Benjamin Heidersberger, D
Without God man builds his paradise in the internet
Since about the mid-eighties it is becoming evident that with the help of technology, which has been informing the socio-economic development of the late 20th century, many activities where freed of the strains and pressures entailed by industrialisation.
Together with this development we experience a transformation of our understanding of work as something fixed in space and time, something which needs to be worked-off as a continuous effort to make a living, a definition which had come up and grown during the age of industrialisation. „Work“ is falling apart into many different segments; the lines between work and leisure, residence and office, learning and working, work and retirement, dependent and free-lance work, producers and consumers, as well as the different branches of business are becoming fuzzy.
Wherever these basic categories of working-time, -space, -place and -achievement are dissolving, we can also see a crumbling of the fundamental agreements, our normative „building“, our rules and laws, organisations, structures and institutions, which influence our behavior and values to a much greater degree than we are aware of.
Ulrich Klotz 1
Preparative Work
Without God, man builds his paradise, the internet. The conquest of space and time, of effort and work, is his goal. Machines herald the end of work, the beginning of everlasting leisure. Everything becomes easy and effortless. The burden of millions of years of evolution is taken from our collective shoulders, the resources in this other world beyond are inexhaustible.
The real and material world is etherealized and eternalised by depicting itself in the internet. The net enlarges the individual, the sum of single individuals is not to be counted. Only the kingdom come can still promise „enough“ (plenty) for all. How much information can all the atoms of the world store? We’ve never been this close to paradise.
The image of the world outlives death. Of the individual, and of the world. Chiseled in bits and bytes, one or the other copy will survive the end of the world, at least my end.
This era of transformation offers unique opportunities. The first will be the greatest. During any transformation, new laws are in effect, the chrystalline structures of the here and now usher the spirit along to new frontiers.
The immaterial image of the world in the net is the second Big Bang, the connection of all knowledge ends an existence fragmented by spatial limitations, amends the eviction from paradise and creates a new universal spirit.
Everything is now accessible. I am everywhere. I have no more boundaries. I will live forever.
The mobile phone is telepathy for idiots. I don’t need to develop in order to meet the world, the world develops in order to meet me. I open my mouth and let the fruits of the earth drop into it.
The fruit from the tree of knowledge is spotless, a bite to be taken without remorse.
Parallel Work
The internet is the turbo-driven expression of the information and communication age. Worldwide connections create a joint pool of information. New possibilities in communication render production more effective. Work is becoming scarce. Globalisation. The Industrial Age is coming to its end, and with it goes work as we know it. More and more can be produced by fewer and fewer people. The question arises if it is possible to create sufficient jobs during this transformation, so that a division into those who have and those who don’t doesn’t split the society in two.
„The End of Work (Jeremy Rifkin)“ demands a transformed way of thinking on the private sector (market) and the public sector (government) as well, the development of a civil sector (non-profit organisations). Governments will need to create the supportive frame-work for this. A distribution of income independent of the standard definition of work seems to be necessary.
In „The Age of Access“, Rifkin goes even further. The work-ethos dissolves in the play-ethos where the commodity work is displaced by the commodity play. Cultural production replaces industrial production, the access to information replaces the possession of material goods. In the end, control of this access is the profit-generating factor.
For the humans of the Antique, work in itself held no value - it was done by slaves. Calvin and Luther raised work to the level of a measure for self-education, service to the community and maintenance of a divine order. As Max Weber observed at the beginning of the 20th Century, the protestant work-ethics greatly influenced the economic set of virtues and the development of Capitalism. Believe it or not – with or without religious conviction work has become a precondition to a meaningful life. To be on the dole is not just an economic problem, but also psychological: The loss of work is also the loss of the right to exist.
In the region of Saxony-Anhalt, particularly in the Landkreis Schönebeck, the site of the Werkleitz Biennale, this topic is eminently significant: for several years past, the rate of unemployment here has surpassed 20 %, and tops the list in all of Germany. The sudden loss of traditional resources of employment was caused by the closing of many East German industrial plants following down-sizing or western take-overs.
