Pall Thayer:

Hi, I'm going to see if I can get back into this. The responses have
been great and I'm glad it sort of came back a bit after withering
away. I'm not exactly sure any more why I posted the original, but I
had good reasons at the time. So I'm going to see if I can get back
into "the mode". It had something to do with previous discussions
about Internet art being dead or old or whatever we're calling it
these days. So I began wondering why such a young medium, still in
its infancy really, could be dying and came to the conclusion that
perhaps it's being misunderstood. Perhaps when people think that
Internet art is a "been there, done that" sort of thing, they're
talking about something that was at one time perceived to be Internet
art but wasn't in the sense that it was somehow related, but the
primary medium was actually something entirely different. I used the
terms "technology" and "digital" because I'm sure they suffer from
the same problems, but I was primarily thinking about Internet art
because, hey, that's my thing. I think also, that in the
technological, digital and Internet realms of contemporary art, a lot
of people are trying to do too much too soon and this is something
that is put forth so well in the Sol Lewitt excerpt re-blogged on
Rhizome's front page yesterday that it should be repeated over and
over again so here it is again:

"New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art.
Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas. There is nothing
worse than seeing art that wallows in gaudy baubles. By and large
most artists who are attracted to these materials are the ones who
lack the stringency of mind that would enable them to use the
materials well. It takes a good artist to use new materials and make
them into a work of art. The danger is, I think, in making the
physicality of the materials so important that it becomes the idea of
the work (another kind of expressionism). "

It's like he's asking, 'Would you still feel comfortable about
calling yourself an artist if you quit prepending it with "New
Media", "Digital" or "Internet"?'

In fact, the whole article makes several good points and I suggest
everyone read it and then tell everyone else to read it. You can find
it at http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Stu/kswenson/lewitt.htm

Pall

-- Pall Thayer p_thay@alcor.concordia.ca http://www.this.is/pallit