1999(Edit)

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May 1999

• Web casting of “Five29Ninety9” a one-day art symposium with 24 lectures, an exhibition, and a SoundLab performance; at St. Ann’s Church, Brooklyn,NY, May 29, 1999.
  
  Five29Ninety9 - a one-day symposium and exhibition
  ...................................................................
  http://www.thing.net/~Five29Nintey9
  ...................................................................
  Five29Ninety9, to be held May 29th, 1999 at St. Ann's Church, 157 Montague St., Brooklyn Heights, brings international artists, writers, and other cultural producers together for a one-day symposium composed of 24 lectures, a self-curated exhibition, and a SoundLab event.
  Rather than imposing a prescribed theme, Five29Ninety9 will create a surface, a quorum with no predetermined conclusion. Participants will reflect the present moment through discussions of their work and related concerns, opening a dialogue and creating a network among people interested in contemporary/political/intellectual issues in the context of cultural production. Five29Ninety9 is organized by a group of New York-based artists and curators, which include: Matthew Buckingham, Rike Frank, Andrea Geyer, Sharon Hayes, Kristin Lucas, Joe McKay, and Andrea Ray.
  Beginning at 10am and concluding at 11pm, the symposium will be a marathon of sorts, consisting of 24 thirty-minute lectures. The short-lecture format allows a maximum number of participants to present a great quantity of ideas. Rather than a one-way communication between speaker and audience, the event's environment allows for discussions initiated at the podium to continue informally throughout the day.
  The speakers encompass a wide range of interests exceeding traditional borders between different disciplines. Each speaker will discuss a project or idea that is of immediate special interest to them: their own or another's artwork, a political condition, a phenomena.... The symposium alters the form of the traditional artist's talk, replacing it with an opportunity to speak from one's position without necessarily becoming the subject of discussion. Speakers include Beth Coleman, Martin Conrads, Ania Corcilius, Dyke Action Machine (DAM!), Yolande Daniels, Katja Eydel, Ciara Finnegan, Leah Gilliam, Howard Goldkrand, Brian Hand, Christan Haye, Lana Lin, May Day Productions,Tim Maul/Fred Szynanski, Sally McKay, Donna Minkowitz, Nils Norman, Walid Raad, Anna Rainer, Orla Ryan, Manuel Schilcher, Reginald Cortez Woolery, and Florian Wüst.
  The exhibition, occurring simultaneously with the symposium, will be active and open for use from 9AM to 11PM offering all participantsÐthe speakers as well as the audience space and a VCR/monitor to show artwork, documentation and other projects. The exhibition will continually change, reflecting the audience as it comes and goes an exhibition self-curated through public presence.
  At 11pm, as a conclusion to Five29Ninety9, SoundLab will create a social environment for all participants a cross-platform multi-media event, an example of what they call 3experiments for the electrotechtural now.2 Cultural Alchemy, the producers of the SoundLab event, have also produced such happenings as Abstrakt Future Lounge, Bandwidth, and Temporal Dissonance, a reading project. Howard Goldkrand and Beth Coleman are the co-directors of Cultural Alchemy, with additional members, including Akin Atoms, Enrique Candioti, Paul D. Miller, and Craig Willingham.
  The entire Five29Ninety9 event will appear on the internet in a live webcast originating at the site of the symposium.
  For further information contact (phone & fax) 212.674.5408
  Source : http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9905/msg00182.html
  
  

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  Source : http://maeveconnolly.net/texts/MConnolly_AConstructiveLackofAgenda_CIRCA_1999.pdf
  
  

May 1999

• Bindi, web project by Prema Murthy for The Thing [project] section.
  
  Bindigirl is a character or Murthy´s avatar. She is a construct of fe/male desire, created out of what is deemed ´exotic´ and ´erotic´. Murthy takes Bindigirl pictures of herself and juxtaposes them with ancient Indian texts excerpted from Hindu Deity mythologies and The Kama Sutra as translated by Sir Richard F. Burton. Master Card, Visa, and American Express cards accepted for merchandise and special live video performances.
  
  According to Prema Murthy, Bindi is a girl born out of the "exotic" and "erotic." She is the embodiment of desire for and of the "other"-the desire of wanting to be known, or to know on an intimate level, and at the same time finding safety, even power, in distance, in being mysterious. Liberation in not being easily categorized. Bindigirl is the product of a colonialist mentality. She is aware that she is being watched, and asks for something in return for being looked at, to mimic the symbiotic relationship that exists in the "real" world between the colonized and the colonizer. Not only does a desire to conquer the Other exist in colonialism, but a longing by the Other for the conqueror and his or her (capitalist) ideals exists as well. This pattern of desire and longing must be re-evaluated before we can move on into a post-colonial territory.
  Bindi is Murthy's avatar. Not only is she her alias in the virtual world, but a play on the word, which in India means an incarnation of a Hindu deity, the embodiment of an archetype. In this case she is the embodiment of the "goddess/whore" archetype which has historically been used to simplify the identity of women and their roles of power in society. Bindi is neither here nor there but exists in screenal space. She is somewhere between a question and an answer.
  
