WEB ART – WITH A DIFFERENCE!
Last October, I received the following email message from Ardith Ibañez Rigby, an author whose book I had recently reviewed:
YOU ARE INVITED TO EXPERIENCE…
The first projection site for the Global Collage art project!
October 30 – December 23, 1998
San Francisco, California, USA
Each night, we will project the Collage — a rotating gallery of images submitted by worldwide artists via the Internet — at the corner of Green, Stockton, and Columbus, beginning at sunset for approximately 3 hours (weather permitting). We encourage you to visit the web site http://www.globalcollage.com to view the Collage, submit your own artwork, and learn more about the project.
Ben Rigby, Ardith ñezIba Rigby, and Ruth Chang
The Global Collage Team
I was curious about this project, but not being in San Francisco, I kept the idea on my mental back burner for two months. Then, at the end of December, just before the live Collage projection was about to conclude, I wrote to Ardith, Ben, and Ruth, asking for more information about their unusual venture. They offered an expanded version of their initial promotional release, including the following:
GLOBAL COLLAGE BRINGS ART TO THE STREET USING THE INTERNET
The website displays a rotating gallery of images submitted by worldwide artists via the Internet. Passersby will experience a truly global collection of ideas, emotions, and expressions. The project also brings the power of the Internet and the beauty of art to an audience who may not have the opportunity to use a computer or to view art in their daily lives.
By using the Internet as the means for collection, the Global Collage team can cheaply and easily gather artwork from a diverse group of artists from all corners of the globe. Those who may not have had the resources, connections, or time to exhibit their work in a museum or gallery now have a venue in which to display their talents. The team hopes that the Global Collage will fill this void by creating a public forum in which ordinary people can express their extraordinary talent.
The projection building lies at the busy intersection of Columbus, Stockton, and Green in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. The Proxima DP9300 projector (donated by Proxima), will be connected to a laptop computer with a wireless Internet connection. The projection will be live, which means that if a Balinese artist, for example, submits artwork at 8:30 Pacific Time, it could show up on the San Francisco wall by 8:35.
I apologize for not mentioning the Global Collage in a previous column, but Ben has just written that the first project was so successful they intend to find future venues for live outdoor display, “like the BART commuter train station, or from an RV, traveling around the country to whatever blank wall we can find!”
Ben and Ardith, both digital artists, have spent four years considering the role that art plays in daily life, and how people treat artists on the basis of that role. Art was too much of a separate experience from everyday existence, as exemplified by museums, galleries, and their restrictive entrance fees and hours of admission.
They joined forces with Ruth and created Global Collage. The Collage Team has been collecting art from all over the world during the past two years, via their site on the World Wide Web. Submission is free, and all types of images are welcome.
Initial sponsorship came from Bank of the West, Moose’s Restaurant, Adolpho’s Restaurant, and the Rigbys’ design business, Akimbo Design http://www.akimbodesign.com. The Global Collage website will remain active, and is definitely worth repeat visits. I keep it in the background whenever I’m on the Web, to enjoy the intriguing rotating 30-second image displays of work by a true international gallery of artists.
The wall projections and Web site have been enthusiastically received both by viewers and artists. Typical responses include: “Thanks for bringing great design to the web and beyond!”
I congratulate Ruth, Ardith, and Ben, and invite all readers to visit their Global Collage site. Tell every artistic person you know to submit something, and keep in touch with the Team.
NEMO’S PREDICTIONS FOR 1999
You WILL get spammed, and you WILL lose data. Ugh. What can you do about these problems?
SPAMSPAMSPAM
Just before Christmas, I received a dozen “harmless” messages, all in Italian, essentially identical to the following one.
Caro Chiappe Giovanni
Grazie per aver ordinato presso Unistore.
22/12/1998
Order No. 100065
1 ‘MitshbishiMT30’
1 ‘SiemensS10’
1 ‘MitshbishiMT30’
1 ‘MitshbishiMT30’
Attraverso la Ricevuta verifichi il progresso del Suo ordine:
Per Tornare a Unistore Usi la seguente URL:
http://www.milanoticket.it
I sent a few choicely-worded messages back to the original address, and the spams stopped, I hope. Next time, I may not be so lucky.
Here’s what I suggest, and it may be a tough pill for some of you to swallow:
1. DO NOT FORWARD or originate any jokes or “cute” messages containing someone else’s email address. These messages circulate forever, and eventually are used to generate bulk spam lists.
2. When someone includes you as a recipient on any BULK email joke or similar message, immediately write to your “friend” asking for only original, single-recipient messages in the future.
There is plenty more to say on this subject, but those two points are the most important. Any questions?
BACKUPBACKUPBACKUP
I am a fanatic on backing up, and you should be also. Regardless of whether you use Zip, Jaz, SuperDrive, CD-R, MO, removable hard drive, or floppies (not recommended), make regular, reliable backups of your most important data, and store the disks off-site from your computer. One day you will appreciate this advice.
Until then, thanks for reading Nemo Memo. See you in March.
John Nemerovski
nemo@mymac.com
Websites mentioned:
http://www.globalcollage.com
http://www.akimbodesign.com
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