Abstract
Joseph Squier analyzes the internet community. He claims the best way to describe this community is as a tribe with its own native language and system of communication. He begins describing the web as a clumsy collection of thin content, but justifies it as it is still young and inexperienced. Emerging technologies impact our culture in ways we could not predict. An example being the web, as it was an unintentional medium of art. Squier gives examples of other artists like the Niepce brothers, Daguerre, and Edweard Muybridge and how they started off with other intentions. Artists are curious explorers and Squier believes that the web gives opportunities to leave traditional practices behind to try new methods. He mentions a couple of his own web-based works and compares them to show the way the web can offer more than just translated traditional methods. He depicts the web to be a convoluted space with immense possibilities for design and creation. Squier implores future artists to learn the language of the web tribes. A native speaker can communicate and construct something new and beyond initial intentions. Squier does not seem to have a path in mind for the tribe to take, but his tone suggests that he is interested to see where it will go.
Preservation Process
Archived from http://switch.sjsu.edu/archive/nextswitch/switch_engine/front/front.php%3Fartc=110.html. Documentation of the preservation processes used for this collection is available at https://github.com/NickSzydlowski/switch. Metadata for this item was created and augmented by Lily Mendoza, Spring 2022, ART 104
Original Article URL
Web Tribes (sjsu.edu)
Recommended Citation
Squire, Joseph
(1997)
"Web Tribes,"
SWITCH: Vol. 1:
No.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/switch/vol1/iss1/5