Abstract

Long Paper

Summary:
SIT0 is one of the biggest Internet-based art cooperatives, with thousands of Images. hundreds of artists, and numerous online collaborative projects. Since its birth nearly four years ago, SIT0 has grown dramatically in both size and complexity. How can one address some of the day-to-day maintenance problems of an online art site while simultaneously making it easier for people to participate as both artists and audience?

Keywords: online art, collaboration, gallery administration. distributed art databases,  collaborative programming

Abstract

More than three years ago, a small ftp site, that took the name “OTIS” (Operative Term is Stimulate) appeared on the Net. Its very loose mission was to collect art and “display” it via the Internet. It was also a way to meet other artists who worked in both “digital” and “traditional” media. With the aid of the World Wide Web, and with the assistance of many wonderful people (and even a lawsuit!), the project now known as SITO is a thriving experiment in both “online art galleries” and networked digital collaboration. This talk will cover the history and current undertakings of SITO, as well as what we are doing to move ahead. Focus will be on the two main lobes of SITO: the “Artchives”, which are the static collection of thousands of images from hundreds of artists worldwide; and, “Synergy”, which is SITO’s exciting and dynamic collaborative half, where projects are always popping up and growing and mutating. Special attention will be given to EGADS, the flexible, timesaving new system being built to both administer and present the Artchives; as well as Synergy:HyGrid, the latest collaborative undertaking, which recently won a distinction at Prix Ars Electronica.

• Ed Statsny & Jon Van Oast USA, sito.org

Full text p.55-57