  There is sometimes a fine line between pornography and art. With Bindigirl, Prema Murthy explores that line. With the site she creates a fictional character Bindigirl, who is an online cam girl. Through this character she explores the concepts of voyeurism versus participation, ownership of sexuality, and how we use the technology we develop. She says "bindi is meant to poke fun at how we have used these tools so far to achieve a so-called "higher existence" and "greater cultural understanding." She also uses the Bindi dot as censorship as commentary of how out religious icons have lost their meaning as we've "progressed."
  "The idea of the bindi originated to symbolize the sacred third eye. It also came to signify women's marital status in India. But even now the idea of the bindi for Indian girls has become totally decorative. Back in the day it was made with red powder. Now they're made from disposable stickers you can stick on. So, even in India the meaning has been distorted. There's been another layer of distortion added through its co-opting by pop media and pop culture. Now the bindi has become this trendy fad but women in Queens who wear bindis still get harassed. There's this whole gang of people who call themselves "dot busters" and they harass these women and commit violent crimes against them. In Bindigirl, the round circles I placed over body parts was to play with this idea of what is the sacred and what can be bought. For example, in an art gallery, a red dot by a piece of art it means its been sold. "
  
  

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  Source : http://www.thing.net/~bindigrl/
  Source : http://web.mit.edu/cms/Events/race/gallery.html
  Source : http://perc3618.blogspot.fr/2009/10/bindigirl-prema-murthy-1999-there-is.html
  Source : http://likeawhisper.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/advertising-for-traffickers/
  
  

March 1999

• “CyberArt99” — How to make money with net art! Absolutely legal! — mailing list hosted by and, exclusively, web-archived on The Thing web site.
  
  

Moderated by Cynthia Pannucci/ASCI with invited participants, including Max Anderson, Director of the Whitney Museum; John Ippolito, Guggenheim Museum; Martha Wilson, Franklin Furnace; Steve Dietz, Dir./New Media Initiatives, Walker Art Center; Bill Jones, Editor/Artbyte Magazine; Randall Packer, UC Berkeley; Robert Atkins, art critic; Kevin Teixeira, Intel Corp.; Doree Duncan Seligman, BellLabs Comm. Software Research Dept.; Mark Napier, artist; Wolfgang Staehle, artist/Dir.The Thing, and others. CYBERART99: seeking solutions, May 9: New York City, — http://www.asci.org/cyberart99/ — a symposium designed not only to analyze the current state-of-the-art of online digital arts but to propose different models for financial support of this work in the future. Contact: ASCI, 718.816.9796

It's been four years since ASCI produced what was probably the world's first CyberFair at Cooper Union, NYC. Michael Govan, Director of the DIA Center in New York and internationally renowned performance artist, Laurie Anderson were keynotes. The field of cyberart has evolved and changed dramatically since those early days. The issues at the end of the twentieth century are no longer how to get access, how to create your own homepage, or how to use the Internet to make art. Artists have pushed this globally interactive medium in all kinds of creative ways: hypertext poetry, multimedia works, and even live performances. Categories have been created at prestigious international competitions to recognize and reward the best and most innovative work in this newest of digital art media. However, there are pressing questions that need resolution if this young artform is to survive and flourish.
At CYBERART'99, you will see and hear how artists and museums are dealing with the unique challenges of this rapidly developing "virtual" art. As a medium that cannot be sustained by the traditional commercial gallery model, webart requires new solutions regarding its production, presentation, and maintenance. This all-day event brings together some of the world's most creative digital minds in a unified effort to invent concrete and viable new models of support.
The event format is designed to first provide an important historical context· history being a relative term in this field. Highly recognized webart projects that exemplify many innovative U.S. and European support models will be presented in the first half of the program. Then, proposals for four new models of support will be shared for public critique and feedback. These proposals will have been created during a month-long online discussion of the panelists prior to the event.
We invite our audience members to learn about this vital new artform spawned from recent tele-communications technologies, and to join us in building a viable, formal structure for supporting it.

CYBERART99 is a co-production of Art & Science Collaborations, Inc.(ASCI) and Cooper Union Adult Education, with equipment and technical support from: Theatrical Services & Supplies/PROXIMA, and video documentation provided by: A's Wave... (212) 431-9464 or atel(at)panix.com
This project is sponsored by: The AT&T Foundation and "The Intel/Whitney American Century Internet Collaboration Project"

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Source : http://www.asci.org/cyberart99/index.html
Source : http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9903/msg00094.html

March 1999

• New features in The Thing [video]:

• • “Collider #19” live TV webcast show moderated by GH Hovagimyan: Interview with artist Prema Murthy, who’s new web project for The Thing site will be launched in May.
    Source : http://www.walkerart.org/gallery9/dasc/artdirt/interview.html
  • “Hood Ornament” video by artist Skip Arnold.
    Video : http://vimeo.com/32238810
    Testing boundaries and pushing buttons is central to Arnold’s work, as is testing endurance and rejoicing in the absurd. In one video taped performance, he perched like a gargoyle on a building edge, parodying architectural sculpture. Another, titled “Hood Ornament” saw him tied naked to the hood of a semi trailer which motored through the streets of Sun Valley in California.
    1992 — "HOOD ORNAMENT," activity as the hood ornament of a Kenworth eighteen-wheel truck, March 14, Sun Valley, CA
    Source : http://www.skiparnold.com/
    Source : http://performanceartist.com/performance-artists/skip-arnold/
    
    
  • “Circle’s Short Circuit” film by artist Caspar Stracke.
    «Circle's Short Circuit» is 1998 Fantasy film directed and written by Caspar Stracke . Anne Iobst and Richard Move are starring, alongside Avital Ronell, Anastasia Sharp, Kyle De Camp and John Kelly.
    Source : http://www.videokasbah.net/NYSCAwork_samples.html
    Source (video) : http://www.videokasbah.net/cscvideo/trailer.mov
    
