Little Heroes and the Big Dot

So the prince took her for his wife,for now he knew that he had a real princess;
and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
H. Ch. Andersen


oslo port in march
net.art history in stone

There once was an exhibition with two titles. It opened in the Oslo Museum of Contemporary Art on the 22nd of March 2003. First title: "Written in stone." Second title: "net.art archeology." It also exists in two dimensions: the museum rooms and a web site.
They dont look alike these two parts. Museum exposition is inspired by a work of Blank and Jerome from 1999, history of net.art (Bookchin-Shulgin) carved in stone. And it is not just a hidden reference: 4 heavy stones are placed on the central wall surrounded by other real objects representing the history of net.art.
The web component is virtually separate under the stylish URL: http://www.student.uib.no/~stud2081/utstilling/. Lots of texts, (most, unfortunately for me, in Norwegian), and links. It's a surprisingly deep excavation. I found unknown projects, like a lecture of mine I never knew was online, and some files I lost 2 years ago. And the nice thing about the website is that it doesn't try to imitate the real events aesthetically. It's more than "additional information on our website" and it is different.
This is the good thing about this event in general: its understanding of space. Both spaces. Their shapes and purposes.
The museum hall is a place with tall and bright walls, straight floor. This space should be filled with frames, vitrines, title cards, good light, vernisazhes and finisazhes, director's speeches and flowers for the curator. In a museum you walk from one object to another. You can invite somebody to come with you.
I think it's very important to make exhibitions you can invite somebody to. Not students for excursion, but somebody else. "Made in Stone" is a very good exhibition, so invite a girl you like.


curator per platou
josephine bosma's donations

You go from object to object.
And she asks: what are these primitive graphics?
And you say: It is a screenshot from Agatha Appears. very funny web project. Imagine it is from 1997 but still online. I have a fast internet connection at home. If you want we can go to my place and look through it.
Or she sais: Look, t-shirt of Vuk Cosic. Who is it? And you say: I don't know, probably a net artist. I have a google engine at home, if you want we can go to my place and search for his works.
"Written in Stone" makes no attempt to exhibit internet works right in the museum. No connected and decorated computers with partitioned plastic walls in between. No attempt to create a proper environment; to hide the internet and electrical cables or to make ikebanas of them. Those exhibitions never, ever worked. No matter how much money was spent. In Oslo the computers are finally removed. (I would say they're absent, but there are two in the corner to print related texts; instead of making a catalogue).


lialina's jacket and stuff
framed agatha appeares

Per Platou fills the space with three types of objects: the private stuff of artists, web project reproductions and mythical representations.
The first selection consists of the curious things donated by artists. I sent to him the orange jacket I bought in Rotterdam at DEAF 1996; my first media event. Heath Bunting sent his knife. He was under suspicion because he wanted to take it onto the plane with him. Netochka Nezvanova sent his Eyelash Curlers. Josephine Bosma, her rare catalogues. And ascii pictures made by Vuk Cosic's automatic ascii machine. Vuk Cosic, of course, sent a lot. Amongst them were a bunch of dried roses. Two years ago Cornelia Sollfrank gave these flowers to him for the opening of the Venice Bienalle.
Of course, you should know what Cornelia Sollfrank does and what Vuk Cosic did to understand why she gave flowers to him and why he kept and dried them and why Per Platou thought it was a good object for the show. This is a show for those who know that jodi are superstars, that Netochka Nezvanova is NN, that Mouchette is 13 years old, that Heath Bunting lives and travels without any luggage. Even if you don't know these names, (actually, it's not that hard to imagine), this exhibition can be a good starting point. Not as perfect as a link sent by a friend, but still much better than terminals arranged for surfing at a media art exhibition.


framed 404
vuk's t-shirt

Instead of showing works, Per Platou exhibits high resolution colored screenshots printed on good paper. Classic joke. Now, you really see how "Form Art" by Alexej Shulgin and a "404" page by jodi look; framed as perfectly as on the net.
For some animated experiance curators made a videos of 27 art works . Again as a joke it was funny 5 years ago when a big moder art museum wanted to collect net art on video. echo of this story can be found for example at Marton Fernezelyi's sites with videos of MBCBFTW.


web video

jodi lamp

n Oslo, webvideo appears to be very spectacular. 1.54 min. (of Guernica by E8Z) + 3.22 min. (m9ndfukc propaganda by NN) + 50 seconds (of TM Club by Rachel Backer) + ... = an hours tour as the cursor speculates, unravels and penetrates knotty sites. Video's in the dark, far room.
In front of it's another perverse piece: a meditation lamp made in homage of Good Times (if 404, check here now). It looks like a real act of devotion to the work of old masters. You can stand in front of this lamp and meditate on the sacred mysteries and multiplicities of the Website. I recalled that once I was planning to make an Advent calendar of "My Boyfriend Came Back From The War," and there was a plan to print "Some Universe" on a 10 m. length of paper, and to make postcards of the "zombie and mummy" comics. They would be something for "Written in Stone"... You could also imagine using carpets, curtains, cups and spoons to play around with net art project visuals. But fortunately Per Platou didn't go futher in translating net art into material objects. otherwise it would be a suvenir store, not a museum exposition.

a little hero little heroes

And about the myth. There is a myth that net art belongs to a small group of artists, heroes. Legend has it they invented net art and then killed it. Or it was just an accident. Or they all died. Or they're already in their 90's... Or they've just retired. Some people say they'll come back. Per Platou erected a monument, a group of sculptures to the myth and its heroes. Six plaster busts. Jodi in the middle, Cosic and Shulgin in front, Lialina and Bunting on the left and the right. But the artist's heads are not that big, about 20 cm. with a pedestal. You have to come really close to recognize who's who in this vitrine. They're very small heroes.


dot of net.art
museum for modern art

The dot looks much bigger. When you enter the exhibition the first thing you see is a red, velvet pillow and a shiny metal ball on it. It's the "." of net.art. It's a sort of monument to the grand, all-absorbing discussions about the name and its spelling (net.art, net art, net-art...). This dot on the pillow, among the columns of the beautiful museum hall, is a proper answer to the two questions at once.
How to write the term net art? How to exhibit it?
To write with dot. To exhibit this dot.

The exhibition is on till 25th May 2002. The website till ~stud2081 stops maintaining it.