FAVELA
I'm in love with this site. It is living art. It is pages and pages of ethereal
transcription. It is a journey through minds of all origins and politics
that are often silenced. It is a voice for inspired artists, writers, film
makers, and self-proclaimed visionaries. (One look at the guest book will
verify there are many Internet travelers who share this opinion.) At the
same time, its direct, political, confrontational nature ignites realistic
horror. The content moves us through an all-too-close look at the declining
state of human affairs - racism, ethnocentrism, sexism, and hate. Its haunting
perspective is nonetheless appreciated, as too few are willing to walk this
line of open expression about our present social condition.
Favela is a collective/collaborative organization of seven members who do
not use the standard "staff model" of hierarchical positions -
editor, art director, assistant, etc. The site went live on the midnight
between Halloween and Dia De Los Muertes (Day of the Dead), and throughout,
it symbolically emphasizes its relationship to this haunting moment of the
year. There's more symbolism in the subject/index headings, titled Visible
Frenzy, Rabid Sphinx, Meat Locker, Detonation Slate, and Shooting Range.
Within these headings, you'll find original artwork, political and social
essays, creative writing, and a "coming soon" ubiquitous link
page.
Favela's members describe their approach as "cross-cultural, cross-generational,
and cross-gender. We are invested in using technology and communication
for cultural production on the Internet. We act as architects of a context
for free play between individuals invested in aesthetics, ideas, and social
content." On the technical side, the creators are masters of HTML using
BBEdit. They script their own C and Perl code, use Macs for content creation,
and employ a Sun Internet Server to power the site.
This write-up is heavy in tone because the site is heavy in essence and
only recommended for those who have heart to think freely and explore the
ideas of others. I almost feel that to use the usual "outstanding graphics"and "high-density content" ratings for Favela would do little
to describe the inspiration I felt when browsing, no, pouring over this
site. It is beyond a doubt the most moving, aesthetically pleasing, and
thought-provoking Web creation I have seen thus far. I hope that this review
encourages you to visit the site. I guarantee it will be worth your time.
-SK
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911 Gallery
Home Page
In case of an artistic emergency, go directly to the 911 Gallery Home Page.
The 911 Gallery specializes in digital art: computer graphics, video, and
electronic music. Delight your eyeballs staring into portraits of cyber
condors and fractal fish. Play with the interactive paintings hanging on
the walls of 3-D rooms. Witness an artist's search for her identity within
scratchy portraits of home life in Palestine. Dialing the 911 Gallery will
save you from the horrors of visual boredom.-BJB
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AIGAlink virtual
gallery
Wonderful. The American Institute of Graphic Arts has developed a beautiful,
well-constructed Web site that walks you through a graphics arts exhibition
in Philadelphia. Click your way through three rooms (more are expected soon)
of outstanding projects, from interior signage to advertisement posters.
And fear not: high-resolution graphics won't clog your bandwidth. The images
are appropriately compressed to load quickly and maintain high quality.-LS
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Art
Deco-Erté Museum
Creating his first successful costume design at the age of five, Ertébegan his career as one of the foremost fashion designers of the early twentieth
century. The Art Deco Erté Museum displays some of Erté's
most famous designs for the Folies-Bergère in Paris, including a
costume for the Diamond in "Les Pierres Précieuses" and
a silver lamé costume, complete with pearl wings and ebony-plumed
cap, that Erté himself wore to a ball. A Web site never looked so
fashionable.
-BJB
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ArtServe, Art & Architecture
This is rated as one of Point Survey's Top 5% of all Web sites, and although
that little purple star logo has made itself a joke among Internet users
(it's about as rare as the tenth America Online disk you've gotten for free
this month), this site might actually deserve the award - at least in terms
of content. It's a huge, searchable (by period, subject, or title of work)
database of art and architecture that's 16,000 images thick. The organization
is a little difficult to follow at times, but considering the amazing amount
of resources archived, it's pretty good.
-SK
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AS220
The creator of this bold, blinking space, AS220 is a non-profit Rhode Island
organization for the arts. It's taken its off-line community by storm with
a local cafe, a publicly accessible darkroom, youth arts conferences, and
more. The cyber companion unfortunately doesn't beam with the same ambition.
It's merely one step above an advertisement for the *real-life* services,
along with local resources, links to artsy sites, and some tech talk. If
you poke around long enough, though, you'll find some nice artwork.
-SK
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Barcelona
Pavilion
Six months ago, this was little more than a series of photographs of the
Barcelona Pavilion - an exhibition designed by Mies Van Der Rohe for the
1929 World's Exhibition - linked together to create the illusion of a 3D
space. It was a creative way to explore a modern architectural masterpiece.
But since then, the creators have added QuickTime VR (download the demo;
it's a heavy 2.8MB but worth it), a smoother layout, and a place for tourists
to post and read comments. You won't find much actual information about
the exhibition or Mies. It's purely aesthetics - and well done.
-SK
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CENTRIPEDUS CENTER
SEEKING ART
Artists aren't highly known for their ability to act coherently, and the
Centripedus Center Seeking Art Web site won't shatter this notion. On the
surface, the site appears to be an avant-garde commercial page, but the
more you sink into the center, the more you'll realize you're inside a chaotic
mess of political and philosophical diatribes about Christianity and capitalism.
The site proudly promotes online art revolutions and various Web projects,
including the promotional art for the movie *The Net *.-BJB
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dalilink.html
Melting clocks and broken telephones saturate Salvador Dali's surrealist
art for more than mere shock value. Dalilink, the home page for this unusual
artist, traces how events in Dali's life - among them a meeting with Sigmund
Freud, a narrow escape from the Nazi invasion of France, and his falling
in love with soul mate Gala Dali - got translated in his art. The site has
plenty of links to other Dali-obsessed pages and museum exhibits. Dalilink
offers an Internet refuge for this madman who was not mad.
