11.0621 Leading Art Site Suspended

Humanist Discussion Group (humanist@kcl.ac.uk)
Thu, 5 Mar 1998 21:00:07 +0000 (GMT)

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 11, No. 621.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
From: David Green <david@ninch.org>

Leading Art Site Suspended
<http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/articles/03adaweb.html>

One of the leading websites for the creation and distribution of
Web-specific art works, adaWeb, has been closed down by its new corporate
owners according to a report by Matthew Mirapaul in today's New York Times'
CyberTimes.

>Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
><http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/articles/03adaweb.html>
>Author: Matthew Mirapaul
>Issue: Arts
>Description: The Web site which is one of the most premier destinations for
>original Web-based art, ada'web, is being suspended. Co-founder, Benjamin
>Weil, said the reason was that ada'web's publisher, Digital City Inc., had
>canceled the Web site's financing. Skeptics had anticipate its closing since
>the selling of ada'web's founding company, WP Studio, to Digital City, owned
>primarily by America Online and the Tribune Company, 13 months ago. They
>were unable to "reconcile the site's high-minded mission with the
>mass-market orientation of other sites, and given the often- challenging
>nature of the material, commercial sponsorship was not a likely option. Weil
>agreed, saying: "For one year, it's been very difficult. We've been trying
>to find ways for our corporate parent to understand that there was value in
>this for them. It seemed like the message didn't really get through. And
>then we tried to go non-profit to remain online, but we realized there was
>very little funding available." Weil is now seeking a permanent home for
>ada'web's archives so pre-published artwork can remain accessible.
>
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