Art for all
When e-2 started in 1997 the Internet seemed like a fascinating new space, but one that, although conceptually interesting, seemed to be lacking in any engaging content. As an artist I've always been interested in exploring new spaces, and the Internet seemed like an important place for art to exist. It also offered a way to take art out of the sometimes rarified gallery context.
Do you feel that fine artists are able to make the leap into digital art?
This generation of artists are very interesting in that they are the last people who haven't grown up surrounded by digital technology. Many of the artists e-2 has commissioned have never used digital technology before. This meant that some of the projects took a long time to develop but led to pieces that have a very fresh stance on what our relationship with new media is and how one might create artworks within this space.
Do you think that digital art has as much kudos as fine art?
The fine art world has been slow to accept artists using new media but to the artist the Internet is just another medium or space to make work within. Video and photography both struggled to be accepted as valid mediums for artists but are now routinely found in contemporary galleries. Tomoko Takahashi's project for e-2 'Word Perhect' was a breakthrough piece, being the first digital work to be nominated in the Turner Prize. There is still a difference with web-based artworks in that they have to operate outside of the gallery and are hard to define as an 'object' that can be owned.
Have you had much interest in the e-2 website since it was featured on Well Connected?
Yes, the e-2 site has an audience that has built up over the years. Whenever we launch a new project or receive some media coverage, there is a jump in our viewing figures and a flood of e-mails from a new audience.
How many artists contribute to e-2?
e-2 commissions artists to make a one-off major piece of work specifically for the Internet. To date we have launched 9 new works but many of these projects have required a team of people to realise them. We have also, though, just launched the minus20 project on the e-2 site. Rather than commissioning and producing works, minus20 asked artists to send in web-based works that were under 20k (20,000 bytes) in file size. The project seems to have captured artists' imaginations and we received 140 entries from around the world, from which the judges selected 9 final pieces, which can be seen at www.e-2.org/minus20/
What are latest projects that e-2 has been involved with?
Other than forthcoming commissions (Mike Nelson, Simon Starling and Simon Wood) and the minus20 project, e-2 also works with cultural organizations to help them utilize the Internet. In this role we have just totally redesigned the Royal Academy's website and are working with a number of other galleries and architects. With Ian Ritchie Architects we are developing a strategy to redevelop Shepherds Bush Green as London's first programmed outdoor art-space.
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