[artinfo] Fwd: Request for help for Whitney project

[Alexei Shulgin]

Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 22:36:11 -0500
=46rom: Christiane Paul <paulc@inx.net>
Subject: Request for help for Whitney project

Hi,
it would be great if you could help us with a project (a "history" of net=
 art) for the artport site by submitting info about your work. Detailed=
 instructions are below...
Your help would be very much appreciated!!
Best,
Christiane

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Martin Wattenberg is currently working on an "Idealine" for the Whitney's=
 artport website. The "Idealine" is meant to be a map of net artworks=
 created over the past six years -- visualizing a "history" of net art in=
 terms of the ideas and concepts the works are based upon. A crucial aspect=
 of the project is the idea of context and visualization of=
 relations/thematic connections between net artworks. The map is a=
 visualization of a database that has been created for this project.

Because no one understands a work's context better than the artist, we're=
 appealing to the net art community to help us create our database. We've=
 set up an open page on Quickbase, an online data center, which you can use=
 to add information about yourself, your art, and its relation to other=
 works of net art. We're hoping that you can add your data and please feel=
 free to send us your comments on how it might be improved ("wattenberg"=
 <elzzup@rcn.com>).=20

Here are step-by-step instructions:
[Instructions always make it look complicated but this is a pretty easy=
 process, which you probably would figure out without any help.=
 Nevertheless, PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS WHOLE MESSAGE in order to avoid=
 possible confusion]


1. Log on to Quickbase.

	a. Go to http://www.quickbase.com
	b. Click the large button that says "sign in and register".
	c. Sign in with "idealine" as both username and password.

2. Add yourself to the Artist database.

	a. Click on "Artist" in center gray listing table.
	b. Click "Artist list, with ID numbers" from menu at left.
		(Are you on the list already? If so, skip to Step 3.)
	c. If not, click "Add record" in the top gray menu.
	d. Enter your information and click the "save" button.

3. Add your artwork to the Artwork database.

	a. To return to the main page, click on "My Quickbase" at top=20
	   right menu.
	   (You may want to do this in a new browser window, because            =20
	   it's useful to see the artist list later -- you might need the artists' =
ID#s)
	b. Click on "Artwork" in center gray listing table.
	c. Click "Artwork list, with ID numbers" from menu at left.
	   (Is your work on the list? If so, skip to Step 4.)
	d. If not, click "Add record" in the top gray menu.=20
	e. For the "artist" fields, use the ID number of the artist from the=20
	    artist listing.
	f. Enter your information (fields are self-explanatory):=20
	   Title, year, URL
	   Enter one short sentence describing your piece in the description field.=
=20
	   Feel free to add additional info to the description!
	   Choose keywords and technology from the menu (and let us know if you=20
               	   want additional keywords or technology to be added)
	   For now, don't worry about the "context" fields. We'll get to=20
	   that in Step 4.
                g. Click the "save" button


NOTE:
If someone else made an entry for your work, feel free to edit it as you=
 consider necessary!

Some of you might have a website that functions as a portal to your works=
 (such as potatoland.org or easylife.org). While you can add an entry for=
 the whole site, it would be extremely helpful if you could provide separate=
 entries for all of your works! We realize that this is time-consuming but=
 it would be greatly appreciated!


4. Add "contexts" for your work.

The goal of the database is to help people understand the context of your=
 work; specifically, which other artworks they should think about to fully=
 understand your work. These other artworks could be=20
*ones that influenced you
*ones that have a similar goal
*ones that contrast in interesting ways
*previous artworks created by yourself that influenced (or can be understood=
 as a basis for) the artwork that you're adding
*net artworks that aren't accessible on-line anymore (because they had been=
 created for an older browser version etc.) -- if possible, please provide a=
 URL leading to a description of the work=20
*artworks that aren't net art -- if possible add a URL that leads to info=
 about the respective work


To list another artwork as a "context":

	a. Add the artist to the Artist database if not already there.
	b. Add the artwork to the Artwork database if not there.
	c. Go to the Artwork list.
	d. Click the "Edit" button in the row for your artwork.
	e. Edit your entry and click "save".=20

NOTE:
You can also supply URLs as contexts instead of entire artwork records; we'd=
 prefer you use records if possible.

Your artwork's visualization in the final map will be influenced by the=
 number and type of works you've cited as contexts.


Thanks very much! We really appreciate your effort and advice!