[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.htmdisplaying one's visual work or offering a sound piece has to have purpose and intrigue for the users of the Net.Typically, I find that even in a text based environment, it's difficult to attend to every detail that an author hasprovided.At the moment, owing to the relative slowness of the average user's hardware combined with the largeamounts of data that comprise media files, it is sometimes a torturous process to read a page that contains manygraphics.This is made particularly painful when an accidental keystroke or misfired mouse click starts anirreversible retrieve of an enormous file.In the normal realm of publicly displayed art, even the largest piece israrely an obstacle in this sense.As the "groundskeeper" of New York Art Line, the Panix art Gopher (URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com:70/11/nyart), I have found that being on the "server" side is not easy.Before puttingmy work on Gopher, I experimented with the idea of an in-house BBS on Panix using Lynx as a browser.I had anumber of users try out my menus, and I was amazed at how often the unanticipated path was chosen.I felt, forexample, that a first line entry that said WELCOME DESK would be the obvious first choice and, therefore, theplace for orientation info and the primary "hub." My beta users consistently bypassed this option and wentdirectly to an area deep in the menu that I named "The Dada Base" and where, unfortunately, I did not yet haveany material.As my work moved to Gopher, I became aware of the need for consistency in an ever-changing world.If I wasinterested in having users become aware of local information that I served, I had to maintain a consistency to mydirectory structure or else any other established Gopher's link to that area would be broken.This meant that inmany cases, you have to live with what you've done until you create a clever way to redirect to your new areas.At the same time, you need to let users know that you're Gopher is not static.Some means for drawing usersbeyond the consistent look of the main menu is often needed.My Gopher area now also has a link to my home page where I get to offer the freer form of the Web to users whoare browsing with html readers.The home pages of the Web can, to some extent, get by on personality more thanconsistency.While things do change in the world of Gopher, there is an element of predictability once you'refamiliar with a particular type of Gopher, such as Arts Gophers.After a while, they start to reference each otherand as I look for new links, I frequently find the same core group of Gophers and even similar menu headings.AsI embark into the Web, it seems to be an ever-changing and growing resource.One is not better than the other.They are different.Gopher is more like the catalog of your library, while Web is like the magazine stand.TheWeb, Gopher, FTP, and telnet are the current primary Internet realms where artists can presently create onlinepublic installations.There's No Place Like Home PageI've mentioned a few times already that the World Wide Web is growing at an incredible rate.On average, I learnabout a new art resource or project on the Web just about every day.The Web has several distinct advantagesover Gopher and even telnet and FTP.On the one hand, it's possible to present an attractive document completewith fonts, effects, imagery, and sound.Second, the organizational aspect of your material need not be as a staticlist.It is possible to place hypertext references within a freewheeling prose.Third, to some extent you havegreater control over your unique way of presenting links to the Web.In Gopher, as an example, if I organize adirectory where I've researched and found many Usenet groups that relate to art, any other Gopher can simplypoint to this directory, give it a new name, and effectively now "own" this directory, too.I don't happen to mindthis because that's the nature of Gopherspace.The Web, however, has a little bit more ability to be proprietary areference to another document at a site can be nested so that the initial home page is the only path to the work.Ofcourse, any URL reference that's accessible via the Web is up for grabs.Finally, the fourth advantage is that Webbrowsers can run a Gopher, telnet, or FTP session.Additional advantages exist in the individual software.Lynx,for example, has the ability to mail a comment to the owner of a document.The home-spun nature of home pages have made them an attractive option to many people looking to puthttp://docs.rinet.ru/ITricks/tig22.htm (12 of 22) [4/18/1999 12:46:03 AM] Tricks of the Internet Gurus tig22.htminformation on the network.The only disadvantage I see is that the Web is mapped in a somewhat free form way.This makes it both an adventure and a challenge for those looking to present work and those looking to findwork.It does seem, though, that good ideas have a way of getting through and surviving.Once a home pagebegins to be cross referenced by one or two major sites, the awareness and participation, if any is called for,grows geometrically.Electronic Cafes and Cyber-CultureThe comforts of personalized electronic space are not limited to an individual's home page.The concept of acommunity hangout on the Net is about as old as the network itself.After all, we are talking about a multiuserenvironment.Long-time users of the Internet have grown accustomed to and, in fact, have shaped the network sothat it is almost impossible to spend all of ones time in isolation.Even the most hermitted lurker still must beaware of the ever present world of exuberant interacting personalities.It's difficult not to find a personal touchwithin a program or a site.Just as the salon and cafe have been institutions in the art world for the past centuryand well beyond, the Internet has always had SIGs, news groups, IRC, multiuser games, and so on.ECHO uses the imagery or analogy of electronic salons where artists gather in virtual space to interact andconverse.The WELL (well.sf.ca.us), which is the direct electronic offspring of The Whole Earth Catalogue,structured itself as a series of moderated communities.Delphi (delphi.com), the first major commercial providerto offer full Internet access, has had a variety of popular SIGs and a sizable collection of smaller SIGsindividually configured by users.Arts Wire on tmn.com has structured itself as a series of conferences for itscommunity of artist users.Borrowing from a host of concepts that have always existed, they have formalized themanner in which users can communicate with each other.A user may initiate a conference with one or severalother users.The conference may be formatted as private or public.The larger commercial providers,CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy, and Genie, have had a host of community forum areas both large and specific inscope.The wonderful collection of local Freenets has always had its community centers and town halls.Maillistservers have provided still another venue for exchanging ideas and contacts.A cafe is usually an environment where the subject matter is open.The draw is that a group of creativepersonalities are in one place at one time, and their interactions will generate at least an entertaining evening.Talk sessions and Internet Relay Chat have allowed a deeper enhancement of the slightly more static Usenet andother interest areas.However, the concept of interacting online has been expanded with facilities such as NetJamwhere musicians create combos and play through MIDI-interface across the Net
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]