Internet Art

We all live in a time when the world is conducting the largest social experiment ever -- the internet. Historians and social scientist alike have long wondered what the overarching consequences the internet will have on society as a whole. While most people agree that the internet is connecting people in ways that were never before possible, the effect of this online interaction has yet to be fully understood. And while one can deeply analyze any aspect of internet social mingling, I’ve found myself drawn to internet art.

For a while now, my blog has featured short videos that I personally find interesting. Often, these short films are constructed with the skill and technique of true Hollywood professionals. However, the vast majority of these clips aren’t made in the notoriously capitalistic Tinsel Town. Instead, these videos are made by unknown artists and creative types from around the world. And, more importantly, the films aren’t made to make the creators money. They’re made for art’s sake.

The truth of the matter is that many of these films would never have been created had it not been for the advent of the internet. The World Wide Web has done amazing things for artists and for art as a whole. Now, these movies can be created with contributors living thousands of miles away from one another. Sound clips and special effect files are traded on many file sharing websites, allowing for people who have never laid eyes on one another to work together to create a singular vision. Now, people of all ages, races, genders, socioeconomic statuses and more are flocking to the internet to express themselves creatively with the help other users with similar interests in the creative arts. What is now happening is an exchanging of cultural trends in art, mixing styles and ideas across borderlines.

When a certain video is released, it brings with it the cultural assumptions of its director and its crew. What you now have are websites that collect these different cultural stories, presenting them side-by-side, allowing for careful analysis by its viewers. My favorite video sharing site is vimeo.com. While YouTube has an unusually large catalogue of videos feature adorable kittens and people falling off of chairs, Vimeo features arty, often enigmatic short films. The care and thought that has gone into Vimeo’s videos is often evident, showing that quality art actually can stem from the public internet sphere.

Vimeo isn’t accessible to all. In fact, most of its videos require thought and observation on the viewers’ part, thereby creating a dialogue between director and audience that is absent from many YouTube videos. Vimeo seeks films of higher quality in terms of production, acting and storytelling techniques. Hopefully, websites like Vimeo will inspire other artists to get away from creating videos that will get the most “hits.” Instead, it’d be nice to see a shift away from quantity and a move towards quality. In my opinion, the true success of a film is not how many people see it. Its success is defined by how many people are deeply affected by the movie around the time the credits roll. Maybe the internet will begin to allow this shift to happen.