Adaweb

adaweb is a research and development platform, a digital foundry, and a journey.

"here, artists are invited to experiment with and reflect upon the web as a medium, and as a means of distribution for their work. while we produce most of the projects you experience on our site, we also house co-productions, guest work, events, and source material on the artists and their galleries. ah, 'da web - always subject to change." [1]

Founded in 1994 by entrepreneur John Borthwick and curator Benjamin Weil, äda 'web was a platform for online artworks, experimental literature, publishing, and even exhibitions. It functioned within an internet startup as a “digital foundry” that commissioned artists to work directly with web designers and developers to explore the internet as medium and distribution channel.

This collaborative approach allowed äda 'web to diverge from conceptions of net art as a distinct field of practice: it included works from artists who focused on digital media and from artists for whom net engagement was a welcome extension of their conceptual practice.

äda 'web was operated by Matteo Ames, Cherise Fong, Ainatte Inbal, Andrew Wanliss Orlebar, Andrea K Scott, John F. Simon, Jr., Benjamin Weil, Vivian Selbo, and others, as part of internet content company WP Studio. After WP Studio was purchased by AOL, the site lost its financial support. In late 1998, it was archived by curator Steve Dietz on behalf of the Walker Art Center. [2]

Publications

• "What Is Ada'web?", 1998.

Links

• Website
• Website (1996)
• Website (1997)
• Newsletters
• adaweb on Walker
• äda 'web in Net Art Anthology