Definition and Description of Cyberart

or the Virtual Art of "Webism"

By Pygoya.

1. Art that is displayed and exists only in virtual or Cyberspace; the original art from which imagery is printed out (copied) or derived (downloaded).

2. Currently, the virtual space of the World Wide Web on the Internet is Cyberart's domain.

3. Through the breakthrough of technology and specifically telecommunications, art that can be experienced globally and from different locations at the same moment in time; real time,  online art experience from a global audience.

4. In current artists' application, "art" of the visual type, such as digital imagery, although the definition is broad enough to include the conceptual, which may be totally nonvisual in its aesthetic content.

5. Art that emerges naturally from within the new global online society as it matures; evolving and cumulative online cultural artifacts.

6. Art that intentionally creates cultural statements through study of the social sciences describing the nature of the virtual community.

7. Creations of a specific group(s) emerging from cyberspace that work within the narrow definition of "art" as defined here and call themselves the "Cyberists", developing the works and concepts of "Webism".

8. For the Cyberist Pygoya, his visual cyberart is either "cyberpaintings", online digital rendition of actual computer art paintings (oil on canvases) in the physical world, or "cyberdigital" works that have no cyberpainting counterparts  but are original digital or electronic imagery.

9. Online art that conjures up the experience of  "art appreciation"  from its novel Internet content as the subject matter or concept for the work.

10. Experiment with new visual effects invented through computer graphics, incorporate these elements into historically new visual art and historically introduce the works first to the Internet audience. (ex. "Bandwidth", 1997)

11. Inclusion of multimedia approaches for creating online aesthetic experience.

12. Direction towards interactivity of art with the viewer's broad perceptual powers and  cognitive abilities. (ex. Stereogram Gallery and Puzzle Cyberart)

13. Art that assists in the development of a sense of  online community through shared cultural and visual experiences and values.

14. Art that expands online interpersonal communication  beyond the limitations of text-only communication, increasing the capability for qualitative and subjective mutual responses rather than the quantitative and descriptive character of online commerical art.

15.  Still graphic imagery, such as JPEGs and GIFs, that fullfill aesthetic needs of the Internet before multimedia art forms are fully developed , affordable and commonplace on even  small personal homepages.

16. PreModern, Modern, and PostModern imagery recruited from the real world of this and past centuries that  1) foster visualization of  the present day Internet , 2) relate it to the physical world cultures as virtual surrogate communities  and 3) serve as predecessors of visualizations yet unborn by yet uninvented or developed technologies.

17. "Output", including computer printers, lie outside the cyberart  realm of  virtual presentation.

18. Cyberart exists outside our notion of three dimensionality such as the location of a specific object in time and space.  Upon  mutliple browsers' requests the original cyberart can replicate itself to reside simultaneously on monitors screens scattered around the globe.

19. After removal offline  or virtual extinction  great cyberart continues to live within the minds /memory of those fortunate to have witnessed it online.

20. Like HTML, hidden behind its visual translation interface is the "genetic blueprint" of the art in binary code /program languages. This is the form the art takes during transmission throughout the Information Highway.  Conceptually in such an elementary and pure form it is  in itself a thing of beauty (from such "compositions" pixel  "rendition"  vary according to the variability of monitor viewing characteristics).

21. Going virtual or cyber as a computer artist involves moving mentally to new ground to gain a fresh perspective for making.

22. Exposure to online cyberart has the potential to generalize viewer affinity into an appreciation of all art forms offline.

23. Cyberart is yet another vehicle by which the mature artist can teach and share what he has learned about the nature of  art.

24. Leon James, Ph.D., writes that "spiritual psychology studies mind through self-witnessing of one's thoughts and feelings on the daily round of activities."  An artist's work by such definition is spiritual to the artist since one's self-witnessing of thoughts, feelings and values are projected into the work.  By selective clicking to access favorite online cyberart the browser is self-witnessing one's interest, judgment and reflection on his or her reaction to the art, thereby "creating the opportunity for moral self-assessment".  Therefore, at a certain level, engaging  virtual art has the potential to become a spiritual act.  "A popular Web site is a spiritual beacon for netizens." (James, 1996)

25. New integrations between fine arts traditional motionless paintings and movement, such as animation (ex. "Mona", 1997)

26. Incorporation of Internet theme, content or subject matter into traditional art media even without any digital art element.

27. Exploring the virtual display space of Web browsers (ex. "Dipstick", 1997); using automatic scrolling of the html page

28. Mirroring virtual communities life events or problems (ex. "Invasion of Geocities.com", 1997)

29. Join/particpate in a virtual community to get a first hand experience and interact, develop friendships with virtual neighbors (ex.Geocities.com/SoHo/9650)

30. Reach out to other artists populating the Web to share opportunity to promote and create cyberart expriences for all (ex. Webmuseum Cybercolony Awards)

31. Experiment with interactivity with the browser even if he or she is not an artist

32. Experiment with using the full screen HTML page as a cell of online animation (ex. Page=Cells, 1997)

33. Create linked art exhibitions that span the global network; the viewer must travel the entire virtual planet to take in all the shows (ex. GREAT!)

34. Gradual transformation from real world computer or digital artist to cyberartist comfortable and productive in an online virtual environment, keeping "one foot" in each of the realities.

