Cat's Cradle

Abstract

The earliest networked art was a catalyst for new ways of communing and creating. Within a short span of time, computing and gaming became a social organism built for sharing art and ideas, communicating, and exploring multimedia. It is currently ruled by algorithmic, attention-demanding, low-information content that can make one feel alienated from computing and the Internet, feeling like one cannot change or personalize their experience, and find themselves bound to a small handful of toxic websites. The personalization of one’s computing experience both physically and digitally is an art form in itself; endangered but hanging on. At the same time the Internet changed, so too did gaming. Experiencing video games in person together transformed into large servers of global game play, changing player interaction as often online sessions are brief and ephemeral compared to the couch with one’s friends. Despite the negative spaces of the Internet, independent developers of video games, Net Art, and artistic communal websites continue to labor on, attempting to create a dual-powered Internet based on art, creativity, and play, just as networked art started.