    

February 1999

• The Thing is one of 13 large (web) communities selected for presentation at ArcoElectronico (electronic media arts festival in Madrid, Spain, entitled “the post-media era” at http://aleph-arts.org/epm/eng)
  “Hosted by aleph, and organized for ArcoElectronico99, "the post-media era" introduces itself as a system that tries to facilitate a critical approach to the contemporary transformations of the public sphere—those induced by the emergence of new media, especially the internet—focussing the analysis on the role that concerns all cultural and artistic practices in that context.” [The post-media era]— A constellation of (web) communities of media producers :
  The constellation of selected webs are: [ alt-X ], [ betacast ], [ blast ], [ convex tv ], ::eco::, [ gallery 9 / Walker art center ], [ nettime ], [ nirvanet ], [ P.A.R.K. 4DTV ], [ raveface radio ], [ rhizome ], [ The Thing ], [ Xchange ].

• Musée d’Art Contemporain, “Musique en Scene,” exhibition participation of The Thing (represented by Wolfgang Staehle), with a presentation of “office radio”.
  The show is focussed on electronic sound projects by selected internationally known artists and arts organizations prominent for their work in this field.

In [audio]: officeradio [the mix]. The story of the cut T1-line. An audio collage by The Thing crew produced for “Musique en Scene.”

• GraphicJam, a web artwork by digital artists Andy Deck and Mark Napier, connects visitors into a live, online collaborative drawing.
  A collage of creative impulses, GraphicJam is a live mix of doodles, drawings and color created entirely by those who visit the web site.(http://bbs.thing.net [projects])

January 1999

• In [video]: Momoyo Torimitsu’s ”Miyata Jiro”. Three videos, taking the format of "commercials," featuring her Japanese businessman robot Miyata Jiro.

• “Web Performer” by Ursula Endlicher, produced for and published by The Thing [projects].
  "Web Performer" is a web project that introduces six different characters. The characters are based on some of her video/live performances. As the piece develops new images are downloaded directly from the web based on a search-engine result for each character.

• Opening reception (January 22) for artist Ursula Endlicher on the occasion of the inauguration of “Web Performer” online The Thing.

• In [audio]: The Electronic Disturbance Theater interviews Manuel De Landa.
  This section opens with his view of strategies vs. tactics under the flows of neo-materialism and the Left.

• “Collider” a weekly live web broadcast. online The Thing. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan (GH):
  • In Collider #14 GH features an interview with Rainer Ganahl, conceptual artist and photographer of academic superstars.
  • In Collider #13 GH and writer/media theorist Peter “Blackhawk” von Brandenburg discuss socio-culture and media theory.

1998(Edit)

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December 1998

• Publication of web project “The History of Moving Images” by Vuk Cosic. From the Official History of Net.art, volume III: Watch films. Star Trek, Blow Up, Deep Throat...

• “Collider” a weekly live web broadcast. online The Thing. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan (GH):
  • In Collider #12, GH talks with Ricardo Dominguez from the Electronic Disturbance Theater about recent FloodNet actions.
  • In Collider #11, GH talks with Peter Fend, the internationally renowned eco-artist

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November 1998

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• “Collider” a weekly live web broadcast. online The Thing. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan (GH):
  • Interview with Marisa Bowe, editor-in-chief of the online magazine “Word.”

• In [audio]: Bob Dodds “Bob's Media Ecology”

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October 1998

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• “New Media Art: The Artists, The Market, The Politics” seminar organized by United Digital Artists (UDA) and Rhizome at UDA, NewYork; Oct. 22, 1998. Panel participation by Wolfgang Staehle/The Thing; other participants include Maciej Wisniewski, Natalie Jeremijenko, Beth Stryker, Vivien Selbo, Tamas Banovitch, John Ippolito, Barbara London, Rachel Greene.

• “local.language” by Rainer Ganahl; publication of online web project with discussion board in connection with solo exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria.

• “Collider” a weekly live web broadcast. online The Thing. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan (GH):
  • Live interview with artist Stephan Pascher, moderator of “Almost(A)live From LA” web discussion board published by The Thing.
  • Live interview with Paul Garrin, artist and founder of PG Media, Inc.
  • Live interview with Miltos Manetas, artist.

September 1998

“The Telegraph Wired 50,” online project by Heath Bunting.

“Do You Like Mathematics?” online project by Nicholas Frespech.

“Collider,” weekly live web broadcast. Live streaming audio/video program

moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan: Live interview with artist Wolfgang Staehle.

June 1998

Reception for Sawad Brooks and Yoshi Sodeoka, June 25, 1998.

May 1998

Publication of new online project by Sawad Brooks “ sous rature ... A

Reflection on Digitial Media (As Drawing)” (The Thing “projects” section).

April 1998

Publication of new online project by Yoshi Sodeoka “Prototype

#22,” 5 products from OPT Technologies, Inc. (The Thing “projects” section).

Autonomedia and The Thing book launching party for “Media Archive”

by Adilkno (The Foundation for the Advancement of Illegal Knowledge)

published by Autonomedia, with presentatione by Geert Lovinck (Adilkno)

and introduction by Jim Fleming (Autonomedia), May 11, 1998.

