net:art coordination center
The net:art coordination center is an internationally active platform to bring together people working in interactive net-based art. We aim to develop production environments that offer maximum space for creative exchange.
We see the Internet not only as a means of transport, but also as an extended stage that connects physical and digital spaces. Excellent high-performance data networks and low-latency technologies enable performers to interact audiovisually live and in real time.
These network infrastructures and software/hardware solutions are offered by National Research and Education Networks (NRENs).
That is why ACOnet launched the net:art coordination center in 2018.
When Dreams Come True
In international collaborative projects, NREN lab developers work with musicians to constantly improve the AV features of low-latency technologies. These require more precise specifications for minimizing latency than conventional interactive AV voice tools: When musicians and performers interact telematically, every millisecond counts.
With our event series "near in the distance 1-3", we tested these technologies with excellent artistic and technical teams and realized three internationally acclaimed shows.
The implementation of further concepts is in progress. We will continue to discuss the importance of protocols, switches, traceroutes, and relevant technical key data. The more stable these environments are, the more time artistic-technical producers have to engage with new compositional, performative, and literary narratives to develop contemporary content for hybrid art worlds and an enthusiastic audience.
Raising Awareness
One of the people who best understood the creative, productive, and unifying potential of the World Wide Web (but also the danger of its appropriation for profit) was the American Internet activist Aaron Swartz.
In 2023, we dedicated our annual project "aaron's law" to him. Together with our partners, we implemented outstanding projects in theatres, a castle, a city museum, public spaces, and at the Ars Electronica Festival. The project series explored analog and digital art production from the 1980s to the present in workshops, symposia, exhibitions, and podcasts. They critically questioned socio-political processes in the context of the Internet, such as access to knowledge.
A detailed review can be found in the article "aaron's law: Wir haben Geschichten erzählt", published in ACOnet's Annual Report 2023.
