The history of net.art gave valuable insight for me as a digital artist, and for this assignment. While the Internet today is very different then the era this article was written about, several key principles from the movement remain highly relevant.
First, net.art's emphasis on community and engagement demonstrates the power of interactive and participatory works vs static more typical artwork. We could take inspiration from how early net.art artists used online spaces not just to display work, but to create a collaborative environment where the viewer can create their own adventure like in our final assignment.
The movement's resistance to commercial and institutional control is also relevant today. While complete independence from platforms may be challenging, artists can still create works that question the infrastructure of the web, similar to how Jodi.org exposed HTML code as artistic content. Today's artists might explore creative ways to critique the current structures and mechanics of the web. The evolution from simple web pages to easily accessible complex applications also offers us an opportunity to more easily create our art in a way that doesn't require the same technical knowledge as before through using programs like the Adobe Creative Suite, or Wix.
While I'm not planning on having the same level of engagement, or deep message as many of the net.art artists, I think that some of their principles could be implemented into my web-venture. I think that my adventure taking in place in nature could be a slightly unusual format that allows the viewer to feel transported away from the digital medium their engaged with.
