Full Description
The narrative of the birth of internet culture often focuses on the achievements of American entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, but there is an alternative history of internet pioneers in Europe who developed their own model of network culture in the early 1990s. Drawing from their experiences in the leftist and anarchist movements of the '80s, they built DIY networks that give us a glimpse into what internet culture could have been if it were in the hands of squatters, hackers, punks, artists, and activists. In the Dutch scene, the early internet was intimately tied to the aesthetics and politics of squatting. Untethered from profit motives, these artists and activists aimed to create a decentralized tool that would democratize culture and promote open and free exchange of information.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: CRACKING THE CITY
Provocation
Homo Ludens
Homo Bellicus
CHAPTER 2: CRACKING PAINTING
Art School as Laboratory
Dancing on the Volcano
Image Flow
Land of Milk and Subsidies
CHAPTER 3: CRACKING THE ETHER
Pop Art Pirates
Pirate Media, Pirate Politics
CHAPTER 4: PASSAGEWAYS
The Underpass
Artists Talking Back to the Media
Back to the Future
Networked Events
CONCLUSION: The Digital City
PRIMARY AND ARCHIVAL SOURCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
