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September 03, 2006
Though - net.art, which refects the cultural, social and political issues of the users who inhabit this domain, is well and truely established, I'm only just getting the hang of translating images shot on old film cameras (Linhof and Leica) onto the weblog. 'Just' is the key word at the moment.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Rocks Mallacoota, 2003
This is an old image from a holiday on the east coast near the NSW Victoria border. It is an example of how an existing art form (photography) has moved onto the internet.
I'm finding it a step learning curve, however. I do not really know the differences between the different digital formats--bmp & jpeg--let alone how to modify the image digitally. I'll just stick with jpeg for the moment. I can see why artists are drawn to the net---it promises aesthetic control over the embedding graphics and sound into pages of easily navigated text.
This technology allows for an easy mix of image and text that can be grounded in the local and personally, as the work of Tom Moody, a visual artist based in New York, shows. However, they still can't earn any money with their art.
Me, I just take the humble snapshot aesthetic using the conventions of beach culture. The old (modernist) hierarchy in photography went from high-art photographs at the top, to documentary photographs (working photojournalism) in the middle, to snapshots (for us amateurs) at the bottom. But those hierarchies don't exist anymore.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Suzanne and Dogs, Victor Harbor, 2004
Though it could be a beach anywhere, it is actually our backyard when we are holidaying at Victor Habor---part of the cliff top top walk west of Petrel Cove. The negative gives no indication where the beach is. I'm just guessing. I more or less stopped shooting in black and white when the old Leica M3 fell to the ground in Brisbane and the range finder broke. It still has not been repaired.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Rocks Mallaccota, 2003.
The image needs darkening to bring out the blacks. That's the next step isn't it--modifying the image. So what we have is a toehold in digital space for the discussion of media, networked arts and cultural practice as it happens.The critical reflections upon this can be found at empyre What we have is a different kind of textuality.
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