<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><b>What is network and/ or networked art?</b><div><b></b>The main question is quite simple, but as you will see I have been <br>delving into philosophy and art history to get to a better <br>understanding of the meaning of "network" in art: <b><br></b><br>For the past several months I have been thinking deeply about this. I <br>spent the summer working on comprehensive exam papers for my current <br>PhD program, in which I defined for myself a definition of networked <br>art that I felt was perhaps a challenge to the mainstream notion of <br>“network”. Without getting too much into the literature I based this <br>on (ie. Jean-Luc Nancy), I argued that by using the word network, the <br>Internet itself is predominant over any other associations we might <br>have (see Sack, 2007 on “network aesthetics”) and that if artist <br>educators focus more on what emerges within the relations and <br>processes of a network, such as with Internet art, then we can perhaps <br>gain new understandings of network culture that reflect more the <br>sociocultural aspects as opposed to just the technological aspects. I <br>refer to Fluxus practices, most specifically mail art, and the ideas <br>explored by George Maciunas and Robert Filliou, connecting this to <br>later relational art and participatory art practices. My interests <br>pertain to aspects of what I am calling “relational learning,” thus I <br>see these networked forms of art to be significant...yet not just in <br>terms of individuals collaborating, but most importantly on the <br>emergent knowledge that occurs in these processes.<br><br>Within my recent writing, I suggest that we need to expand our <br>understanding of networked art in order to obtain new understandings <br>of network culture. I have been defining “networked art” as the <br>following:<br><br>“...practices not based on art objects, nor digital instruments, but <br>on the relationships and processes that occur between individuals <br>(Bazzichelli, 2008; Kimbell, 2006; Saper, 2001)....Networked art, <br>sometimes described as participation art (Frieling, Pellico, & <br>Zimbardo, 2008), consists of multiple connections made through <br>generative processes, often, but not always, incorporating digital <br>technology. In many cases, the production and dissemination processes <br>become the artwork itself.”<br><br>“....New understandings of network culture may require us to <br>understand that technology enables social and economic activities, as <br>opposed to something that determines society (Castells, 2001). This <br>research will examine how art addresses aspects of network culture, in <br>terms of it being a sociocultural shift that is not limited to digital <br>technology (Varnelis, 2008)...By employing a broader understanding of <br>the notion of network within analysis of networked art, this research <br>aims to provide deeper understandings of network culture...”<br><br><br>But after sitting with these ideas for awhile now and being confronted <br>with needing to write a research proposal, I’m in the doubting phase <br>that I think all graduate students go through. Is it really possible <br>to use the term “networked art” in the way I would like to without it <br>immediately conjuring up digital practices alone? (even though I <br>acknowledge this in my argument) Am I just confusing things by saying <br>that I am indeed interested in Internet art practices but only aspects <div>I have defined above, and particularly in cases of artists who <br>are interdisciplinary vs. strictly “digital”? Do people think about <br>the differences between “network art” and networked art” the same way <br>they might have distinguished between “net art” and “net.art”? In my <br>writing, I opted to go with “networked” over “network” because there <br>is more emphasis on being within a process (verb. vs. noun), but now <br>I’m starting to regret that, thinking that “networked” might clearly <br>imply dependence on an electronic system whereas a “network” might <br>allow for more human connection. (For those who are familiar....I am a <br>bit torn between Craig Saper’s (2001) use of the term “networked art” <br>and Tom Corby’s (2006) use of the term “network art”)<br><br>To make matters somewhat worse, I've been told by someone I respect in <br>this area that the notion of "network" is not heavily dependent on <br>"internet," considering the long history of network associations <br>before the internet. But this is someone who is quite knowledgeable of <br>network notions in academia and English literature, and I question if <br>those outside of academia feel the same way today. Speaking as an <br>artist who teaching art at universities and college, I feel that <br>"networked art" is immediately associated with digital and new media.<br><br>Thoughts? Opinions?<br><br>thanks,<br><br>Heidi May</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>..................</div><div>HEIDI MAY</div><div><a href="http://heidimay.ca">http://heidimay.ca</a></div><div><a href="http://postself.wordpress.com">http://postself.wordpress.com</a></div><div><a href="http://heidimay.wordpress.com">http://heidimay.wordpress.com</a></div><div><br></div><div>Instructor, Emily Carr University of Art + Design. <a href="http://www.ecuad.ca/people/profile/14163">http://www.ecuad.ca/people/profile/14163</a></div><div>PhD student, University of British Columbia. <a href="http://edcp.educ.ubc.ca/">http://edcp.educ.ubc.ca/</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></div></body></html>