[ISEA2006] Paper: Jon Ippolito & Joline Blais – Art as Antibody: A Redefinition of Art for the Internet Age

Abstract

Art’s recent infiltration of stock markets, courtrooms, and mobile phones marks a seismic shift in the role it plays in society. The once-academic question “what is art” has acquired new urgency now that society depends on this collective immune system to confront technology’s increasing encroachment into daily life. Drawing on case studies from our 2006 book At the Edge of Art, this paper examines the special powers granted art of the Internet age, which—no longer content to sit on a pedestal or auction block—can respond aggressively to the ethical crises caused by technology’s infection of society.

  • Jon Ippolito, New York, New York, USA: artist, writer, Assistant Curator of Media Arts at the Guggenheim, Co-Founder of Still Water.
  • Joline Blais, Orono, Maine, USA: Fiction writer, Assistant Professor of New Media at UMaine and Co-Founder of Still Water

Full Paper (PDF)