Internet Art Chapter 2

          An artist that caught my attention in chapter two was Annie Abrahams, a Dutch internet and performance artist. She combines the art of performance with the internet to explore communication and interactions between people, the web, and the world. After growing up in the Netherlands, Abrahams studied numerous fields including biology, fine arts, and psychology. I find it interesting that she has such a broad range of knowledge and is able to incorporate all of that into her networking and internet art. For example, you can see her interest in psychology with her project "Being Human". This involves a number of different internet installations that explore the human condition and how people relate to one another. A similar piece is the one featured in "Internet Art", called "I Only Have My Name". In this project, Annie used question and answer sessions to talk to people online and see if people could recognize her. She finds that certain human-like qualities are lost via internet communication. I think it is fascinating how Abrahams uses something as non-human as the internet to explore certain aspects of life that are human. It is important that the technology we use does not take over human life; technology should support human life and help us discover more about ourselves. Below is the website to Abraham's website where you can see part of the amazing project "Being Human". 
http://www.bram.org
          Another interesting artist from chapter two is Mark Napier, a net artist that strayed away from the world of traditional art and used the internet as his artwork. He studied fine arts at Syracuse University, having experience in painting and later working with programming and hypertext. Napier's work integrates symbols, themes, and meanings from modern culture and combines them into digital masterpieces. Shown in "Internet Art" are Digital Landfill, The Shredder, and Riot; all pieces by Napier that expose hidden meanings and web art features. Napier describes his work as "raw" because it breaks down web elements and turns it into artwork. I think all his pieces are incredible because there is so much going on, yet they are still visually appealing. I could stare at his images for hours and continue to find new ideas and images every minute because they are so packed with information. While Napier's work is intricate and creative, some of his pieces have created controversy with society. Napier's "Distorted Barbie" angered the corporation of the popular children's toy, but it still sends a powerful message. He takes an icon of modern culture, the Barbie, and transforms the perfect doll into a distorted masterpiece using internet art.  Napier's work goes against the grain of traditional art, even though he studied painting and fine art. It's those types of artists that make a statement and aren't afraid to stand out that I find impressive and inspiring. Below is the link to Napier's "Distorted Barbie".
http://users.rcn.com/napier.interport/barbie/barbie.html