Reading Blog #3

The article “Web Work: A History of Internet Art” by author Rachel Greene discusses the evolution of internet art from how it started to the directions in which it is going today. Greene addresses how the emergence of net art came with the popularization of the internet and technological advances in the early 1990’s. Net art was initially overlooked by mainstream art institutions and only really began to gain recognition in the late 1990s, with museums and festivals beginning to incorporate digital works. The internet additionally had many freedoms in its beginning as it was only starting to be developed. Yet, as internet popularization became more widespread, the early freedoms that many internet artists faced became restricted with the implementation of larger corporations and businesses taking over the internet. An aspect of this article that I found really interesting was Greene's description of the differing challenges that net art faces. Net art exists in virtual environments, causing a big issue that Greene addressed to be the preservation of net art. Software glitches, updates and other technological issues can all cause net creations and artworks to become altered and even destroyed. Internet art was a new revolution in the art world in the 1990's, redefining the boundaries of art and allowing for the engagement of political and social climates to be incorporated into artworks, creating major societal influences. Green emphasizes the transformative impacts of the internet on creative expression in this article, opening the eyes of many including myself to the revelation of the internet, especially pertaining to the art world.