CODeDOC takes a reverse look at 'software art' projects by focusing on and comparing the 'back end' of the code that drives the artwork's 'front end'--the result of the code, be it visuals or a more abstract communication process. A dozen artists coded a specific assignment in a language of their choice and were asked to exchange the code with each other for comments. The assignment was to 'connect and move three points in space,' which obviously could be interpreted in a literal or abstract way. The 'core' of the code (commonly referred to as the 'main') was not to exceed 8KB, which equals a fairly short text document. The results of the programming are made visible only after the code--what visitors to this site encounter first is a text document of code from which they can launch the front end of the project. The languages in which the code is written are Java, C, Visual Basic, Lingo and Perl.

The selection of Internet-based art for the 2002 Biennial strives to give an impression of the variety of forms that net art can take and of the multiple themes that have emerged over the years. These forms range from alternative browsers and "hypernarrative" to networked software art—art that resides on a local computer but culls data from the Internet. Among the prominent themes in net art are data visualization and mapping, database aesthetics, gaming paradigms, agent technology, community as well as nomadic devices—all of which surface in the art works included in the 2002 Biennial selection.

The Biennial net art selection includes 4 pieces of "networked software art." Mary Flanagan's [collection] and Robert Nideffer's PROXY (both available on-line) need to be downloaded to and installed on your computer. Benjamin Fry's Valence and John Klima's EARTH are not available on-line but the projects' websites feature detailed information about the works. EARTH has a Java module (a simplified browser-enabled version of the limited edition software shown at the Whitney) that is downloadable at the project's website. PROXY is shown on-line only. EARTH and [collection] are presented as small-scale installations.

A panel featuring the artists included in the net art section of the 2002 Whitney Biennial took place on

Friday, March 8, 7-9 PM
Tishman Auditorium
66 W 12th St.
Webcast Archive @ www.netart-init.org

This event was a collaboration between the Whitney Museum and the "Netart Initiative," of which the MFA Design and Technology Department of the Parsons School of Design is a founding member.
Sponsored by the Center for New Design at the Parsons School of Design.

The net art section of the 2002 Whitney Biennial is sponsored by France Telecom North America.

• press release

Data Dynamics is an exhibition of Internet art that focuses on a prominent issue in this new medium: the search for visual models that represent a continuously changing flow of data and information. These models offer navigational possibilities for experiencing visual and textual information. The Internet art projects included in Data Dynamics are exhibited both as installations in the Museum and in the Whitney's online gallery. Each of the works focuses on different dynamics of data, whether in the context of mapping language, stories, memories, or traffic in physical and virtual spaces.

Data Dynamics includes five net art projects by Marek Walczak and Martin Wattenberg, Mark Napier, Maciej Wisniewski, Beth Stryker and Sawad Brooks, and Adrianne Wortzel.

Data Dynamics is sponsored by France Telecom North America.

Additional support has been provided by The Rockefeller Foundation.

• press release

Nothing since the invention of photography has had a greater impact on artistic practice than the emergence of digital technologies. BitStreams is a provocative and stimulating presentation of contemporary art that harnesses digital media to achieve new dimensions of artistic expression through the transformation of images, space, data, and sound. The exhibition also illuminates the fascinating crossovers among media, as photography, film, video, installation, sculpture, and sound develop closer connections through their common use of digital software. Among the forty-nine artists included are: Jeremy Blake, Leah Gilliam, LOT/EK, Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid), Jim O'Rourke, Paul Pfeiffer, Marina Rosenfeld, Elliott Sharp, Diana Thater, and Pamela Z.

In conjunction with BitStreams, Performance on 42nd presents Pulse, a series of four events featuring live performances intertwined with digital media.

• BitStreams is sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc.

Additional support has been provided by the Whitney Contemporaries of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Committee of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Christopher Vroom and Illya Szilak, Nettmedia, Zurich Capital Markets, and Instinet Corporation.