All the collaborations we had through the years are presented on Stephanie’s website.
She is a great web-designer, but she also did web-captures and video editing, and she designed the user interfaces of a software and platform I created.
She also archived my different websites through video-editing of web captures, like this one, an archive of all my virtual characters.
And she designed my personal websites, like this one you are browsing now!
MyDesktopLife is presented inside this exhibition of the collection of ZKM
I have been supported by ZKM in their program Art on Your Screen.
Here is my contribution
The collection of the ZKM | Karlsruhe ranks among the largest media art collections in the world. It exemplifies the transformation of art in the face of changing technologies of production, reception, and distribution. Artists react to changes in media and sometimes anticipate developments that only years later will be taken for granted by society as a whole: they write the history of the future.
Media determine to a great extent how we express our thoughts and feelings, how we communicate, and how we remember the past. Johannes Gutenberg’s movable metal letters fundamentally changed Europe’s culture of knowledge in the middle of the 15th century, just as photography changed the fine arts in the middle of the 19th century, and the Internet transformed our entire private and public communication at the end of the 20th century. The development of art went from moving letters to moving images and moving viewers; from the book page to the website, from the canvas to the screen.
“Writing the History of the Future. Part I” looks at art from the middle of the 20th century onwards. The exhibition shows aesthetic experiments with script and language that engage with different media. It presents the first attempts at computer-generated graphics and poetry as well as contemporary works dedicated to the automation of the creative act. It also addresses the material conditions of individual and cultural memory – between erasing and forgetting, storing and remembering.
New technologies provide the individual with ever new means to create images, texts, and sounds. They expand her or his scope for action. The exhibition provides a precise insight into the history of viewer activation – from Op-Art to physical interventions in variable pictorial objects to the instructions for action of the art of the »performative turn«.
Here is my artist’s page on their site
How to Do Art With Networks
Thursday 26 November 2015 — 13:00 – 17:30
Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Gym, Amsterdam
A one-day-open market with workshops, lectures and performances
REPORT of the Symposium
by Karin DeWilde
How To Do Art With Networks was a one-day-open market with workshops, lectures and performances that explored how networks are art. Curated by Annet Dekker, the event was built-up around artist Martine Neddam’s research for LAPS, the Research Institute for Art in Public Space of the Rietveld Academie. Several existing net-art-works served as catalysts allowing the public-participants an opportunity to share experiences and to experiment with platforms, tools, and media. Guest practitioners were Robert Sakrowski, Katrina Sluis, Anne Roquigny, Martine Neddam, Michael Murtaugh and Aymeric Mansoux.
Networks operate: they are decentralised and create connections. As such, their organisational structure distinguishes itself from the classic hierarchical systems. In line with this “How To Do Art With Networks” reconsidered the conventional form of the conference format and instead created the event as a “one-day-open market”. The venue was set-up as a workshop space. At different tables, participants could experiment with a variety of online tools developed by artists and curators. The audience was invited to examine these art-net-works and share their experiences with the artists and programmers. The research approach was to gain knowledge by doing. Art-in-networks were tested, new solutions were found and blind spots were identified. The open format leads to a wide range of questions, including: What are relevant practices for collaborative authorship? How can one maintain all the different elements within a net-art-work (archive, user interface, code, moderation, etc.)? On different levels, the event prepared the ground for further developments for art within networks.
The Research Institute for Art and Public Space (LAPS) generously supported the event and lector Jeroen Boomgaard added that the methodology of doing research together was an interesting format for research within an art school. One of the main benefits is that such a model offers engaged participation in the artistic process, a component of the work that usually remains invisible. On another level the conference contributed to the artistic research of LAPS, a research platform of the Rietveld that examines the role of art and design in the public domain. Art that uses the network as a medium is an interesting addition. Networked systems and online communities have become essential elements within our public space,
“How To Do Art With Networks” was organised to celebrate the launch of “MyDesktopLife”, a web-editing project initiated by artist Martine Neddam. It was Neddam’s aim to not only share the tool with others, but also to present it along side as part of a network of artists that were also interested in sharing their tools. The selected projects could all be seen as art-in-networks.
In the introduction to the event, a network was described as “linked structures and distribution systems that connect traces, projects and people”. As such these net-art-works function as online tools and the audience is not only invited to interact with the different artworks, but to use the tools for their own purposes and give suggestions for further developments. Most of these tools are available for free on the Web.
