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GLOSSARY

BETA

Beta is the second of the Greek letters. Beta version is in the second version stage of software development. The first phase of the internal version Alpha was not stable enough and was only tested internally, as well as many features were not yet fully developed. Compared to the Alpha version, the Beta version is tested for the public and is more stable, but still needs to be completed and new features and content added

Blockchain

Blockchains, also known as "distributed ledgers", can be used to store information. Information is stored in "blocks" that are distributed in a way that links the end of the previous block like a chain. The birth and development of blockchain have been influenced by cryptography, where cryptographers aim to create a record that cannot be tampered with in order to achieve a trustworthy system construction. Due to the important role of technologies such as “timestamp technology” and “blind signature” algorithms in its development, blockchain technologies are thought to be untamperable. The blockchain is also decentralised compared to the widely used of storing information of today. Currently, our information is stored in a number of servers, which can simply be physically stored in a building. If a fire broke out in the building and destroyed the servers, the information would be lost. The decentralised distribution of the blockchain would avoid this massive loss of data, as the servers would not be stored centrally in one building.


Computer art

The term originated in the magazine Computers and Automation in 1963. It refers to art forms that incorporate computer technology into the creation of art. Computer art is often used as an early precursor to “digital art”. It usually is spoken about in the context of early experimentation with computer painting, drawing and image processing, and refers to a specific group of artists who pioneered and contributed greatly to the creation of such digital technologies that we use today for visual processing. Computer art was developed in the early 1970’s through collaborations between artists and technological laboratories. The most famous of which is Dell laboratory that included such pioneering figures as: Claude Shannon, Ken Knowlton, Leon Harmon, Lillian Schwartz, Charles Csuri, A. Michael Noll, Edward Zajec, and Billy Klüver, an engineer who also collaborated with Robert Rauschenberg to form Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT)


Crypto Art

Crypto Art It is an emerging term and there is no very clear and unambiguous explanation or concept of it. From reading and comparing the contexts in which the term appears, it can be tentatively concluded that crypto art is often used to denote the art of linking into a cryptography-based distributed database (blockchain), and therefore crypto art is also equated with NFT art in many cases.


Crypto Mining

Crypto mining is the process of verifying cryptocurrency transactions and adding them to the blockchain. The person who completes this process is known as a "miner". In simple terms, miners use equipment to perform work in support of the blockchain and are rewarded with cryptocurrency by creating a “Proof of Work”. This is a complex term involving computer concepts such as "Hash" and "Peer-to-Peer". Read more: Hash Functions and Cryptocurrency Mining.


Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is also known as a digital asset. Cryptocurrency transactions are based on a decentralised blockchain and are secured using “smart contracts” and other cryptographic technologies, as opposed to the central bank model. Because transactions are carried out by smart contracts and an untamperable record of transactions is recorded on the blockchain, transactions in cryptocurrencies do not need to be regulated by other authorities or guaranteed by third-party institutions.


Digital Technology

Digital technology is characterised by its use of binary code, to emit electronic transmissions that are translated into image, sound and other faculties. . It is usually referring to technology that is developed with the use of computers. The premise of digital technology is related to what is called ‘the multimedia revolution’ - the ability to directly translate different inputs such as light, sound, movement etc. into one language that can then be translated back to an image, sound or a set of data - all on the same device. Digital technology allows us to consume different outputs with one compact device- like our computer or phone - and translate sound to image, image to sound, movement to a set of data that can be translated as an image - etc. Since the conversion of most of our electronic tools and appliances to digital technology, it has become integrated into our day-to-day life, and adopted for various artistic interventions..