March 1998

The “Threads” section of The Thing website is expanded to include the

following discussion and announcement boards: “Bulletin” for general

announcements, “Thingist” moderated by Arfus Greenwood and

Wolfgang Staehle, “Infowar” moderated by Rick Dominguez,

“Rainer’s Reading Seminar” moderated by Rainer Ganahl,

“Almost (A)live from LA” moderated by Stephan Pascher,

“Nettime” (see below), and “Guestbook” for comments on the website.

February 1998

The Nettime mailing list, focussing on net theory and criticism and

moderated by Geert Lovinck, Diana McCarthy, and Pit Schultz, is archived

on the web exclusively by The Thing (“Threads” section). Inaugural launch

party on February 22, 1998 (with presentation by nettimers Pit Schultz

and Diana McCarthy).

Launch of The Thing’s new interface and of in-house developed

“community server/messaging” software (code by Max Kossatz) providing

features like paging, user profiles, threaded messaging, and much more.

Opening reception for Vanessa Beecroft.

January 1998

Publication of new web project by Vanessa Beecroft, co-produced by The Thing

(ad announcement in Index Magazine).

Fall 1997

Publication of new web projects by Bullseye Art, Franz Stauffenberg

(second version/“Happier Days”/co-produced by The Thing), Rainer

Ganahl (“Basic Korean,” co-produced by The Thing and also presented

at the Kanju Biennale of Art, Kanju, Korea), Susan Goldman

(“second version/”uniCity”), Max Kossatz/Holger Friese (“antworten.de”),

and Paul Devautour (“”Sowana”)

June 1997

Launch party on June 21 with performance of the band

“Blood Necklace” to celebrate The Thing’s participation at the

documenta website showcasing the “new” Thing site, a new series of art

projects and programs, such as WTTR (The Thing Radio). “Blood

Necklace” is a New York City TechNoCore band with Steven Parrino,

Trudie Reiss, and Jennifer Syrie.

Summer 1997

The Thing website is selected by the curatorial committee of

the quintannual international “documenta X” exhibition, Kassel,

(www.documenta.de), June-August 1997.

Spring 1997

Complete redesign of The Thing website interface (www.thing.net) and

publication of new online projects, including new features such as “TT TV”

(Real Audio/Video) and “WTTR” (The Thing Radio) and custom-designed messaging

and live chat applications, as well as the launch of a new “Spotlights” series of

individual art projects, and new publications of Thing Editions, etc.

May 1997

Panel participation at “Transmedia” cycle of conferences, organized by

Internationale Stadt, Berlin (May 26 to June1).

The Thing is featured in “evelmachines,” a multimedia kiosk that is an

“ambient interactive commingling” between Zing Magazine (published

by Devon Dikeou) and cyberNY (produced by Mike Brown) with its

premiere version launched with a party at Club Void, May 22.

April 1997

“Maintenance/Web,” (the uglier side of technology) by Kevin and

Jennifern McCoy, and Torsten Zenus Burns (organized by Ricardo

Dominguez).

March 1997

“Floating Thing,” two evenings of CuSeeMe projects via The Thing

web site based on live performance by Floating Point Unit at The

Thing office (organized by Ricardo Dominguez).

“Future’s Memory,” a digital soap opera in 13 scenes. Screenplay by

Ricardo Dominguez and Diane Ludin; CuSeeMe project by Floating

Point Unit (www.thing.net/~floating); produced at The Thing and

broadcast as a weekly cross-media internet/cable TV show on Channel

16 (public access) starting March 30, 11:30pm on Channel 16.

January 1997

“Digital Eros,”organized by Ricardo Dominguez at The Thing , with

readings by Doll Yoko/Gashgirl of VNS Matrix, Petrol Head, Shelly

Marlow, and Robert Kylee; a new web project by Zhang Gu; and online

videos by Prema Murty and Wolfgang Staehle.

December 1996

"Thing World," a project by Wolfgang Staehle for the back cover

of Lusitania, a bi-lingual art magazine published by Martim Avillez

(Vol. #8 “Being On-Line—Net Subjectivity,” guest editor: Alan

Sondheim), New York City.

November 1996

Party at The Thing to celebrate the “In the Flow...” web project series.

October 1996

"In the Flow: Alternate Authoring Strategies," exhibition curated by

Daniel Georges at Franklin Furnace, New York City, October 1996

(the exhibition is accompanied by the website

http://www.franklinfurnace.org/flow).

Other participants include titok (Robin Silverberg and Secret Providers),

Planet and Eies Texts (Frank Gillette with Teleconferees),

Phantasmagorium/Blast 5 (X-Art Foundations and participants), Posters

(Group Material), Mail Art (Beattie and Davidson), Photographs (Louise

Lawler), Bus Poster (Group Material), GoGo Drawings and Ink Blots

(Laura Parnas and GoGo Customers and Dancers), Mail Art (from 1984

FF exhibition), Especially for You (Gabriel Martinez and Interactors),

we both belong (Ben Kinmont and participants), PS 217 Sites Mural

(Sylvia Benitez and Students of PS 217), Wall Drawing (Sol Lewitt and

Drafters).

“In the Flow,” new project series in the ArtStuff section of

THE THING including projects by Susan Goldman “uniCity,” Franz

Stauffenberg “Happier Days,” Zhang Gu “Untitled,” Eva Grubinger

“Bikini Project,” Christine Meierhofer “Order a Theft,” and Ursula

Endlicher “Live Performance.”