The following projects were presented:
-Michael Murtaugh, “Active Archive” (since 2006)
-Harm van den Dorpel, “Delinear.info” (since 2015)
-Martine Neddam, “MyDesktopLife” (since 2014)
-Anne Roquigny, “WJ-S” (since 2005)
-Robert Sakrowski, “Curating YouTube/Gridr” (1997, 2007)
Besides these projects, there were two lectures that addressed some of the topics around art-in-networks:
-Aymeric Mansoux, “From code art brutalism to web apps: the strange dérive of networked art practices”
-Katrina Sluis, “Image Exhaust: Pictures vs. Imaging Systems”
During “How To Do Art With Networks” the net-art-works were not only presented, but more importantly, they all acted as catalysts for exploring different perspectives and potentials for further development. The remainder of this report summarises some of the insightful reflections that were shared during the day.
Art historian and curator Robert Sakrowski traced the tradition of the grid as a form to work with a quantity of information and comparative viewings. To expand on the traditional concept of the grid, which is usually understood as a collection of static pictures, Swarovski developed a tool that applies the grid to moving images. The online tool “Gridr.org” makes it possible to browse through different screens at the same time. It offers opportunities to not only compare images, but also, to rethink narrative structures. “Gridr.org” can also be used in multiple contexts: curating, creating soundscapes, or live performances.
Katrina Sluis reflected on the functioning of art in networks in her presentation “Image Exhaust: Pictures vs. Imaging Systems”. From her experience as a curator at ThePhotographers‘ Gallery (London) she analysed the relationship between photography and fine art and in particular how the value of photography changed with the emergence of digital culture. With the merging of photography and the Web, the image was no longer unique and singular, but absorbed in a stream of data that is continuously circulating. This raised new questions about how to comprehend these ‘networked images’ and how to renegotiate our relationships with them. The network is an apparatus that connects people, inside and outside the gallery, but also on the Web. Sluis emphasised the importance of approaching the digital not only as a tool, but also as a knowledge system and culture.
Media arts curator Anna Roquigny and programmer James Hudson presented the online tool “WJ-S”, which they described as “a mix of the Internet in real time”. Within a collaborative playlist multiple users can add and share their online content (by a simple drag and drop mechanism). The tool was created in order to translate individual or collective surfing towards a physical environment (gallery, conference, festival). This translation from the online towards the offline space turns browsing into a spectacle. Events were organised all over the world in collaboration with artists, curators and participants. All were invited to play and perform with this tool. These events were further used to inform participants on how to use the software and to share experiences in order to improve it.
The web-editing software “MyDesktopLife” originated from Martine Neddam’s artistic practice. Neddam is a pioneer of Net Art. She has experienced how personal creations on the Web are increasingly restricted by formats used in websites like Word Press and Facebook. The tool “MyDesktopLife” gives some freedom back to the users by offering possibilities for web editing, such as the creation of layered images and narrative structures within the browser. The prototype of “MyDesktopLife” was supported by a research grant from ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, in Karlsruhe). The next step is to share this tool, for which a content management system (CMS) has been made. Anyone can register, use the prototype and become part of the community, which in turn, will contribute to further developing the tool.
Artist Harm van den Dorpel is rethinking the structures of our (social) databases. “Delinear.info” breaks with the linear and chronological organisation of most social media platforms. Users can follow each other and and can expand upon each other’s thoughts. Again, the tool came about through van der Dorpel’s own artistic practice, as he could not find a suitable tool for storing his collection of images, ideas and texts. Jan Robert Leegte described “Delinear.info” as a “multi user image building site”. It is a live database, free and dynamic, and most importantly, connects different knowledge areas and people. In this way, it functions like an ecosystem. Within the database there is no distinction between content and navigation.
Michael Murtaugh is a member of Constant Art & Media in Brussels and co-initiator of their project “Active Archives”, which is a project that aims to create a free software platform to connect various (institutional) practices. Constant critically reflects on which software cultural institutions use and what implications that has, in terms of authorship, copyrights, etc. Murtaugh offered valuable reflections on online collaborations and how we can reclaim the tools we use such collaborations rely on. Among others he creates his own local networks with PirateBox.
A PirateBox is a portable electronic device for storing information and for creating a wireless network that allows users who are connected to share files anonymously and locally. This device is disconnected from the Internet. For the conference Murtaugh created a hotspot with a dead drop interface, which could be used as an intranet within the Rietveld building.