35. Virtual exhibition space dedicated to preserving the creative work and spirit of all deceased artists; irregardless of "success" as an artist in his or her lifetime; as in the Mausoleum Art Museum

36. Virtual access of all art that assists in global cultural acculturation and homogenization.

37. All art from the physical world that is adapted to exist in online virtual space.

38. Making cyberart is a love affair with the every growing power of creative applications of evolving Internet technology, thereby prioritizing multimedia interactivity over static imagery

39.The Web opens up unlimited fields of knowledge to the artist searching for inspiration through exposure to new subject matter-without leaving his or her art studio-desktop (ex. Webmuseum Cyberculture Research Library)

40. Symbolic of the magic of cerebrally escaping from one's daily desk and routines of drudgery; making, in the long run, the worker more productive by contributing a source of enjoyment and sense of nonconfinement on the job.

41. Utilizing inevitable downloading time as the moment of aesthetic expression, thought and transmittance (even at the expense of negation of the "document done' objective)

42. Mirroring back a Website's banner links, its satellite outposts on spidering across Cyberspace, in some type interactivity with their Web site mothership

43. Telecommunciation connectivity between the Internet's Cyberspace and Outer Space

44. A personal computer opening screen meshed with the Internet as a mutant graphic interface concoction- the Web Site Desktop bookmarker, invented November 25, 1997 (Pygoya)

45. Establishing a menu of "tours" of a large Web site (such as our Webmuseum) based on estimated browsing time, thereby providing convenient and varied previewing "chunks" of information. In a sense each tour is in itself a "Web site" experience should the browser never return back to the larger "mother Web site"

46. Creating global based real time online REAL "meet the artist" receptions for online art exhibit openings; such as Debbi Germann's historic VIP Suite Gallery (Pygoya Webmuseum of Cyberart) and chat room reception at Webmuseum Reception Hall on January 1, 1998

47. .Establishing a "web ring" of artists with similiar interests in building a new art movement for the Internet founded on creating art born on the Internet, such as Cyberartist Ring

48. Creative thinking that derives new ways to foster site visitors to travel between one or more Cyberart Web sites, besides the use of Web rings.

49. Novel ways to use coveted "awards" and logo graphic icons to increase art Web site interests and promote interactivity among Cyberart Web sites

50. Serious effort to mirror actual museum functions online to manifest actualized museum experience, credibility and service in world accessible Cyberspace

51. "Mirror pages" are identical html pages of primarily text information common to two or more Websites; concept of "mirror images" plays upon "mirror pages" idea with identical but reversed (horizontally) cyberart images at two different Web sites.

52. "Puzzle Ring" binds a group of Web sites by offering just a fragment of a image; collecting all the pieces completes the puzzle image for whatever purpose intended by the sites.

53.Electrons. The new art medium.
Computer chip designers, manufacturers, programmers, and ISPs conspire to create the world's largest canvas. It is called cyberart. The canvas is the net, and we paint it with electrons.
---earl hinrichs

54.The Web Museum will live forever...
CyberArt has not yet been defined, lets see what it is...
Lets help others to see what it is, who'll decide, artist or
viewer?... Yet to be determined...
---Dennis O'Carney

55. Web sites in itself as "works of art'

56. Web sites of deceased artists that remain online in perpetuity as memorial and perpetual contribution to Cyberculture by the universal human spirit

57. Fusion of physical exhibit space and virtual Web display space through art event, interactivity and/or collaboration between the two exhibit realities

57. Artist-In-CyberResidence concept and experimental online activity in that role

58. Specific interaction between physical museum and online virtual museum resulting in new experience of the audiences

59. Providing student artists the opportunity to exhibit in professional vrml gallery space online, thereby providing early learning to assist their development into mature Cyberartists

60. Using the monitor screen for making art instead of paper or canvas

61. Java applet imagery intergrated visually with html page background graphic file; thereby creating the illusion of full screen image and animation

62. Accumulating sites' awards as a Web derived  graphics collection which historically documents graphic design,  fads and power and site authoring presence

63. Concept of Internet art as imagery "matted" by peripheral background screen space and framed by the plastic border of the monitor; also "art" as aesthetic experience through interaction among computer hardware, software and the online network with the solitary user/viewer.

64. Full screen animated through narrow horizontal animation GIF file repeated vertically to fill screen size.

65. "Reproduction" - full screen digital image printed on transparency; everything taken out of monitor box and replaced with internal incandescent light source to back light transparency positioned as apparent screen image. At first glance it appears monitor is working, i.e., there's a produced electronic image on screen.   Yet it is only a hardcopy ink print mimicking an electronic image, thus a simulation or conceptual "reproduction" of the real thing.
Artist is planning brick & mortor works using such a reversal,  exterior surfaces of monitor and cpu below it may be painted to extend lit transparency design.

65. Creating a Web site of one's work to develop a presence of art from one's country, thereby adding a location to the expanding network of art of the world.   In toto it is like an online catalog of Earth  Art.

66.  Defining a network within the larger "catalog of Earth Art" as stated in no. 65.  For example the creation of an art ring such as R2001.com that creates "members" and a group identity with a specific agreed upon mission.

67.  Creating a new art collectible made possible through the global reach and exposrue of the Internet, such as Snailmail Cards.

68. Some "infrasturture" foundations for a "cyberart" may be found in the meaning of "art"?

69. A possible underlying explanation of "art", hence also "cyberart", through the approach of an art psychology.

70.  Using the accessibility of reviewing artwork on the Internet as "online virtual brochures" to promote cyberart in real world physical exhibitions around the planet.