This exhibition has two objectives: to show how the internet changes the definition of „work“, and to support people in developing initiative, in creating new, enlarged definitions of „work“ in order to arrive at a larger definition of „self“.
In connecting the exhibit with „work“, it is at the same time a „reality check“. Where does the internet enhance life? Can it take on a positive role in transforming this society, or will it be a blessing to a few, and a curse to the others?
Main Work
Since the beginning of January 2000, under http://www.kulturserver.de/home/netart, I put out the invitation, and a description of the procedure, to hand in net art projects dealing with the topic of real(work), until April 15th 2000. The internet itself was used for this „tender“, all work contributed is accessible and the process is transparent. Only projects submitted in this way are part of the selective process. With this procedure a different choice of net art is encouraged.
Collaborators and myself distributed the URL of the invitation to 360 addresses and mailing lists, reaching approximately 10 000 addressees, of which 1000 have so far visited our page and 64 have contributed projects. Communicating with the artists, I have received 180 mails (and answered 60).
In the end, I have chosen 5 net art projects, which deal with the topic, and which I found intrigueing. Some other projects, dealing with the re-definition of „work“ exemplify specific aspects within this process. The reference to the topic real[work] is the decisive factor in the decision for any project. The more precise the question, the more concise the answer.
Re-Work
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 16:31:27 +0900
To: benjamin@ponton.de
From: Francesca da Rimini <dollyoko@thing.net>
Subject: missed deadline?
Mime-Version: 1.0
dear benjamin heidersberger
a colleague just mentioned the werkleitz biennale to me (i have been offline in the Australian desert until yesterday).
is it too late to submit an internet art piece .. it was only finished today!
kind regards
francesca da rimini
++++++++++++++
Dear Francesca,
sorry the deadline cannot be extended. How was the desert?
Yours
Benjamin
++++++++++++++
dear benjamin
thanks 4 getting back 2 me so quickly bummer!
desert was/is extraordinarily beautiful, majestic, awe inspiring in all ways, an experience
best
francesca
Appendix: submitted entries see page 127/128
(16.1.2000)
1. Igor Stromajer - intima „gsm.art“
http://kid.kibla.org/~intima/gsmart 5. Communication
2. Igor Stromajer - intima „sm.N“ http://kid.kibla.org/~intima/smn 4. Interaction/Interface
3. Brad Brace
http://www.teleport.com/~bbrace/12hr.html
4. Alexander Sokolov
fusionworldwide@hotmail.com
http://fusion.ok-centrum.at 5.COMMUNICATION
5. Ruine der Kuenste
http://www.wolf-kahlen.de
6. John Klima
http://www.cityarts.com
7. Bernd Diemer
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/diemer
8. Miklos Legrady
design@myna.com
http://www.myna.com/~design/kulturhaus/
9. Jody Zellen
http://www.ghostcity.com category:
Interaction or visualisation
10. Igor Ulanovsky Israel
ulanovi@mail.biu.ac.il
http://www.angelfire.com/il/ulanovsky
11. Martin Gantman USA
gantman@postoffice.pacbell.net • „To M“
http://www.smoothmoon.com
12. Nial Connolly
Yantra Images http://www.yantraimages.com
13. netochka nezvanova
integer@www.god-emil.dk •
http://www.m9ndfukc.org/nato.0+00
14. Dr. Herbert Wetzel
Herbert.Wetzel@t-online.de Visualisation •
http://www.herbertwetzel.de
15. Hermann Josef Hack
hyper@aol.com http://www.hack-i.de
16. francis
francis@hgb-leipzig.de •
http://www.hgb-leipzig.de/~francis/
f0rwardpunk/1.htm
17. Miklos Legrady
design@myna.com
http://www.c3.hu/~itmiklos/site/aa.html
18. Gary Zebington
garu@eye.usyd.edu.au •
http://murlin.va.com.au/eyespace/
termite/term.htm
Interaction/Interface
19. Ricardo Iglesias
http://www.mecad.org/
net_condition/referencias
20. James Warren-Smith
jamesws@senet.com.au •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/jamesws/
visualisation
21. Peter Toy, Australia
http://www.iinet.net.au/~toy1234/toy.html • Interaction/Interface
22. Tiia Johannson, Estonia, black sun
http://ArtUn.ee/~tiia/zsz/graaf.htm
23. Tiia Johannson, Estonia,
skyscraper.net •
http://ArtUn.ee/homepages/xtiiax/sky/
24. Tiia Johannson, Estonia,
get.real •
http://www.artun.ee/homepages/
xtiiax/mikki/index.htm
25. Tiia Johannson, Estonia, words •
http://www.artun.ee/homepages/
tiia/cell/words.movies.html
26. Tiia Johannson, Estonia,
Pointless Interactiveless Cowmovie •
http://www.artun.ee/homepages/
tiia/cow/cow1.html
27. Patrick Llichty,
Bitstreaming (generative music/video) •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/
patlichty/bitstream.htm
28. Patrick Llichty,
Grasping at Bits
(Interactive Non-LinearEssay)
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/
patlichty/bits.htm
29. melinda rackham
http://www.subtle.net/line
30. Nicole Stenger
http://nicole.netgate.net
31. Joel Slayton,
joel@well.com, Category: other.SoftSub •
http://www.c5corp.com/softsub/1:1 •
http://www.c5corp.com/1to1/16 Sessions •
http://www.c5corp.com/walker/gateway.html Stillman Projects
http://cadre.sjsu.edu/
jevbratt/stillman/YSH/RCSP
http://www.c5corp. com/projects/rcsp
32. ventsislav zankov
ctrl_z@kulturserver.de •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/ctrl_z/