Artist, musician and media researcher Aymeric Mansoux shared his reflections on the theme “How to do art with networks?” and suggested the rephrasing “How to do art within networks?”. He emphasised that networks are not only about “making” something, but also about the relationships between humans and non-humans, and about the power struggle between different rules. He then went on to examine how art was made within or outside existing systems. Artists have always been forced to develop their own systems, but is it possible to truly escape the existing ones? He took the manifesto of the art movement “Copyleft” as an example of how escaping a system is extremely difficult, especially since we do not have a relationship with one, but many systems.
“How To Do Art With Networks”is curated by Annet Dekker and co-organized by Martine Neddam. Production support was done by Sietske Roorda (LAPS). Alina Lupu and Vitya Glushchenko were responsible for all the designs.
“How To Do Art With Networks”has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Lectoraat Art & Public Space (LAPS).
“My Desktop Life”has been made possible by a grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL, Rotterdam.
References
LAPS (Lectoraat Art & Public Space)
How To Do Art With Networks
Harm van den Dorpel
Delinear.info (since 2015)
Michael Murtaugh
Active Archives (since 2006)
Martine Neddam
MyDesktopLife (since 2014)
Anne Roquigny
WJ-S (since 2005)
Robert Sakrowski
Curating YouTube / Gridr (1997 / 2007)
My Desktop Life is an online software which allows to produce films, or animations with images, sounds, movements, texts, playing in a browser online.
The project is showcased in this website MyDesktoplife.org complete with screen captures of the created films hosted in Vimeo.
MyDesktopLife is an ongoing project. Check out for the news.
This creation originally supported by a research grant from ZKM Karlsruhe, Art On Your Screen initiated by Matthias Kampmann. It was proposed to the public on the AOYS website in December 2014. They host one of the films created by MydesktopLife, “This Is Home”.
The project is also presented since April 2014 in ” Performing the Media, Online Identities” in the online platform Netspecific.net from the Museum For Samtidskunst in Roskilde, Denmark.
The films created with the software MyDesktopLife represent a flow of consciousness composed of different layers images, texts, sounds, voice melted into each other. It suggests a moment of daydreaming in front of a computer screen when what happens inside your own mind get intertwined with actual views of desktop pictures, memories, typed texts, automatic translations, all this colored by fleeting moods, disturbed by unexpected pop-ups or alert sounds, and then resuming its own flow mingling personal memories and stored data. They can be presented to an audience in different situations, large size flat screens or projected in a dark room.
These films are generated by a custom-made software created in collaboration with James Hudson.
Technical description
The My_Desktop_Life software is broken into two parts: an editor for creating content, and the player to replay it in a browser. The editor is only a thin layer over the player, so with the click of a button, the editor part can disappear completely, leaving the work as it will be seen by the audience. Unlike a ready-made commercial tool which divorces the creative process from the final work, the artist is constantly seeing the work through the eyes of their future audience as they create. The user interface is based on a physical manipulation paradigm: dragging objects and actors around a stage; rather than clicking buttons and typing. The artist should feel as if they are directing a performance, not building a computer file.
Both editor and player software run in the browser, using open standards and frameworks such as CSS, jQuery, and Javascript. This allows the software to be maintained and developed on the web: the same context in which it will be exhibited. It also allows closer collaboration between the developer and the artist (who live in different cities), with updates and example performances easily uploaded and shared between them.
The technology was chosen to balance cutting-edge features with the need to reach as wide an audience as possible. It has enough power and flexibility to move beyond the standard web content found on commercial sites, and to bend the fabric of the web in ways the audience would not expect, while not requiring the very latest computer or browser software.
VirtualPerson.net is an online interface created by Martine Neddam, which allows users to create their own virtual person. It is a content management system (CMS) where the user logs in, defines his/her personality and creates content within the parameters designed by the software.
The design of this interface is oriented on the development of narrative content. It uses the superimposition of texts on large size images, and cross/fade effects that allow a feeling of fluidity in the circulation of meanings between the texts and the images. The virtual person manifests its presence in the storytelling by the use of a small image and profile on the left hand corner, but the main interest of the interface is encourage the artist composition of texts over images and all its creative combinations. The use of text in this designed interface resemble a silent voice, attributed to an invisible imaginary person.
From 2 to 14 December 2008 Virtual Person was presented at the Zendai Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai as part of the project Intrude: Art & Life 366. With the collaboration of Annet Dekker
Photos from the workshop at the University of Shanghai:
