Arte de Internet 2.0estrategias participativas orientadas a la comunidad virtual

Abstract

From the 1990s onwards, many artists began to experiment with a primal Internet art or Net.art, which was directly produced on the Net itself by means of procuring its very forms and structures (webpages, online applications, mailing lists, databases, and the like.) This budding artistic work promoted the need of public participation by boosting new artistic currents that demanded a greater commitment from cyberspace dwellers. Indeed, the widespread use of the Internet as a realm of entertainment has been changing into a new concept of entertainment in which the former public, users now, will gain responsibilities and obligations. Thus, social involvement has become one of the main goals of contemporary, online production of art. When sketching this dissertation, and bearing in mind the current needs of participation and social interaction of ‘prosumers’ of content, there appeared as general object of enquiry the participative artistic strategies developed around an Internet art that feeds mostly on Web 2.0 social ideology, but also on its collaborative tools. More precisely, our analysis tries to solve what Internet art is, and how it evolved into Internet art 2.0; in what way the Internet and its 2.0 shifts have an effect on audiovisual and sound art, taking into account Web 2.0 connective features and its interactive possibilities when these practices begin to take shape in the very cyberspace; and lastly, a definition and modus operandi of the virtual collaborative schemes developed by the artistic institutions to promote the involvement of artists in the production of Internet art, as well as user involvement to generate new museum content by means of 2.0 platforms. To carry out this enquiry, we have landed in a field of study in constant mutation, liquid: such is cyberspace, in which identifying criteria for a thorough analysis of the different artistic expressions that have sprung around Web 2.0, as well as social and artistic trends on the Web, must be published and available as soon as possible since most of their value resides in its nature of ever emerging issue. This is what justifies the planning of this dissertation as a compilation of papers. It should be highlighted that this enquiry –based on qualitative assessment instead of searching exclusively for the confirmation of a given hypothesis- tries to describe and explain observable facts previously described at length, as well as to uncover still unexplored links among every element. The techniques used for data gathering, whose elucidation will explain and define the facts under scrutiny, are manifold and sometimes they combine to get a sort of triangulation that yields many views, thus promoting the development of an even more extensive analysis. Initially, we developed a theoretical and interdisciplinary methodology that was based on the existing critical literature about our general object of study, and also about each specific object of study as well as an exploratory analysis of the Web. With regards to the relationship between artistic institutions and participative Internet art, we have also studied some cases that shine a light on the workings and results of online participative museum schemes like YouTube Play Biennial (2010), as well as the programmes of Virtual Artistic Residencies (1999-2017.) The findings of the enquiry have shown that audiovisual art has not been limited only to experiment with the participative strategies of mass media, but also has supported the introduction of new collaborative methods for TV viewers / users that were later adapted to the Internet: e.g., the subversion of vertical models of production and consumption, the introduction of phone feed-back, or the search for a direct involvement of citizens in television production. With regards to sound art, very much like audiovisual art, it has improved its interactive possibilities as a necessary element in the creation of a work thanks to the specific tools of the Web as well as its ability to summon users massively; it has also included in its discourse reflections upon the very medium as well as reflections upon cyber-collaboration, solidarity, and the sense of community. Furthermore, given the scarcity of existing analysis of online sound art, we have been compelled to coin two terms that make its study easier. The first, “net.sound art,” defines the intermedia nature of sound art on the Web; and the second, “site-flowing” –which can be extended to other types of Internet art-, defines the relationship between a work created in, by, and for the Web (i.e. specific to the medium), and the dynamics of its virtual space (structurally unspecified environment.) Even though there have been many theories on how Internet art is mainly about Internet itself, our view is that –be it in a parallel way to the fact or in a tangential one- the type of Internet art widely developed now conjugates the progress of festive, humble, and generous attitudes –typical in the fandom community- with the commitment and the social justice supported by hackers, and the notions of common good and cooperation backed by the Open movement. This has implied the expansion of an experimental communicative model that reflects mainly on the human condition. The concurrence of these characteristics remains in the origin of the new critical public / users of culture, much sought by many cyber-artists and artistic institutions alike; the Web is the optimal place to acquire knowledge. Without a doubt, the YouTube Play Biennial scheme is an interesting project of online collaborative museum, which aims at promoting the development of this new player. Thus, the virtual artistic residencies (VAR) supported by several institutions also play a capital role since they also seek visibility and producing an ever experimental Internet art, as well as user participation in the shaping of critical discussion about it. With the aim of helping the circulation, understanding, creation, and participation in these programmes, we have not only assembled a pioneering and vital theoretical basis, but also a practical definition for them. However, we believe that our most valuable contribution to the study of VAR is an analysis based on the view of hosts or organising establishments (motivation, goals, results, and general assessment) whose willingness to answer our open-ended questionnaires has allowed us to gather a set of data that will become utterly useful for those institutions that may consider starting a similar programme.