8: communications art

intro

Some precursors to current internet art.
Common traits that are often shared:
– art should be democratic: everybody is an artist.
– participation is more important than a material product: the network is the work
– life is art is life
And also:
– interest in role playing, personal mythology
– pop culture memes as material

mail art

example of mail art (by H.R. Fricker)
example of mail art (by H.R. Fricker)

Ray Johnson and “The New York Correspondance School”, a network of mail artists.
Strong conceptual (and personal) links to Fluxus (Maciunas, Brecht) and Nouveau Realisme.

Mail art stil exists, in Belgium: Guy Bleus. Also fax art, email art, etc.

Score of "Exit", word event by George Brecht.
Score of “Exit”, word event by George Brecht.

Many links with fanzines, radio art, open access television, hometape music, pirate radio and television.

General Idea

Came out of several large mail-art projects, founded “FILE” magazine that was originally very much mail-art oriented.
Evolved into a pre-occupation with appropriation, parody, deconstruction, self-mythologization.

cover of the first "File" magazine (1972), by General Idea.
cover of the first “File” magazine (1972), by General Idea.

telecommunications projects

Nam June Paik, “Goodmorning Mr. Orwell” (1984).

Some of action during "The World in 24 Hours" (1982), a 24-hour telecommunications project organised by Robert Adrian.
Some of action during “The World in 24 Hours” (1982), a 24-hour telecommunications project organised by Robert Adrian.

Robert Adrian, long history of telecommunications projects using Slow-Scan TV, Fax, precursor of email, telephone.

Kit Galloway and SHerrie Rabinowitz; several large-scale telecommunications project, amongst others “Hole in Space” in 1980.

"Hole in Space" (1980), by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinovitz.
“Hole in Space” (1980), by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinovitz.

Joost Rekveld