http://phoneme.walkerart.org


This project was created in June 1999 by Mark Amerika, one of the best known web artists on the international scene and founder of the web site Alt-X that brings together his writings and past projects such as Grammatron. Phon:e:me was commissioned by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis as part of the itinerant exhibition Let’s Entertain. Starting with the concept of mp3, the American artist has created a sort of sound album accompanied by a series of imaginary “notes in the margin.” Given the difficulty users have in connecting to every piece—the program continually runs into errors and net congestion—and in trying to read the tests which scroll past too quickly, Phon:e:me would seem to testify to the provocative and illusionary nature of Amerika’s work.

http://www.artistprotection.com


Observing the difficulty many contemporary artists encountered in penetrating the art market and producing their work, inspired a certain Mr. X and Ms. Y to found the Artist Protection & Benefit Programne in 1990. The organization aims to support talented artists and provide them with some financial security. The program can also furnish new identities to artists who wish to change life and city and try to seek fame and fortune by a change of direction. The site details the case of a certain Doris Z., an Argentinean-born artist who moved to New York. If such an organization truly existed, it would be inundated with emails by artists in search of recognition or support. In reality, however, this is a curious art project dreamt up by Sally Minker and Jennifer Sloan, which was created for Internet with the help of the New York based Artist Space’s Independent Project Grants Program. The two artists are essentially playing with art market mechanics and the concept of how work by contemporary artists is valued. Those who wish to take part in the project, despite its Fictitious nature, can fill out an on line application form.

http://www.mecad.org


Launched in September 1998 and directed by Claudia Giannetti, the Media Center of Art and Design forms part of the College of Design in the small region of Sabadell, near Barcelona. Its function is to furnish a center for the research, production, and diffusion of art that draws on infographics and the new audio-visual media. The site, in English and Spanish, provides information about the center’s numerous activities. These include study grants and artist-in-residence programs, which allow participants to use the center’s resources to develop their projects, and exchanges with other international institutes dedicated to the diffusion of electronic arts activity. To this end the site also hosts a virtual gallery with artworks carried out specifically for Internet – artists presented include Antoni Abad – and the electronic magazine “e-journal”. Created back in 1999, the magazine is largely devoted to themes such as science, art, and technology, which are developed through interviews, theoretical essays, reviews, and a forum. In addition to these activities, the center also acts as a publishing house. Works issued include the CD-ROM ArteVisión, A history of electronic art in Spain, which forms a sort of panorama of Spanish multimedia art through an examination of the work of a large variety of artists. ArteVisión has been widely praised and won first prize in the multimedia creation category at MEDIA FEST – the international festival of video and multimedia that was held for the ninth time last year in the Canaries.

Http://www.totalmuseum.org


The Total Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the most important private museums in Korea. It is housed in two different sites. The first was founded in 1984 in Changheung, Kyungi-do, to the Northwest of Seoul, while the second location was established in Seoul in 1992. Every two years the museum organizes a special award that is presented by a guest curator to a Korean artist whose work, over time, is considered praiseworthy. Among those artists who have been awarded the prize are Tony Cragg, Jheon Soo-cheon, Thomas Ruff, Lee U-fan, Toni Grand, Kim In-kyum, Andy Goldsworthy, and Chang Young-hae. The web site, in addition to offering information about the museum and its activities, is currently hosting the electronic exhibition Web Project 8. A series of new art projects created specifically for Internet are presented by a number of artists including Superbad (Ben Benjamin), Olia Lialina, and Alexei Shulgin.

http://www.observatori.com


Being held at different locations throughout the city, Observatori is Valencia’s first festival devoted to contemporary art, which focuses specifically on analyzing new forms of expressive media. The web site, in English and Spanish, offers a detailed program for the festival and the numerous others events running alongside. It also presents links to the various Internet art projects that are being hosted as part of the festival.