by Kyle Chayka
Published: March 26, 2012
The launch of Damien Hirsts new Web site, which offers a
voyeuristic live camera feed into the heart of his studio,
is certainly a step forward in adventurousness for famous
artists on the Internet (in comparison,
looks like Geocities). But Hirst is still far from avant
garde in the wild world of artist Web sites, where new media artists turn the Internet into a visual playground and
conceptualists build puzzling and wonderful hybrid pages.
Below, ARTINFO rounds up our picks for 20 of the most
notable Web sites for contemporary artists, from figures you know to others more obscure.
Cory Arcangel http://www.coryarcangel.com/
As in his work, Cory Arcangels site embraces nostalgia
for earlier digital times. The header title, Cory
Arcangels Internet Portfolio Website and Portal, might
tip you off if the lo-fi table structures and tiled
background didnt already.
Tauba Auerbach http://taubaauerbach.com/
The typeface on conceptual painter Tauba Auerbachs
Internet home looks like alien hieroglyphics, but thats
okay if you got there, you probably know where you are.
Beyond the funky, color-changing intro is a directory
written out in another set of squiggly type. Finally, you
get to the paintings, prints, and books.
John Baldessari http://www.baldessari.org/
Rather than speckling the Internet with colored dots,
Baldessaris site uses information trees to create an
interactive menu for visitors wanting to find out more about the veteran painter. It takes some exploring to find all of
the branches.
Banksy http://www.banksy.co.uk/
Fans of the street artist can pick from Inside and
Outside galleries, selecting either guerrilla public
installations or sculptural objects and paintings that are
clearly collector fodder. Banksy wins for his stylish
portfolio, handwritten typeface, and hilarious FAQ.
The street artist and famed muralist has a brown paper
sketchbook for a Web site. Click the virtual book and it
opens to reveal scrawled news updates handwritten in MS
Paint. Online replicas of his physical sketchbooks are also
available, for a peek inside the artists process.
Jake & Dinos Chapman http://www.jakeanddinoschapman.com/
The BritArt duo’s polished site is notable for having a
section titled
“What-We’re-Working-On-Right-This-Very-Minute” which offers
galleries of random disorienting photos from their studio,
as well as a separate bulletin board section titled
“Have-Your-Fucking-Say,” where you can weigh in on what you
think about the notorious Chapmans’ scabrous art.
Computers Club http://computersclub.org/
Home to the Webs foremost crew of Internet artists,
Computers Club is part portfolio and part virtual treehouse, a fantastical landscape that visitors can wander at will.
The Club is always getting built out, so visit often
just make sure you dont fall into Computers Cult by
accident.
Petra Cortright http://petracortright.com/
Petra Cortright, an Internet artist who creates video
performances with the help of a web-cam, uses an intense
amount of emoticons to make up her sites splash page. The
gothy smiley-face cross leads to a surreal collage of
totally bizarre GIFs and a selection of links to her YouTube videos. Useful and crazy!
Wim Delvoye http://www.wimdelvoye.be/
Wim Delvoyes homepage takes the term more literally than
most. He has created a pixelated city as a portfolio
each building in the isometric drawing leads to a different
gallery of Delvoyes work (they also have really cute
animations, the camera-shaped building in particular).
Theres even a billboard listing the artists recent
exhibitions.
Shepard Fairey http://obeygiant.com/
Obviously Faireys site would share the same aesthetics as
his graphic design. The black-and-red layout is classic
Fairey, and besides perusing the art, visitors are treated
to some of the artists politically aware blogging.
David Hockney http://www.hockneypictures.com/
Hockneys site has a great, hand-drawn splash page, though
the interior of the homepage is a bit less exciting. There
is a great directory of work that features a selection of
his pro-technology iPhone drawings, though.
JODI http://www.jodi.org
JODIs web site is also the pioneering Internet art
duos greatest work, a mess of glitched-out HTML, weird
windows, and digital dead ends. Get as far into it as you
can and try to escape, or just close the tab and start over.
Anish Kapoor http://anishkapoor.com/
Much like Anish Kapoors art, his Web site is crisp,
simple, and well-produced, as well as conceptually tricky.
The grid of words and links lights up as visitors select
what kind of information they want to filter for. Its an
exercise in clarity.
Misaki Kawai http://www.misakikawai.com/
The same goofy sense of fun that goes into Japanese artist
Misaki Kawais sculptures and paintings is apparent in her
Web site as well, with a few animated GIF elements and a
host of colorful cartoon characters.
Michael Manning http://mirrrroring.net/
Going to Michael Mannings site is like watching TV late
at night, forever flipping through the channels without
stopping to understand what youre watching. The series of
psychedelic interactive animations that greet visitors are
surreal, but extremely fun.
Takashi Murakami
http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp/artists/
Murakamis Web site is a front for his art company, Kaikai
Kiki, a ragtag bunch of Superflat artists that Murakami has
helped to popularize. Its certainly not as strange as the
artists work, but its nice to see the shopkeeper side
of Murakamis career.
Rafael Rozendaal http://www.newrafael.com/
New media artist Rafael Rozendaal makes Web sites as art
objects, so clearly his own site is going to be awesome.
Rozendaal doesnt disappoint topping a pleasantly
clear layout is a header that includes retro-style icons
linking to every art-site he has ever made.
Keith Tyson http://www.keithtyson.com/
The British artist, who is obsessed with systems of order,
presents his projects in the form of a solar system that you float through. Click into the planets and each one unlocks a whole universe of data about one of his works.
Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries http://www.yhchang.com/
One of the most entertaining artist Web sites, Young-Hae
Chang Heavy Industries homepage includes versions of many
of their animations, frenetically paced videos that tell
stories through rapidly flickering text and expressive
music. Add in a dollop of stylish, retro minimalism, and
youve got an all-around winner.
Andrea Zittel http://www.zittel.org/
On her faux-corporate Web site, conceptual artist Andrea
Zittel advertises the services of her company, A to Z
Administrative services. The branding is spot-on, but beyond documenting art projects, it is Zittel’s blog that makes
this worth the visit, with its bravely quotidian accounts of home renovation and feeding her turtles.
Amanda Williams
Freelance Curator and Arts Administrator
0272 252 383
amandajanepriorwilliams.wordpress.com
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