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NET ART
ANTHOLOGY

ÄDA 'WEB

ÄDA 'WEB

1994 - 1998

Founded in 1994 by entrepreneur John Borthwick and curator Benjamin Weil, äda 'web was a platform for online artworks, experimental literature, publishing, and even exhibitions. It functioned within an internet startup as a “digital foundry” that commissioned artists to work directly with web designers and developers to explore the internet as medium and distribution channel.

This collaborative approach allowed äda 'web to diverge from conceptions of net art as a distinct field of practice: it included works from artists who focused on digital media and from artists for whom net engagement was a welcome extension of their conceptual practice.

Benjamin Weil and collaborators, äda 'web, 1994­1998. Screenshot, Netscape Navigator 2.02 for Windows, 2018.

VISIT ÄDA 'WEB IN THE WALKER ART CENTER ARCHIVES

äda 'web was operated by Matteo Ames, Cherise Fong, Ainatte Inbal, Andrew Wanliss Orlebar, Andrea K Scott, John F. Simon, Jr., Benjamin Weil, Vivian Selbo, and others, as part of internet content company WP Studio.

“Together, we invited artists to experiment with—and reflect upon—the web as a medium as well as a means of distribution for their work.” — äda ′web

Taking its name from Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace, who is often described as the first computer programmer, äda 'web commissioned and hosted an extraordinary range of experiments with the internet’s form and function.

Artist Julia Scher developed an open-ended, expanding presence within äda 'web, beginning with the circuitous pages of Securityland (1995).

Julia Scher, “one house” from Welcome to Securityland, 1995. Screenshot, Netscape Communicator 4.79 on Windows 98, 2018.

Lawrence Weiner worked with äda 'web to create Homeport (1997), an environment for Palace Chat.

Benjamin Weil and collaborators, äda 'web, 1994­1998. Screenshot, Netscape Navigator 2.02 for Windows, 2018.

Jenny Holzer’s Please Change Beliefs (1995) allowed users to modify a selection of her aphorisms, and became a sensation on the early web.

Jenny Holzer, Please Change Beliefs, 1995, from äda 'web. Screenshot, Netscape Communicator 4.79 on Windows 98, 2018.

Ben Kinmont’s We both belong (1995) was based on on- and offline exchange: users would submit photos of themselves washing dishes via the internet, and the artist would return the favor, in printed form.

Ben Kinmont, We both belong, 1995, from äda 'web. Screenshot, Netscape Navigator 4.79 on Windows 98, 2018, adaweb.walkerart.org/influx/kinmont/ letters/9602212123866.html.


Ben Kinmont, We both belong archive, 13.95.12.117, 1995. Courtesy of the artist.

After WP Studio was purchased by AOL, the site lost its financial support. In late 1998, it was archived by curator Steve Dietz on behalf of the Walker Art Center.

Although äda 'web was conceived of as a curatorial platform bringing together a range of different works and activities, it is most valuable to consider as a whole, rather than extracting an individual work.

It was both an early experiment in the web’s utility as an artistic medium and platform and a bellwether for the challenges of translating an active platform into an archival object.

More From CHAPTER 5: 1984-2016 (REPRISE)

05/14/19 Arcangel Surfware Cory Arcangel 2014 - ongoing
06/08/18 Natural Process exonemo 2003 - 2004
11/05/18 Vote-Auction UBERMORGEN 2000 - 2006
01/29/19 386 DX Alexei Shulgin 1998 - 2013
03/25/19 The World in 24 Hours Robert Adrian 1982
04/15/19 StarryNight Alex Galloway, Mark Tribe, and Martin Wattenberg 1999
05/03/19 Untitled Wolfgang Staehle 2001
06/26/19 Garlic=Rich Air Shu Lea Cheang 2002 - 2003
06/25/19 Nasty Nets JOHN MICHAEL BOLING, JOEL HOLMBERG, GUTHRIE LONERGAN, MARISA OLSON, ET AL 2006 - 2012
05/16/19 Post Internet Gene McHugh 2009 - 2010
06/13/19 Mobile Image Kit Galloway, Sherrie Rabinowitz, and collaborators 1975 - ongoing
06/19/19 netart latino database Brian Mackern 1999 - 2004
06/20/19 Processing Ben Fry, Casey Reas, and collaborators 2001 - ongoing
06/06/19 Lungs YoHa (Graham Harwood & Matsuko Yokokoji) 2005
06/11/19 R-U-In?s / Garden Club Kai (Kari) Altmann 2009 - ongoing
06/14/19 The Thing Wolfgang Staehle et al 1991 - ongoing
06/07/19 One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age Olia Lialina & Dragan Espenschied 2010 - ongoing
06/24/19 m9ndfukc.0+99 Netochka Nezvanova 1999
06/28/19 Simple Net Art Diagram MTAA 1997

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