June/July 1996

"Super" is a fictive "faux Hollywood-style" movie by artist Danny

Hobart produced for THE THING's website

(http://www.thing.net/thingnyc).

The movie trailer is "generated" by way of a series of original video clips,

soundtracks, scripts and still images periodically updated and "promoted"

by collectibles such as posters (screen savers) and trading cards (online

editions).

May 1996

Participation at "Version 2.2," a cycle of conferences ("Communication

Internet") at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Saint-Gervais Geneve,

Geneva, organized by artist Barbara Strebel and Andre Iten, Art and

Electronic Media Director, Saint-Gervais Geneve, Geneva,

Switzerland. Other participants include Max Kossatz, Felix Stefan

Huber/Philip Pocock, Joachim Blank, Walter van der Cruissen, Herve

Graumann et al.

“Version Box,” 22 editions by 25 artists (including Wolfgang

Staehle/Ricardo Dominguez/The Thing New York) coordinated by

Simon Lamuniere, published by Saint-Gervias, Geneve, Switzerland in

the context of the “Version 2.2” conference.

Exhibition participation at "Departure Lounge," a group exhibition at

Clocktower Gallery/The Institute of Contemporay Art (PS1) organized

by Arfus Greenwood (PS1), artist Franz Stauffenberg, and writer

Deborah Drier. "Departure Lounge" is conceived as a gathering space

where visitors may move through a network of projects, objects, sound,

moving and still images, performances, and cocktail parties. This

network was developed by encouraging artists to introduce other artists

to the project, create "links" between their work, or combine the works

of other artists with their own.

"Quick Times," a group show in the Artstuff section of THE THING's

website (http://thing.net/thingnyc). Curated by Wolfgang Staehle, the

show includes videos by John Baldessari, Klaus vom Bruch, Cheryl

Donegan, Rainer Ganahl, Herve Graumann, Felix Huber & Phillip

Pocock, Rudi Molacek, Daniel Pflumm, Steven Pollack & Renate

Michael Smith. The presentation marks our increased commitment to

present original multimedia arts content on THE THING's website. The

clips range in style from the 'cool' Techno loops of Daniel Pflumm to

the ideosyncratic animation of Rudi Molacek. Quick Times focuses on

artists who not only produce outstanding video works, but also fully

understand the concept and master the requirements of networked

computing.

THE THING workshop at "The Space of Information at the Rotunda," a

program of informational workshops, talks and an installation on the

intersection of art with electronic environments, curated by Laura

Trippi, May 4 - 30. Other participants include Echo, Word,

artnetweb, adaweb, New York Online, et al.

Party to celebrate the "OutASite" project on THE THING

website (see below), May 1, 1996.

April 1996

"Reading Seminar: Deleuze," is a public discussion forum moderated

by artist Rainer Ganahl on THE THINGS WWW Discussion Board

(with invited participants).

March 1996

THE THING introduces its "WWW Discussion Board" open to the public.

THE THING Amsterdam node (mirror site of THE THING NYC

WWW site with telnet function into THE THING BBS).

"Cyber Stars" Award for THE THING NYC by Virtual City's First

Annual Awards (sponsored by IBM) featuring a link to THE THING

website (Virtual City, NYC, @ http://www.virtcitnow.com).

"ThingReviews" Party at THE THING NYC headquarters (4/9/96).

February 1996

"...follow, follow the yellow brick road..." exhibition at the New York

Kunsthalle with presentation of THINGWorld, the multimedia live chat

rooms on THE THING's website. Other participants include Felix S.

Huber/Philip Pocock's "From the Artic Circle to the Tropic of Cancer,"

a web project also residing on THE THING's website, and works by

Warren Neidich (opening February 23, 1996)

THINGReviews is reviewed by The McKinley Group's professional

editorial team of international publishers, technologists and information

specialists, and rated a "4-Star" site, the highest rating an internet site

can achieve in Magellan, McKinley's acknowledged internet navigational and informational directory

FAT Magazine, a New York bi-annual print publication, which mixes

fiction, commentary and art in an enigmatic tabloid format, with each

issue loosely organized around a theme, such as "Good and Evil" (Issue

1. 1) and "Surrender" (Issue #2). FAT Magazine's website, designed

by THE THING/John Rabasa, premieres this month on THE THING

WWW (http://www.thing.net/fat).

"Schnittstelle Netzhaut," a project by THE swiss THING as part of the

project series "Sprechende Koerper," at the Skulpturhalle, Basel,

Switzerland, Feb. 29, 1996.

January 1996

"Out A Site,"a web project premiering on THE THING NYC WWW

site, produced by artist Steven Pollack with multimedia

projects including an unpublished interview by author Paul Bowles, a

previously unreleased music video of David Byrne, unpublished

photographs of Brancusi's studio, and more.

"From the Arctic-Circle to the Tropic of Cancer," a continuation of the

website road movie by Felix Huber and Philip Pocock at THE THING

WWW site (a auto-visual diary from trips to the Artic Circle, Summer

1995, followed by reports from Mexico, January/February 1996).

THE THING introduces THING WORLD, a new graphical chat application with

a specially designed fantasy art world tour, where visitors can explore, alter

and play in galleries, studios and rooms familiar to many in the New York art world,

talk with friends and strangers in the back room of an art dealer or just have

unlimited martinis, which are always at hand, while viewing a gallery show.