33. newlife
newlife@callnetuk.com www.1010.co.uk
34. Young-hae Chang
tfa@chollian.net
http://www.yhchang.com Category:Communication
35. stefan krues kemper_heidi sadlowski | interpool
interpool@krueskemper.de
arbeit über arbeit interpool
36. jennifer and kevin mccoy
mccoy@earthlink.net
http://www.airworld.net
37. G.U.N. by O CangaÁo do Santo File
canga@globaldrome.org •
dcasacuberta@seneca.uab.es
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/canga
38. Stephan (Spiv) Schröder
http://www.verybusy.org
Interaction/Interface,Communication
39. Mez/Mary-Anne Breeze [The Fleshtronic] •
http://wollongong.starway.net.au/
~mezandwalt •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/
mez/index.htm
Interaction/Interface or Communication
40. Jorge Castro castro@us.net
http://www.manipulatto.com/indexpro.html
41. AGRICOLA de Cologne
info@agricola-de-cologne.de
www.a-virtual-memorial.de
42. J.Blank
http://www.shoac.com visualisation
43. Michiel Knaven
mknaven@xs4all.nl@(rt)ventures
http://www.xs4all.nl/
~mknaven/artventures/index.htm
Communication the diarybox of Joseph Kaminsky •
http://www.xs4all.nl/
~mknaven/kaminsky/kaminsky.htm
Communication April 1999
http://www.xs4all.nl/ ~mknaven/april.htm Communication/sound
44. Tilman Küntzel
tilman.kue@t-online.de •
http://soundart.c3.hu/Pages/
pictureSitesE/page3_1.html/
45. Shirin Moalie •
http://www.photomontage.com •
http://www.n3xt.com • http://www.5hirin.comVisualisation/
Communication/Games
46. Emilia Telese/Tim Didymus
etelese@hotmail.com •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/TM
47. Thomas Born
Virtual Design Communication •
http://www.fhtw-berlin.de/virtual-design
48. thomas kemnitz, berlin,
vimudeap - the virtual museum of dead places visualisation
http://www.vimudeap.de
49. Conor McGarrigle Spook...
http://www.stunned.org/spook/
conor@stunned.org
Communication or Interaction/interface
50. beatrice meyer, büro für nicht wahrnehmbare vorgänge •
http://www.hgb-leipzig.de/BnwV
51. Cornelia Sollfrank
cornelia@snafu.de
www.obn.org/generator
52. INTER-TRANS
inter-trans@form4.de
http://www.inter-trans.net
53. Anne Metzen | Christoph Schmuck
Standard Euro - Betriebssystem 1.0 •
mthomas@bureau-k.de
http://www.standard-euro.de
Interaction/Interface
54. My.Art.Net inc.
http://www.stunned.org/myartnet/ Category: Other
55. Collection 1997/2000 waldek pranckiewicz
prancek@polbox.com •
http://free.art.pl/czas/kolekcja.html
56. Zelko Wiener + Ursula Hentschläger
office@zeitgenossen.com •
http://www.zeitgenossen.com
57. cym cym@cym.net
http://cym.net/zvrgoli 1. Visualisation, 4.Interaction/Interface, 8. Other „Metelkova Mesto“
http://cym.net/metelkova category: 3D
58. Bulot „Distance Focale 2“
http://x-arn.org/x/bsx/df2/index.html 4.Interaction/Interface[net.art.box]
http://x-arn.org/x/btm/boxes/ 4. Interaction/Interface
59. „disneyNASAborg“disney borg
dnasab@altavista.com •
http://www.sintelligence.net/enhancefr.htm
(interaction, sound, visualization)
60. „Toplesstemps“ Angie Waller
angie_waller@yahoo.com •
http://www.couchprojects.com/topless
61. „Influx Email Services“ Jon Cates •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/jcates/
