Presentation final work 22.11.13: net.flag (Mark Napier, 2002)

Source:
http://adisdigitalvision.blogspot.hk/2013/10/netflag-800-flags.html




Introduction of the work

• Artist: Mark Napier 

• Name: net.flag – a flag for the Internet 

• Release year: 2002

• Where: http://webart.guggenheim.org/netflag/
  commissioned by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

A detailed description of the work

Work in detail

http://webart.guggenheim.org/netflag/



What is interesting / unusual / thought-provoking / aesthetically / pleasing / puzzling about this artwork 

• National identity vs global citizenship

• Internet as a new territory

"In the new millenium we see nations trying to lay claim to a new kind of territory, the Internet. This virtual territory is no longer a geographic location, a new land with resources to be claimed. It is a space created by man-made infrastructure that carries the potential of information, group identity, economic and political advantage. Nations and terrorists alike use the Internet to carry out their agendas. Those who control the structures, both hard and soft, that make this new space, control the nature of the space itself, providing or limiting access to the resources of the network" (Napier, 2002).

"net.flag creates a parody of what flags try to be. Flags try to fly over one territory and to unify people, when in fact the tendency is for people to diverge and to tear down, change, or negate flags" (Ippolito, 2003).

• Meaning of flag symbols beyond its context

• Flags' unlimited visual language

Selection of user-contributed flags

An evaluation of the work in terms of the chosen issue focused on Network Digital Art

Issue: National identity

One example in detail

• Indentity has always been an issue in Digital Art

“Many New Media Artists have used the Internet as a tool to explore the construction and perception of identity" (Tribe, 2009).

• Finding a national identity for the Internet

• Using flags as a metaphor for national identity

"The visual manifestations of national identity are familiar to all – flags, for example are probably the most potent visual expression of national identity" (Dinnie, 2008).

• The Internet's identity is only temporary

Features that the artwork shares with earlier art movements such as Dada

• Provoking

• Political message

• Collage-like

 




































Are formal instructions, the concept rather than the art object, audience participation and chance important elements in this work?

• Importance of the concept

• Audience are the artists

• Based on random events

• Formal instructions (Support Navigation / Statistics)

What is remarkable or noteworthy about this artwork?

• 10 years after releasing, the artwork's issue is still very relevant

• Combining one of the oldest communication tool (flags) with one of the newest (Internet)

• Pioneer in collecting and preserving Internet Art (online archive)

References

Dinnie, K. (2008). National Branding. Concepts, Issues, Practice. Oxford: Elsevier. 113-116.

Ippolito, J. (2003). Mark Napier, net.flag. In: Depocas, A., Ippolito, J. and Jones, C. The Variable Media Approach. Permanence through Change. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications. 108-114.

Naper, M. (2002). About net.flag. Available: http://webart.guggenheim.org/netflag/. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2013.

Tribe, M. (2009). Art in the Age of Digital Distribution. In: Jana, R. and Tribe, M. New Media Art. Koeln: Taschen. 6-25.