Owning Online Art: Selling and Collecting Netbased Artworks, Markus Schwander and Reinhard Storz (eds.); an interdisciplinary research project produced by UAS Northwestern Switzerland, Academy of Art and Design, DACollection / DAStore, Aktive Archive, xcult, Plug-In Basel and the Swiss Federal Office of Culture:

INTRODUCTION: In the publication Owning Online Art – Selling and Collecting Netbased Artworks, art historians discuss the critical positioning of selected works of net art (Rachel Mader) and approach questions on the relationship between internet art and the art market from the standpoint of the history of media (Peter Schneemann). Using the example of specific works, artists discuss aspects of the materiality of net-based art (Markus Schwander) and reflect on their experience with curators and collectors, as well as with the issues of the commercialisation and conservation of net art (Olia Lialina, Carlo Zanni).

Our research partner, the AktiveArchive project contributed its expertise in the areas of documentation, conservation and restoration of electronic art and discussed solutions for the restoration of net-based works (Tabea Lurk). A number of different economies can be applied to the issue of the relationship between net-based art and the art market: the economies of the market, of novelty and of recognition (Simon Grand), as well as aspects of the economy of free, immaterial products (Felix Stalder).

Further articles are devoted to the practice of collecting net-based art, the controversy between the respective attitudes and expectations of collection curators and artists and to the idea of a “Swiss Platform for New Media Art” (Isabel Zürcher). The past and present-day development of the products of net art on the market and its collection in the USA and Europe will also be discussed (Reinhard Storz), as well as the purchase of net-based work for an existing Swiss collection from a curator’s point of view (Roman Kurzmeyer). In closing, a short text will present the idea and current activities of the DA Collection / Store project (Annette Schindler and Reinhard Storz). The text section closes with the answers of the 17 international artists to the questionnaire sent out by the OOA research project.

In the chapter «materials», the list of text studies is expanded by a few practice-oriented investigations, including a brief survey of current online payment methods; a study of the net-specific art form of the screensaver (Beo von Arx); illustrative examples of digital displays at art fairs and art exhibitions; experiments by the Basel web designer and artist Esther Hunziker with interfaces for online art exhibitions and collection archives; and the development of a special wall console with an integrated computer for interactive art works by the Zurich industrial designer Regula Büchel.

Publication of the research contributions is available in four formats. The decision towards this variety is linked to the object of investigation of our research project in the field of online culture: We want to test established and new publication formats for their benefits for research publications.