Category/ies: 4.Interaction/Interface 5. Communication
62. „On Display“ David and Ellen Levy
levy.nyc@attglobal.net •
http://on_display.homestead.com/index.html Visualization
63. „The Bank of Time“ Dr. Future
richard@dig-lgu.demon.co.uk •
www.kulturserver.de/home/dr_future
64. „Collection 1997/2000“
waldek pranckiewicz
prancek@polbox.com •
http://www.kulturserver.de/home/czas/
closed (16.4.2000)
Selected netart
1. G.U.N. by O Cangaço do Santo File (http://www.kulturserver.de/home/canga)
David Casacuberta & Marco Bellonzi, Spain
G.U.N. presents a content network with simple memes. Using known sounds and pictures new and revolutionary slogans about labour are put together. This work of art uses the internet as pure distribution medium. Though there is no co-operation between the different users, G.U.N. provides us with an amusing research into terms that are actually lacking content.
2. fusion (http://fusion.ok-centrum.at)
Alexander Sokolov, Russia, Martina Sparn, Germany & Alexander Panov, Russia
„Fusion“ shows cultural activities in different regions of the world by combining the internet, print media, electronic media, and real editing. Unlike Verybusy.org the interaction by a human editing is demanded. During the festival, an on-site work-in-progress is planned to take place.
3. Verybusy (http://www.verybusy.org)
Stephan (Spiv) Schröder, Germany
Verybusy.org is an open container as software structure which, via the internet, brings together suppliers of netart and those who are interested in it. The contents are not limited by the editor’s subjectivity. So, this work of art doesn’t follow the path of „fusion“.
4. Netart generators (http://ww.obn.org/generator)
Cornelia Sollfrank, Germany
„A smart artist makes the machine do the work.“
„Netart generator gets into the basic questions of netart. What does it mean if the author (artist) can no longer be determined, if the originator can stay anonymous within the net? Which material does netart use and which new forms are resulting from it? In which context does netart have to take place to be recognized as art? Who has access?
For me, this work is another attempt to focus the idea of netart as creative webdesign to other levels of the net or the imagination. At the same time I try to ironically treat the widespread idea of netart as website art by declaring websites as netart which have been generated at random using online material.“
(Cornelia Sollfrank)
5. TM (http://www.kulturserver.de/home/TM)
Emilia Telese & Tim Didymus, Great Britain
„TM's content is intimately related to these media, featuring sound and processes involved in working with them, especially in the case of teleworking, or working from home, a typical source of employment in the recent years.
As it streams generative sound from the Net (with the Koan plugin), everytime TM is played it varies and evolves differently, making it necessary to use the Web as the source of enjoyment of an everchanging piece. We are interested in a „non interference of structure“ in our work, setting up a process and letting it go.“ (Emilia Telese)
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