Digital art

The concept of digital art is a broad term that had a profound meaning in the early days of the digital revolution but had become ubiquitous as it progressed. Generally speaking, it could be defined as art that is created with the use of digital technology and is presented in forms such as, but not limited to, audio, video, digital painting, digital sculptures, or 3D printing, text, programmes, interactive platforms etc. Read more: V&A: Digital Art.
Interactive art
In traditional art forms, viewers are seen as passive entities in relation to the artwork's shape and interpretation. Subsequently, in such artworks, interaction is largely limited to viewing objects as inanimate and stationary. Interactive art, on the other hand, looks at the artwork as an event, a platform or a space within which the viewer may take an active role. The viewer not only has a direct “contact” with the artwork but also becomes part of it. Interaction can take many shapes and forms, such as sculptures that can be touched and installations that can be moved. Interactive artworks often capture and process live information with the use of computers and a range of sensors, for example.


The Internet of Things

The internet of things refers to the connection of a physical object, or group of physical objects, in reality to the Internet via information sensing devices. It is used in a wide range of industries such as healthcare, construction and industry, for example using devices to monitor patients' physical signs and to process and feedback this data according to agreed protocols. Feel like this needs more explaination.


New media art

New media art is a broad concept that incorporates contemporary media technologies in its creation: video, digitisation, sound, 3D printing and so on, and is therefore distinct from traditional art forms. New media art began to emerge in the 1950s and the quantity and quality of work grew rapidly in the 1990s with the development of internet technology. Maybe say where, Europe?

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)

NFT is often thought to denote artworks that attracted attention around 2020 and that can be traded on the blockchain (see next entry). However, NFT is not an artwork, but is used to record and verify the existence of certain projects and transactions. In other words, the NFT is a credential used to record and prove that the artwork is linked into the blockchain. Not only artworks, but any documents, applications can be stored to the blockchain and mint NFTs.

Post-Internet

This term is closely related to Internet art and is somewhat controversial in the art world. In the absence of a description of the art form, Post-Internet can often only represent an artistic idea and lead to a wider discussion of the Internet age. Post-Internet is also often considered to represent the 21st century art movement that originated from Internet art. I feel like this needs more explanation. What or who triggered this discussion?

Sound art

Sound art does not only refer to pleasant sounds (music, poetry, etc.) but also to forms of artistic creation using sound as a medium. It encompasses a wide range of sound forms: noise, music, etc., and advocates respect for sound and the sense of hearing.

Virtual art

Virtual art is often thought of as the virtualization what is virtualization? of art. VR technology was introduced to art as a result of the huge technological advances of the 1990s. It allows for the creation of a simulated reality for the viewer, capturing their physical information to create an interactive sensory experience. Virtual art is the type of art that is created on the basis of this technology World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web is the "www" in web address. “www” is stored on the Internet as a document, presented as a "page" and displayed by a "web browser The "Web browser" displays these documents on the Internet. These documents on the Internet are linked by a "Hyperlink" and arranged and organized by a "Website".

THIS WEBSITE MUST BE USED ON A COMPUTER. IF YOU WANT TO CONTACT US, WRITE US ON THEBETATOOLKIT@GMAIL.COM


Net.Art Now


The latest Net.Art
Arebyte on screen (2022): Arebyte Gallery is a London-based organization that supports the development of contemporary artists working through digital art and emerging new media. In June 2022, our group was invited to develop and publish a toolkit exploring the future possibilities and advancement of the wider field of digital curation.

︎︎︎Arebyte Gallery — FUTURES PAST Future Past is a show within Arebyte's Sci-Fi programme, a project based on Net Art, which presents exhibitions as historical relics through artificial intelligence rendering. Through the presentation of these digital artefacts, the project will gradually narrate ideological issues such as colonisation and patriarchy, leaving the audience to think about the past, the present and the future.


︎︎︎here


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Off-Site Project, Off Site Project is an online curatorial platform founded by Pita Arreola-Burns and Elliott Burns in 2017. Through a programme of online homepage exhibitions; downloadable ZIP shows; and a residency situated in Google Maps, Off Site Project has created opportunities for emerging new media talent.

Over the course of four years, Off Site Project has supported the development of solo presentations and coordinated group exhibitions addressing subjects ranging from techno-colonialism in Latin America, screen based hauntology, the transgression between IRL and URL environments, and luxury as a response to existential emergency. Frequently Off Site Project works in close collaboration with artists, partnering experience in UX design and online exhibition making with artistic intention, employing this as a model to expand an architectonical understanding of how the online gallery can connect and interact with audiences.

