Hacking the Border

Between August 24 and 26, net art became an element of political activism -- or, shall we say, hacktivism, even if only in a metaphorical sense -- at the border of California and Mexico. The second annual "Borderhack" event offered net art, ISDN connections, conferences and workshops at the Playas de Tijuana, near the physical area considered the division point between the first and third worlds -- and where the ocean meets land. The physical encampment symbolized the "hacking" and "deleting" of the man-made borders.