Internet Art Chapter 4

          The first artist I researched from Internet Art chapter 4 was Heath Bunting. He is a contemporary internet artist from Britain, and explores connections between the internet, the physical world, and how humans can control these things. A famous project of his is "BorderXing", where he crossed many international borders and documented footage online. Also in his online project, he included successful and strategic ways to make these journeys between countries in order to help others embark on the same travels. This is interesting because he doing exactly what our "Intructables" project is all about: giving back to the internet and allowing others to learn from his experience. He then set up his website so only certain people could view his work, thus creating his own borders for the internet. I think it is fascinating how Bunting related the internet and the geographical world. Not only did he document the physical world and share it with the internet by posting footage of his journeys online, he brought actual parts of the real world online. He treated his website like it was its own nation, adding restrictions as to who can and can't see his project. It is a powerful message showing how all aspects of tangible and non-tangible life are interconnected. 
          Bunting also did a creative performance art piece called "King’s Cross Phone-In." He posted on his website different phone numbers inside King's Cross railway station, and what times people should call those numbers. Then at a specific time, people from all over the world were calling these phone booths and starting conversations with people inside the station. This project shows how technology has the ability to connect people even if they are unaware of it. It is incredible how Heath Bunting dedicates his time to using the internet as a tool to bring people together. Below is a photo of Bunting on his travels for "BorderXing", in Portugal. Below that is a screenshot of the message he sent out to encourage people to call the station in "King's Cross Phone-In".
          

          The next artist I researched was Shu Lea Cheang, a multi media artist from Taiwan. She participated in numerous art exhibitions that challenged digital censorship and property control. I thought this was interesting because it relates to what we viewed in the film about "Anonymous". Cheang collaborated with a few other artists to create a project called the "Kingdom of Piracy", which is basically a network that allows digital content to circulate freely without censorship. This could be considered piracy, hence the name of the project, and the Acer Digital Art Center in Taiwan demanded that the network change its name and provide links to artists featured on the page. But Cheang and the others fought and kept their system as it was. Another project by Cheang is "Burn", a project created to contradict piracy restrictions. It is an online site that includes download and upload links, and ways for people to share content. It's basic purpose is to allow users to share and access media online without any government interference, and I respect Cheang for this. She created artworks that stand up for what she believes in, and it is amazing that she is willing to speak out against the law through her art. It is similar to the Anonymous hacktivist group because Cheang uses the internet to try to make a change in society.

http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/kingdom-of-piracy/