December 1995

"Bulletin Board," exhibition/investigation at Spot 71, New York City

(participants include Mike Ballou and Four Walls, Devon Dikeou/Zing

Magazine, Jackie McAllister, Printed Matter Bulletin Board, Alexis

Rockman, THE THING International BBS, a.o.).

"Aliased Father," a web site by artist Stefan Beck, produced for THE

THING NYC WWW's Art Stuff section (http://thing.net/thingnyc).

November 1995

"THINGreviews" is an ongoing art review project on THE THING

WWW site, as well as on THE THING BBS. Edited by artists/writers

Susan Goldman and Craig Kalpakjian, "THINGreviews" publishes on-the-spot

reviews by an international group of contributing art critics

and artists/writers reporting on exhibitions and art events in the US and

abroad. Since it is our intention to further communication within the art

community on the global level, we will offer translated versions of

reviews—that is English-language reviews translated into other

languages and vice versa—in the near future.

("THINGreviews," see http://www.thing.net/thingnyc)

"A Garden Project," by artist Alyson Shotz. The multimedia project is

presented in THE THING WWW "Artstuff" section

(http://www.thing.net/thingnyc).

October 1995

"Cyber Soho" Arts Festival, Soho, New York City. 3-day public

presentation of www and CD ROM projects such as THE THING,

Laurie Anderson/Voyager, Whitney Museum, Dia Center for the Arts,

adaweb, Tractor, ArtnetWeb, et al. With a series of talks moderated by

Janine Cirincione (Microsoft) and Timothy Druckrey (New York University).

September 1995

Martin Kippenberger, Achim Kubinski "Beuys," audio-visual piece in

THE THING WWW ("Art Stuff").

August 1995

"Arctic Circle," an exhibition on the internet by Felix Huber and Philip

Pocock via THE THING NYC BBS (artic-circle@thing.nyc.ny.us) and

THE THING Web Site (http://www.thing.net/thingnyc)). The project is a

"double travel," a physical journey over the Artic Circle to the least

populated, last remote wilderness on earth (Klondike, Yukon, Northwest

Territories, Alaska), and, concurrently, over the globe-blanketing

infobahn. "Arctic Circle" represents an investigation of contemporary

loneliness, in a natural wilderness and in front of the computer screen.

A series of short performance video and sound loops will be produced on

and above the 66.67th Parallel, the Artic Circle, as well as additional

text, image, sound and video files relating to the travel-as-art-as-information.

The project will also be presented at "Photography after

Photography - Defining Photography through Digitality," a travelling

exhibition sponsored by Siemens Cultural Program, Munich, Germany;

and "Telepolis," a Luxembourg Goethe-Institute Exhibition,

Luxembourg, and other locales.

July 1995

THE THING NYC is moving to a loft space on the 16th floor of the

Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea (601 W 26 St, NYC 10001).

A T-1 leased line circuit to provide full internet connectivity

is installed and an SGI Web Server connected to our LAN. The setup

allows to combine the global access, multi-media capabilities of the

WWW with the interactive/discursive qualities of the message-based

information system (THE THING BBS). A telnet link from THE

THING WWW site (http://www.thing.net/thingnyc) into THE THING

BBS allows for real-time conferencing and participation in THE

THING's local and international discussion groups.

June 1995

Ars Electronica (June 20-23), Linz, Austria. presentation of THE

THING, premiering multi-page World Wide Web sites of THE THING

NYC, Vienna, and Basel, with telnet function into THE THING BBS's

message forums and live conferencing area. The Web site will function

as an ever-changing exhibition and publishing area. Taking advantage

of the HTML programming language, this will include hypertexts, still

images, video clips, and sound files. The event includes a symposium

with a lecture by Wolfgang Staehle, THE THING NYC. THE THING

NYC's WWW projects produced for Ars Electronica include:

Image Files, a interactive stock image bank project by Wolfgang

Staehle and Franz Stauffenberg; Alter Stats, an interactive

visualization of user access of the web site, by John Simon;

video clips, sound and image projects by Mariko

Mori, Sam Samore, Noritoshi Hirakawa, Beat Streuli, Felix

Huber, and Christian Marclay; the Journal of Contemporary Art

Magazine web project; THE THING Archive, a selection of texts

from THE THING NYC BBS (including Transactivism/online

Symposium; Gray Goo Lounge/Interview with Dike Blair; The

Twist Thread); and telnet function into THE THING BBS.

Catalogue available, including texts on THE THING by Andreas

Kallfelz, Jordan Crandall, and Klaus Ottmann.

"Art and Telecommunication: Universality - Balance/A Pancultural

Project," Civitella d'Agliano, Venice, Italy. Internet art project with

participation of THE THING (coordinated by THE THING Vienna).

Other participants include Geert Lovink, Digital City, Amsterdam, The

Netherlands; Pit Schultz, Museum for the Future, Berlin, Germany;

Derrick de Kerkove, McLuhan Institute, University of Toronto, Canada.

May 1995

Springer, a new Viennese magazine "focusing on investigations of the

broad terrain of history, theory, and criticism of the visual arts,

while concurrently inquiring other scholarly fields such as new

media and pop culture, opens online forums on THE THING

European and American cities and reading access, as well as a feedback

channel, for the public. Springer Magazine also resides on TTVienna

WWW and in form of a bi-monthly print publication.

April 1995

The Journal of Contemporary Art's WWW pages are incorporated in

THE THING NYC's Web site.

James Nares portfolio of JPEG images, produced by the artist and THE

THING, presented online TTNY BBS.

