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The
art scene and the web, part I
by
dangermouse
No-one
could have guessed what impact the emergence of the world
wide web would have had on the underground art scene. It
was already firmly implanted in the Bulletin Board community,
owing its very existence to it in fact. What would follow
would be a plethora of web sites about groups, the scene
and everything else..
The
art scene embraced
the Internet, and this article examines many of the highlights
that came over the years.
Suffice
to say, by the time the World Wide Web became prominent,
sceners were looking for ways to use this new medium. The
BBS scene was slowly dwindling, mainly because the net offered
faster communication, greater access and well, shitloads
of novelty value (pron).
ACiD
was among the very first groups in existence, and along
with iCE, was one of the first groups to build a web site
for itself. iCE got the domain name first though, as ACiD
had been hosted on an .edu server for some time, but got
too busy, therefore warranting a server in itself.
Since
this time, many other great web sites have either existed
or still exist on the web: creators.org,
Cia's web site; twilightproductions.org, Twilight; ice.org,
iCE productions; blade.org,
Blade; darkillustrated.org,
Dark; infidels.kracked.com,
Infidels, and many more..
A lot
of these web sites in themselves really showcased the talent
that oozes from the scene. Blade
and iCE have web sites
that many professional web development outfits would be
envious of.
Along
with the group sites that littered the net, there were also
the obligatory resource and portal sites. Long before acheron.org,
the Super Unknown and TASH (The Art Scene Homepage) where
the premier sources for information in the art scene. Both
sites mainly acted as portals, not fully realising the amount
of information and services they could have offered.
Ampersand,
in late 1996, tried to fill the gap that the Super Unknown
and TASH left after they died. Eerie built a information
rich site, both with unique information presentation, and
unique design. It incorporated the latest news, pack releases
and numerous articles and pack reviews (?).
Ankh,
run by Bedlam, was also another site about the scene, but
was only up during the Spring and Summer of 1996, dying
around the same time as the mOp and ACiD merger..
Artpacks.acid.org
was indeed the major site, originally being the "/ansi"
directory on the Hornet Archive. Since then, the site has
gotten its own html front end, and had many features such
as batch file tagging, download statistics, and other features
added thanks to their chief programmer, Shivan Bastard.
The importance of this site cannot be under rated. It has
time and time again offered a space for anyone wishing to
upload their packs to the wider world. It's databases now
stretch as far back as 1990.
It wasn't
until January 1997 that acheron.org
emerged. It wouldn't be until late that year that it become
more prominent in its news gathering, and ultimately becoming
the information source for the art scene. Since 1997 it
has amassed 290+ pages of content, 300+ photos, 50+ articles
and interviews, an art gallery, tutes, a comprehensive links
directory, and more.. It is now a database for the scene,
and has never really claimed to be an web-mag.
Scenelink
tried to bridge the gap between art scene and the rest of
the scene in 1997. It tried to cover everything, from art
to the warez scene, from coding to hacking, and so forth,
but largely remained a warez and hacking resource. It has
since undergone a transformation, and is also in limbo as
some technical problems are ironed out.
During
1997, Lost Lands
also made its debut, operated by Element Design's RW. It
was mainly a huge links site, and later promised to be quite
a nice art gallery for artists to showcase their art.
The
Original ANSI ART Gallery was also introduced during
1997 by George Ramos, and is still online to this day. Unfortunately
it hasn't been updated in quite some time, mainly due to
George not being that well. The site will be taken over
by plasmatik in the near future with a new look.
This
year, 1998, saw the release of two ANSI galleries almost
back to back. The ANSI Museum, run by cool t, showed promise,
but never really got off the ground. Just recently, dieznyik's
VTAG has reopened, after
taking a hiatus earlier in the year. The site offers a plethora
of ANSI picture and logo exhibits categorised by artist.
This is kind of thing the art scene really needs, and lets
hope that it stays open.
The
Extremist's Operation Rescue opened this year as the first
pack reviews dedicated sight the scene has seen. The reviewers,
most often Thext, offered advice on ANSIs and later HIREZ
works, more often than not making crude comments on poor
pieces :> The site died mid 1998.
It what
seems to be the year for art scene related sites, Gywdian's
Oracle has also
opened. It features pack reviews, articles, interviews,
latest pack downloads, and a favourite group voting system
(something which the beam e-mag introduced via its online
presence).
Artcore
is site which was made to cater for individual artists.
Its creator wanted to make a site where all artists felt
welcome to display their art, whether they be from the underground
art scene or the more main stream industry. A recent redesign
has made the site dynamic and much more popular, attracting
many artists.
What
indeed must be said at this point is this: the art scene
has again and again shown its diversity and flair to create
interesting and technically up-to-date web sites -- something
which should be commended. Many doodleboys work as webmasters,
web programmers, graphic artists, or within the Information
Technology industry.
Some
artists have even set up their own web development companies.
vFive, comprising mainly
of iCE members, create innovative and brilliant sites for
their clients -- something which is immediately apparent
when viewing their site. They have been is business for
over 2 years now, with clients such as MCA/Universal Studies
to name but a few.
Element
Design is one such other company which has arisen from
the scene. They have become successful through their competitive
and fast hosting services. They host a number of scene sites
including Razorshift,
Avenge, Remorse, Acheron,
Hirez.org, etc..
Razorshift
is also another web development company, run by the two
Avenge boys Creator and Spot.
Part II:
Part
II will examine the many personal sites which have been
created by the artists within the scene.
Discussion
Topic this month:
How has the web affected the art scene? Do you think it
has affected us in a good way, as indeed this article stipulates?
Also, what are your favourite art scene sites -- include
personal ones, so we can have some content for the second
part.
>> discussions
(General Art Discussion)
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