wwwwwwwww.jodi.org

This a screen shot of the first page of wwwwwwwww.jodi.org along with the source code window opened. wwwwwwwww.jodi.org was created by Jodi (Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans) in 1995. At first glance, Jodi.org's pages seem to be an incomprehensible maze of lines consisting of meaningless code. It’s not until you open the source code, that you see that the page actually does make sense…and somewhat of a statement. I think that the jodi.org artists were trying to achieve some sort of reconciliation between art using a new medium (the web) and art about old ideas (bombs.) It seems to me that the artist is trying to introduce the idea that messages or ideas can easily be encoded using this new machine/language/concept. The artists use a fairly recognizable object and turn it into something completely unrecognizable simply by using a common thing (a browser). I think this artist is showing how easily things can be “encrypted” without the use of an expensive high tech program.

Shredder 1.0

The Shredder 1.0 website was created by Mark Napier in 1998. In his piece summary Napier explains that in his view the web is not a physically representation of information in the same way a magazine or book is, but instead a temporary graphic created when browsing software interprets HTML instruction. The focus of Shredder 1.0 is to reveal this hidden truth behind the Internet and give the user a new interpretation of common web pages. I think Napier realized that most people that use the Internet have no idea how the Internet works or how web pages are created. His piece gives the user a glimpse into how web pages look on “the inside” while adding his artistic spin to them. It also seems that Napier created a new browser, using the “1.0” adds to that conclusion, but, from what I can tell the shredder interprets each site the same way… the individual source code of each site determines how it will display after being put through the Shredder. That is exactly how a browser works. Napier has just created a browser that is more concerned about making an instant art piece rather than conveying what the creator of the web page was actually trying to show.

Superbad

Superbad is a website created by Ben Benjamin in 1997. It seems as though the artist wants to amuse you and also frustrate you at the same time. This site kind of reminds me of those never ending survey pop-ups that keep promising "answer just a few more questions and your FREE snuggie is just moments away!" You really know that the promised snuggie or electric toothbrush or other equally useless item is not really going to be free once you reach the end...and not to mention you would have no desire for this item other than the fact that it was blinking FREE while you were reading your email …but for some reason you have to keep clicking just to see what's next and if you can actually ever reach the end. The Superbad site is similar in that there does not seem to be an end but we just have to keep mindlessly clicking trying to get there! Each page leads to more pages with more options and more decisions to be made. It is very time consuming and frustrating at the same time. After reading the comments the artist has made about the site, it seems that he was really just using the site to experiment and he ended up creating something that mirrors our never ending modern day pop-ups.