political, technical, or something else altogether? What can Net Art tell us about identity, power and privilege in who creates this content, within the US and worldwide?

The evenings discussion features Professor Matthew Sparke, scholar in digital geography, on global Internet accesss effect on cultural production;

Professor Caroline Simpson, scholar in cultural studies, on feminism and online performance;

Mario Lemafa, new media artist, on creating an online indigenous visual landscape.

Also featuring recorded clips from Internet artists, segments of local street interviews, and more.

Chat Room is organized by Minh Nguyen, produced by Claire Buss, and receives support from The Office of Arts & Culture.