The Russia Journal
Culture: Whitney’s Internet artists on an enlightening visit
From left to right: documentary-photo collage; multi-media; light sculpture; environmental art.Christiane Paul, new media arts curator at New York’s prestigious Whitney Museum of American Art has been spreading the word about Internet art in a three-day visit, during which one of the primary objectives was to elevate evolutionary (Internet) art, more conveniently known as "evol," in the eyes of a still-hesitant and conservative Russian audience. Produced and curated by Nina Colosi of New York City, the exhibition was designed as a series of presentations and lectures by a team of around 18 international that took place in three sites: the Internet cafe at The Russian State University of the Humanities, the House of Journalists and Gallery L, which for the duration of the visit became the artists’ base. Evol takes note of the social, commercial and artistic factors prevailing in our time with the aim of addressing problems of society in a technological age. Basically, it’s art that often comes with a message. One of the artists was Agnes Denes. Erudite in her field and renowned for environmental art, she travels widely, engaging in real-life projects in which people are invited to participate. The idea of active participation from its audience fundamentally underscores the basic idea of Internet art. Open their Websites and you’ll find yourself drawn into a visual and musical art form that can either become a game or a further process of creation. Internet artists exhibited: John Klima - (www.glasbead.com); Maciej Wisniewski (www.netomat.net/); Mark Napier - (www.potatoland.org/p-soup/); Andy Deck - (www.draw.artcontext.net); Marek Walczak, Martin Wattenburg - (www.turbulence.org/Works/apartment).
The Russian side of the exhibition was led by Nikolai Selivanov, senior lecturer in the History of Arts at the University of Humanities, as well as a teacher at the College of Art in Krasnopresnenskaya.
It was in the second capacity that I came across him at Gallery L. Surrounded by his students, he was in the throes of initiating them into the mysteries and techniques of evol, partly augmented with some of the latest information he had gleaned from his international colleagues – who at that precise moment were still recovering in their hotel from the exertions of the previous day’s lectures and presentations.
Selivanov’s latest work of evol art takes pictures from an old family photo album and the forest as primary themes. Here, too, players are able to manipulate images and soundscapes. As he said, "The possibilities in this art form are endless." More about evol in Russia can be found at: www.evo1.org and www.intelligentagent.com/GalleryL.html.
By Alisa BARSTOW
Rhizome (US) Net art set to a Soundtrack
Now on view at Gallery L in Moscow is "evo1," a show that presents net art alongside digital art, video, computer animation, documentary photography, light sculpture and environmental art from not only Russia, but also the United States, and Europe. The entire exhibition is set to an electronic soundtrack. The net art is centered on the theme of the Internet as a collaborative, participatory medium and shared environment -- including works by Olia Lialina and Maciej Wisniewski. http://www.evo1.org
Neural Online (Italy) Evo1. It has been running for a few days
Evo1 is an exhibition of net art, digital art, animation, photography, light sculptures and environmental art at the 'Gallery L' in Moscow, Russia. Focused on the emphasis of collaborative activity triggered by the network in creative processes, and by the unique characteristic of concrete sharing of space by those who want to interact with it, it exhibits 'Fractals and Chaos', a work by Frances Whitney, Norman Ballard, Nam June Paik and Elliot Sharp , in which fractals and looped laser sequences are projected onto a spiral sculpture.The 'digital art and video' section, on the other hand, is dedicated to the English artist Marty St. James (UK) who presents six digital prints from his 'Oneiric series' and two videos from the 'Familyway' series, while in the sound section,Bitstreams news), the compositions of Artemiy Artemiev and Laurence Gartel ('An Autumn Breath'), Andrei Smirnov ('Resonance of Peace'), Milica Paronosic ('Lullaby and Closer # 1 and # 2') and Rechenzentrum ( 'Vom Boot Zum Haus').Finally, in the net art section, the works accessible also online are: 'OPEN_Studio' by Andy Deck, 'Glasbead' by John Klima, 'My Boyfriend Came Back From The War' by Olia Lialina, 'P-Soup' by Mark Napier (pictured), 'Apartment' by Marek Walzcak + Martin Wattenberg, and 'Netomat' by Maciej Wisniewski.
Exibart (Italy), October 2001
Evo1: digital art in Moscow Evo1, a major event that includes digital art, internet art, electronic music, video, computer animation and environmental art from Russia, the United States and Europe. The net.art section is curated by Christian Paul, formerly responsible for the same section of "Bitstreams", the Whitney Museum's megashow. The selection includes some "Datadynamics" projects such as "Apartment" by Walzcak / Wattenberg and "Netomat" by Maciej Wisniewski, flanked by works by John Klima, Mark Napier, Andy Deck and Olia Lialina, the only Russian of the group. Links Evo1 Bitstreams and Datadynamics