March 1995

"Quicktime Movies," by John Baldessari, produced by David Platzker.

Concurrently, an exhibition of Baldessari's "Books and Ephemera,"

also curated by David Platzker, takes place at Printed Matter at

Dia Art Foundation, New York, March 9 to April 28.

February 1995

"Art, Identity and Boundaries: Limits and their Transgression," a cycle

of four conferences organized by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and

Ludovici Pratesi at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy, February

26 - March 19. Wolfgang Staehle is invited, as artist and founder of

THE THING, to participate on the February 26 panel "Beyond Physical

Boundaries: New Cybernetic Communications." Other participants

include Antonio Muntadas, artist, USA; Catherine David, organizer

of Documenta X, Germany; Jimmie Durham, artist, USA;

Michelangelo Pistoletto, artist, Italy; Renee Green, artist; USA;

Hermann Nitsch, artist, Austria.

"Blast 4: Bioinformatica," exhibition at Kunstverein Cologne, Germany,

with participation of THE THING. February 4 - March 19, 1995.

January 1995

"Dagegen/Dabei - Production and Strategy in Art Projects Since 1969,"

a six-part exhibition series at Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany, curated

by Bettina Sefkow and Ulrich Doerrie. One of the projects presented

there is THE THING (organized by Michael Krome, TT Cologne).

"(inter)ACTIVE electronic art channels," group exhibition.

Presentation of THE THING by W. Staehle, Jan. 23. Trenton State

College, Department of Art, College Art Gallery, Trenton, NJ, January

23 - February 15, 1995.

December 1994

"Informatics: The Electronic Frontier and You," seminar by Jordan

Crandall and Wolfgang Staehle, THE THING, at White Columns, NYC,

Dec. 12 and 19. The seminar is part of the seminar series "Theoretical

Studies in Art" at White Columns.

"Freaks Online," online art project by Claire Jervert (gif files).

November 1994

"Altwien Neuzeit," group exhibition curated by Warren Niesluchowski,

New York, and Hubert Winter, Vienna, with participation of THE THING.

"The Laws of Humans," online project by Noritoshi Hirakawa in the

<O>n Show project area of THE THING (avi, gif, and wav files). The

project will also be presented as part of a solo exhibition by the artist

in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February, 1995.

Media Alliance, lectures on "Art-related computer networks," organized

by David Greene, Dir. of the New York Foundation for the Arts, with

participation of THE THING.

Electronic art edition (portfolio) by James Nares, produced and

published by the artist and THE THING New York (available online).

Production of electronic art edition by Peter Schuyff, produced and

published by THE THING New York (print version will be available

via Pace Gallery/Pace Editions, NYC).

October 1994

"What Is In Your Mind," group exhibition curated by Frederick

Harleman at the National Museum of Science and Technology,

Stockholm, Sweden, with participation of THE THING (organized by

Wolfgang Staehle/THE THING New York). Other participants include

Bigert & Bergstroem, Klaus vom Bruch, Aris Fioretos, Rainer Ganahl,

Michael Joaquin Grey, Michael Joo, Laurel Katz, Jon Kessler, Mikael

Lindgren, Matthew McCaslin, Nam June Paik, Jean Tinguely, Dan Wolgers,

Fredrik Wretman/Mats Hjelm. Oct. 21 - Nov. 30, 1994.

"Cybersphere," Symposium at Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden, Oct.

22,23. Wolfgang Staehle participant as the founder of THE THING.

Other speakers include Michael Benedikt, Dir. Center for American

Architecture and Design at Univ. of Texas at Austin, TX; Donna

Haraway, History of Consciousness Board at the Univ. of California,

Santa Cruz, CA; Allucquere R. Stone, Dir. of ActLab, Univ. of Texas,

Austin, TX; Rob Tow, Researcher at Interval Research Corp., Palo Alto,

CA; Peter Weibel, Dir. Inst. for New Media at Frankfurt Art Academy.

Frankfurt, Germany; Norbert Bolz, Prof. Communication Theory at

Univ. Essen, Germany; Amy Bruckman, Researcher at MIT Media Lab,

Cambridge, MA; Brenda Laurel, Researcher at Interval Research Corp.,

Palo Alto, CA; Elisabeth List, Assoc. Prof. Dept. of Philosphy, Univ.

Graz, Austria; Marcos Novak, Dir. Advanced Design Research Program,

School of Architecture, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX; Jeffrey Shaw, Dir.

Inst. for Image Media at ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany.

THE THING Stockholm node opens.

"Pain," online video show curated by Shauna Sampson and Steven

Overman.Project includes an online catalog with image and text files.

Project produced and published by the curators, the artists, and THE

THING. Artists include: Laura Parnes, Kelly Parr, Jason Fox, David

Weeks, M.M. Serra, Skip Arnold, Richard Karnatz, Ricardo DeOliveira,

Cheryl Donegan, Rainer Ganahl, Wayne Gonzales, Mike Wodkowksi,

Janine Gordon, Michael McAuliffe, Andrew Perret, Joshua Singer,

Wolfgang Staehle, John Tremblay, Jane Duncan, Kenneth Goldsmith,

Meghan Gerety, Ken Goldberg, Bryan Gonzales, J.R.Gross, Charles

Labelle, Peter Lunengeld, Julia Parker, Crystal Reiss, Trudie Reiss, John

Tipton, and others. Opening reception at "Here," a non-profit space in

Soho, NY, Oct. 22, 1994.

