VUK ĆOSIĆ
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VUK ĆOSIĆ
VUK ĆOSIĆ www.ljudmila.org/~vuk/ Vuk Ćosić is an inescapable point of reference with respect to net.art. As is explained in the history of this practice which is less than ten years old, the term net.art came about by chance in December 1995 when, due to a software problem, an e-mail received by the Slovenian artist, Vuk Ćosić, arrived in a hieroglyphic, alphanumeric form that was impossible to understand. The only legible components of that cryptic message found by Ćosić were the words net.art; he began to use this as a name for his activities and it spread like wildfire among Internet communities. However, it would be no surprise to learn that this convincing explanation was actually invented by the artist in order to create his own legend. The inclusion of different net.art projects in Kassel's documenta X marked its public recognition as an artistic practice. When, at the conclusion of this event, the removal of its Web page was announced, Vuk Ćosić created a mirror and included it in his own Web page. In this way, the appropriation of the site became his own work, in the style of the ready-made Duchampians. Since 1998, Vuk Ćosić has initiated his artistic endeavors with the characters ASCII. As he himself explains: "Artists today who are taking an interest in technology are falling into the trap of accepting the limits set by someone else's creativity, and they are becoming sponsors of the equipment they use. One possible reaction to this phenomenon would be to investigate the misuse of technology as an expression of freedom, thus challenging the tastes and expectations of the majority. Work and experiments such as moving ASCII, ASCII for audio, ASCII camera and other similar codes are aimed at adapting the content of one media platform to another, always with the intention that the result is completely useless in terms of the day-to-day use ascribed to leading-edge technology and its consequences. I try to investigate the past and renew certain marginal or forgotten technologies. Gebhard Sengmüller calls this practice the false archaeology of media." Of particular interest in his project aimed at producing a genuine history of Net Art are the History of Art for the Blind, the ASCII History of Moving Images, the ASCII Music Videos and A History of Art for Airports. Montse Badia Source: www.hamaca.org/Eng/Mirrors/Worksps/Cosic/wcosic1.htm |