-BJB
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Goya
Francisco Goya led classical painting into the modern world with a unique
and ever-changing style. This site, devoted to the works of Goya, is also
unique. It lacks the typical barrage of hyperlinks to miscellaneous Web
resources, feedback loops, and advertisements. Instead, it's a stunning
display of the artist's works. Each page is accompanied by a well -written
biographical note. The works are presented in chronological order to demonstrate
Goya's evolution. (Goya lost his hearing in 1792 and his mood and paintings
took on an increasing aura of dark despondence.) Very well done.-KV
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Kaleidoscope
Resource
All those who remember spending their childhood hours gazing into a small
rod with mirrors and colored glass will appreciate the Kaleidoscope Resource.
This online guide has information on kaleidoscope history, artists, material
sources for making a kaleidoscope, societies, Clifford Pickover's Kaleidoscope
image of the month, and more. Transform your computer screen into an ever-changing
myriad of colors with kaleidoscope screen savers. You don't have to be a
child to experience the random artistic beauty of the Kaleidoscope Resource
Page.
-BJB
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Karl
Kotas Home Page
A man of many masks, Karl Kotas shamelessly displays his work as a graphic
artist, painter, cartoonist, independent publisher, and art director on
his home page. The Virtual Gallery has collages with grafitti-esque images
of neon camels, women with five eyes, and alligators in suits. Kotas also
creates an adult comic book series called "Vent," featuring semi-nude
lions wearing go-go boots. For bizarre erotica on the net, sneak over to
the erotica section, which exhibits an odd digital mirage of nude women.-BJB
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Neil Harrison
Website
Neil Harrison Website is home to the Dali Virtual Museum of Art and satisfies
the surrealist cravings of art-starved net surfers. Using an interactive
map, visitors can wander through various rooms, including the Great Hall,
which displays the famous paintings "Disintegration of the Persistence
of Memory" and "The Christ of St. John of the Cross." Biographical
information on this obscure artist seems to be unimportant to the virtual
museum curators, but the plethora of Dali photographs and paintings will
satiate any hungry minds running through these halls of art.
-BJB
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The
Chagall Windows
Even with all the hype that accompanied Windows 95, some windows still exist
that represent an entity more powerful even than Bill Gates. The Chagall
Windows site celebrates Mark Chagall's stained glass portraits of the 12
sons of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. The site has biographical information
on Chagall, who created the windows to honor his Jewish parents, and pictures
of the actual windows illustrated with animals, fish, flowers, and Jewish
symbols. This site underscores how the Web can be used as an artistic tribute.-BJB
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Victoria Benatar
Urban HOME PAGE
Victoria is an architecture graduate student at Columbia University who's
displaying some of her works on her home page. Though the site is not exactly
stunningly spectacular, it contains an interesting project about urban housing
in Harlem that's inspiring (if you're someone who's interested in urban
architecture). She's also built up an area for the Columbia University Urban
Housing Department, and includes work from other students who don't have
their own pages. Worth a visit for archi-types.
-SK
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Vintage Ink
& Paint
There certainly is a vast amount of information here, though you'll have
to take a nap on the scroll bar to get it. Yes, it's another page of infinite
length. Despite this slight annoyance factor, the remaining layout is easy
to read and the content is good. Visitors learn about collecting animation
art, as well as how and where to purchase it. They also can search a glossary
of animation-related terms and learn about restoration processes. Valuable
for collectors.
-LS
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VIRTUAL
GALLERY
This is a great site for casual Image browsing. If you want to see pictures
of artwork from Japan, there are hundreds to choose from here. The pictures
span most mediums - painting, printing, sculpture, architecture, and design.
Equally impressive is the kids' gallery, organized by subject categories:
monsters, animals, parents, etc. There's also an open call for kids to submit
artwork, so get your budding Van Goghs started now. The site is translated
in both English and Japanese, for an oh-so-international effect. It's extremely
well done.-SK
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WEBSTOCK
First there was Woodstock, then Wigstock, now Webstock. As a virtual art
colony in Cyberia, Webstock promotes alternative art, music, and philosophy.
Discover "the sound sculptures" or lap drums of composer Ken Lovelett
. Ponder the significance of artist Justin Love's portraits of two black
cats eating watermelon. Or read about brain simulators, astrology, Lake
Klamath Blue Green Algae, and WomanStock. Webstock would make any Zippy
proud to hold up the peace sign in cyberspace.-BJB
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Welcome
to Cyberlab 7
Art for the Millennium. Well, it could have been good. It starts off with
a sharp, new agey, dreamy logo and a pitch about blending art and technology.
There are lofty headings - Visual Realities, Millennium Events, and Planet
Change Projects. The problem is that not one of the interactive video clips
or links to events or "projects" went anywhere beyond an error
404 (File Not Found.) I must ask: Are our Millennium prophets slacking,
or are they just a mess at using HTML?-SK
D
Zupergraphyx
Pigs produce bacon, pork, and really cool Web sites. On Zupergraphyx, each
part of a patchwork pig will take you on an interesting journey inside the
mind of a Web designer. The quality of the graphics alone will make any
pig's tail curl. Rub the pig's lower back and it'll take you through the
step-by-step process of making a Web page for a finicky client. Poke the
pig's rear and you'll get information on a text editor called Futplex. Lots
of useful information just from dissecting a cyber piggy.-BJB
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