"jon.tower@thing.nyc.ny.us," an online project by conceptual artist

Jon Tower. The artist opens an interactive office for consultation. The

project also includes video, sound and text files by the artist. Opening

reception at I.C.Editions, Soho, NY, Nov. 1994.

May 1994

"Basic English, Basic Japanese," online art project by conceptual artist

Rainer Ganahl. Includes video, image, sound (interview R.Ganahl/Sagawa)

and text files (online interview W.Staehle/R.Ganahl). This <O>n Show project

deals with the study of a new language as a non-object-oriented, but personality

and social relationship altering cultural exchange. In Oct. 1994, the project is also

presented by THE THING Vienna (additional interview F.Rakuschan/R.Ganahl).

April 1994

"virusheaRtbeAt,"limited electronic art edition by Joseph Nechvatal,

published by the artist and THE THING (available online).

"No Cover, No Minimum," online interview with artist Dike Blair in

The Thing's <T>alkshow forum.

"Artists in the Information Ghetto - A Way Out," workshop introducing

artists to computer technologies. Participants: Wolfgang Staehle, THE

THING ("Networking"); Gretchen Bender, artist; Stephania Serena,

Charles Warren, consultants; Rainer Ganahl, artist; Marshall Blonsky,

writer, Prof. of Semiology at The New School for Social Research, NY,

April 30, 1994.

"Mean Things," electronic art edition by David Diao, published

and produced by the artist and THE THING (available online).

March 1994

"Bioinformatics," moderated online forum. Part of a larger project

for the Kunstverein Cologne (see Jan. 1995). The project functions as a

map or guide with which readers can situate themselves as living

biological systems within many informational systems, to orient

themselves as bioinformatic entities.

"Julio," electronic art edition by Rudi Molacek, published by the

artist and THE THING (available online).

"9 Sculptures, New York," online art project by Helene von Oldenburg

with floor maps of nine New York Museums and a legend indicating

dimensions and location of nine imaginative sculptures in these spaces.

"nOn Television - THE THING," television documentary by artist Aki

Fujiyoshi, broadcast on public access Channel 16, New York, March 23,

1994 (videotape available). Part of a television series on collaborative

art projects in New York.

"Copy," art edition by Rainer Ganahl, produced and

published by the artist and THE THING (available online).

"Snap to Grid," first online interview (W. Staehle/R.Ganahl) from a

series of online interviews in one of the public fora of THE THING.

Each interview will be archived in the File Area for later retrieval.

"Provisional," online art exhibition by Felix Stefan Huber. The

interactive artwork is designed by the artist to bring together your world

with that of homeless people and refugees.

THE THING introduces internet email and newsgroups.

December 1993

"Building Process," online art project by John F. Simon. The artist

creates "Line Drawings" from a paint program he designed after Paul

Klee's concept of "active lines, passive lines, and mobility agents."

THE THING Frankfurt node opens.

THE THING Vienna node opens.

November 1993

"Transactivism," online symposium organized by Jordan Crandall.

The panel discusses the production and circulation of art and sociality

in transactional space. Invited panelists include artists, critics,

and curators (archived in the File Area; also available on disk).

October 1993

Introduction of electronic dissemination of art magazines and journals

via THE THING, including The Journal of Contemporary Art (published

by Klaus Ottmann), Lusitania Magazine (published by Martim Avillez),

Lacanian Ink (published by Josefina Ayerza).

September 1993

"Superdream Mutation," unlimited, numbered electronic art edition by

Peter Halley, published by the artist and THE THING (available online).

July 1993

THE THING Berlin node opens.

"Accrochage," online art exhibition curated by Wolfgang Staehle.

April 1993

"1916," electronic art edition by Olivier Mosset, produced and

published by the artist and THE THING (available online).

December 1992

Benefit Art Auction for THE THING at Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York.

November 1992

THE THING Dusseldorf node opens.

Public terminal of THE THING at Friesenwall 116a during Cologne UnFair Event.

Publication of the Yellow Reader," print publication with excerpts from online discussions.

Public terminal of THE THING at Daniel Buchholz Gallery booth at Cologne Art Fair.

Public terminal of THE THING at "F.A.R. Bazaar," Foundation for Art

Resources, Los Angeles. Live demonstration of the network by artist

Kelly Hashimoto.

"Manifesto," first visual art project online THE THING, curated by

Benjamin Weil, with works by artists Henry Bond, Gavin Brown,

Angela Bulloch, Laura Emrick, Sylvie Fleury, Liam Gillick, Dominique

Gonzalez-Foerster, Happier Days, Yasuma Morimura, Marco Mazzuconi, Julia Scher, Wolfgang Staehle (available online; show also exists in poster format).

October 1992

"Remaking Civilization: Rethinking Evolution, Intentionality, Time,

and Identity," online discussion group. Project is a collaboration with

Blast (text available in the File Area; also available on disk as part of

Blast #3).

July 1992

"Pressure on the Public," THE THING's online symposium is part of a

project on the art public, organized by Mitchell Kane, The Hirsch Farm

Project, Northbrook, IL (catalogue).

June 1992

"Wochenschau," THE THING's first online symposium, organized by

THE THING New York and THE THING Cologne, focuses on new

modes of art production and exhibition (text available in File Area).

March 1992

THE THING Cologne node opens.

November 1991

THE THING starts operating out of basement at 44 White

Street (Tribeca), New York City.