For Your To-Read List

The Italian online publication Digimag is an impressive example of collective labor. A byproduct of Digicult, the web platform founded by artist Marco Mancuso in January 2005, the monthly magazine tracks art across disciplines, encompassing internet, sound, and video art as well as performance of all kinds. Its contributors include a large stable of Italian artists and critics with a notably international vision. Issue eleven coincides with the launch of the magazine's podcast and features critical writing on various projects including Alessandro Ludovico and Hans Bernhard's 'Google Will Eat Itself' (2005), in which the artists used revenue from Google ads to buy the company's stock, and 'The Port,' an artists community established by Simon Golden and Jacob Senneby inside the online gaming world of Second Life. Comprehensive examinations of artists' work are at the forefront of the publication, as with Lucrezia Cippitelli's article on the Chilean new media collective Troyano and Mancuso's piece on collaborative duo Golan Levin and Zach Lieberman. For those interested in staying abreast of art happenings, Digimag provides a good compass to local music and art events. For those not in the area, you can connect yourself to networks of media art internationally via this very thriving Italian hub. - Lauren Cornell