Through partnerships, Off Site Project has created exhibitions and projects for Anonymous Gallery, the Austrian Cultural Forum London, distant.gallery Electric Artefacts, INDUSTRA, isthisit? and the Summer Works festival.

On the subject of digital galleries and art communities, Off Site Project have been invited to speak and deliver workshops at Central Saint Martins, Centro de Cultura Digital, the Centre for the Study of the Networked Image, De:Formal Gallery, Digital Art Observatory, the Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts 2020 conference, Goldsmiths University of Arts London, Modern Art Oxford, Plymouth College of Art, the Royal College of Art, Somerset House Studios, Silicon Valet, Tate Exchange, the UCL Multimedia Anthropology Lab, the University of Denver and the Whitworth Gallery. ︎︎︎Interview with Offsite Project


︎︎︎Software for Less, by Ben Grosser (2020-2021) With the rapid development of technology in the last 20 years, software and its application to social media have become an important influence in contemporary culture, art, and economics. Through the exhibition Software for Less, American artist Ben Grosser explores and reflects on how software has intervened and shaped people's lives in their interaction with social media. Grosser's works deconstruct and reorganize software functions to create a new internet experience for the viewer. Order of Magnitude and Go Rando are two works that question and reflect on the constant intrusion of software and algorithms into people's lives, provoking the audience to think more about the expansion of software and the Internet.

︎︎︎ THE ART HAPPENS HERE: NET ART’S ARCHIVAL POETICS (2019)
The exhibition was curated by Rhizome (founded by artist Mark Tribe). The exhibition showcased 16 net. artworks that were pivotal for the history of Net.Art. 16 pieces were presented by sculpture, website, software, books, etc. The artists include Morehshin Allahyari, ︎︎︎Cory Arcangel, Shu Lea Cheang, Aleksandra Domanović, Entropy8Zuper! (Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn), YoHa (Graham Harwood and Matsuko Yokokoji), Eduardo Kac, Olia Lialina, Brian, Mackern, et. al., Miao Ying, MTAA (Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden), Bunny Rogers and Filip Olszewski, Bogosi Sekhukhuni, Alexei Shulgin, Wolfgang Staehle, Mark Tribe with Alexander Galloway and Martin Wattenberg.



︎︎︎I'M BLUE (IF I WAS █████ I WOULD DIE) by American Artist (2019) American Artist graduated from Parsons School of Design and is based in New York now. They changed their name to American Artist in 2013 and have been creating art in the form of software, videos and more. The character in the video is inspired by a character from the Watchmen series. This character was closely associated with the fight against racial prejudice in the original work and therefore inspired the artist to create it.




︎︎︎Looted by American Artist Looted (July 21, 2020–Mar 2, 2021)
















About Non-FungibleTokens


Before knowing NFTs, it’s necessary to know the blockchain and related concepts

What is blockchain?︎︎︎Intro of Blockchain
This is a link for a brief Introduction to Blockchain. It explains some concepts included: cryptocurrency, transparency, Bitcoin and so on. It’s very helpful for quick viewing.


︎︎︎ The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto by Timothy C. May (1988)

Timothy C. May is the founder of the crypto-anarchist movement and a former engineer and scientist at Intel. In his manifesto he argues that crypto is revolutionary technology that can change the economic status quo of government and corporate intervention in transactions.


︎︎︎Satoshi Nakamoto, not sure Nakamoto is a person or an organisation, published Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System in 2008. The website included almost all important professionals and articles about blockchain technology, such as W. Scott Stornetta, Stuart Haber, and David Chaum.


What is NFTs? ︎︎︎The article explains the definition of NFTs. It’s a basic introduction.


These links included some basic information which can help the users to construct the main background about NFTs.


︎︎︎A Brief History Of NFT Art
︎︎︎News of NFT art
︎︎︎Tops NFTs
︎︎︎How to mint NFTs