We Cyberartists have tunnel vision. Through our art, best fitted to the digital network that the spidery Web is, we pipeline our "cyber"-works for "cyber"-culture's sake that is globally prevalent. When I first established a presence on line with my "Truly Virtual Web Art Museum" in 1997, I had difficulty finding good digital art online to fill the virtual gallery spaces with international computer art. It was pretty much a vast e-wasteland. Cultural experience back then was more about taking up residency in free "home"-pages such as Geocities, and flirting in then novel online "chatrooms." But the Internet held the near term promise that scores of digital artists would soon arrive to claim this new realm of art opportunity. And yes, today, they pervasively inhabit this exciting, proliferating cyberspace! There is now such a diverse richness online of cyberarts that I am proud to be part of this pioneering first generation of artists that are providing culture unique to the Web. Here is art found nowhere else but on the Web.
"Cyberart," according to my perspective and mission, is digital art that is created exclusively for viewing, appreciation, and experiencing, on the Internet. Imagine the power to now be able to transport your feelings, ideas, as artist with anybody on the planet, bypassing the physical bottlenecks that museums and galleries are, through a democratic, distributive vehicle for public visibility and consumption. All one has to do is conform to the medium of expression that best fits this electronic modality, the computer, the network, the boxy screen. Not all artists, especially the sculptors, take naturally to this beckoning new art medium . But for me, like a fish to water, it was a logical extension from "computer artist" (1985-96) to "cyberartist" (1997- present). It just took a change of commitment from printing-framing-nailing-hanging-on-the-wall to merely uploading new works to my web pages. With the advent of this new portal for artistic visionaries, the Internet's Flash, Java, and multimedia integration developments guarantee future visual delights for all cybercitizens.
For 2002 a new milestone for all cyberartists - the EHCC World Tour of Cyberart www.lastplace.com/EXHIBITS/EHCC/ICE2002/ art of disciples for Internet Art- is downloaded, printed out, framed, and exhibited to reveal themselves to those who only "see" in the "real world"- outside the domain of online culture. With the stewardship of Ingrid Kamerbeek of Germany, it is our plan to establish a "web ring" of worldwide museums that recognize, and support, the virtues of Cyberart. Hopefully this will accelerate the pace of opening "unwired" eyes, leading the way to the hidden dimension of edge art just a fingertip away, lying buried, like hidden treasures, within the new landscape of ubiquitous desktops.
Pygoya (aka Rodney Chang, M.A., Ph.D) December 5, 2002
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