On Thursday 10th 2010 we took part in the State of the Arts Flash Conference.
We were invited to respond with a 1-minute provocation to the following question:
What makes a good home for art (and for artists), and how can we ensure there are more of them?
And here is what we talked about:

A BRIGHT IDEA: WHY WEBSITES ARE GOOD HOUSES FOR ART AND ARTISTS

Preamble:
Reconsider the hierarchical dominant conceptions of how art and ideas are distributed within the institutional and  commercial system – the web is open and evades intermediaries.

1_ The web is a medium, but it is also a space, and a platform – it enables democratic work processes and reposition our understanding of outcome.
2_ Web platforms generate a network with no boundaries, be them physical, socio-political or cultural – they are open to all, and accessible to many.
3_ Wikileaks, the Egyptian protesters and the conservative reactions by institutionalised web services have just taught us the internet is still a political and critical space – it allows new forms of cultural distribution and enables radical practices.
4_ Web distribution is still an horizontal system – web platforms are based on sharing resources, knowledge and practices.
5_ Producing, displaying and distributing art on the web allow innovative forms of cooperation between people, organisations, and education centres.
6_ Online forms of engagement are yet to be fully discovered – the web facilitate a one-to-one personal and active experience of artworks.
7_ A few artists considerations on working with web platforms:
- ‘they are a place I have never been to before’
- ‘ there is an all-embracing atmosphere about them – they are open to everybody, and travel everywhere’
- ‘they are unique, because anything can be made for them’
- ‘the convey a real sense of immediacy, accessibility and openness’
- ‘they raise important questions about the relationship between technology and current critical thinking’
8_ The web is a yet-to-be-fully-explored house for art and artistic practices – it has the potentials to reinvent and reinforce forms of production, distribution and engagement.

Please note that Google Art Project is not a project for critical thinking, groundbreaking research and constructive engagement – and Adobe Museum for Digital Media is not a a museum.

Keep an eye on the Flash Conference website!