PROJECT HISTORY

Last Update: Winter 2000/2001

Upcoming: “Rich Media Delivery System” for

the Web, combined with Low Power FM radio for The

Thing BBS, with the goal of creating a hybrid

Website/LPFM radio station for artists, electronic

musicians, and the general public. By combining the

interactivity of the Web with local radio, The Thing

aims to create an innovative synthesis of global and

local media (launch date projected for Summer/Fall 2001; ongoing)

Online art auction to benefit The Thing,

Inc., with works by young and upcoming as well as

established artists offered via The Thing’s in-house

developed online auction software and interface design

(10-day benefit event culminating in a gala reception;

projected for Spring/Summer 2001; thereafter: ongoing).

Editions series, starting with Daniel Pflumm (projected for Spring/Summer 2001; ongoing).

Ongoing: The Thing [reviews], constantly updated art reviews.

The Thing [threads], “thingist,” discussion forum

(mailing list) focusing on art and new media.

February 2001 The Thing [audio], “Live Constructions,” an audio

program curated by Federico Marulanda (with curator's

notes) including:

Orthodoxy by Geoff Dugan

Six Orbits by Michael Schumacher

RadioEdiT by Joshua Fried

radio concrete by ErikM

Improv suite for 4 CDs on Dean Roberts

Records by Achim Wollscheid

January 2001 Wolfgang Staehle, art advisor for PS1-MoMA Online

Projects (with Alanna Heiss, PS1; Glenn Lowry, MoMA;

and artists Paul Johnson, Jordan Crandall, Kristin

Lucas, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Stephen Vitiello,

James Yamada.

December 2000 Reception for “Hikaru” (see below) at The Thing,

December 14, 2000, with projection and live music

performances.

November 2000 “Hikaru,” 3-D animated newscaster avatar produced by

SNN (Syndicated Network News, a partnership between

The Thing and Basicray). Hiraku delivers art news

online The Thing’s website (ongoing project).

September 2000 The Thing [project], “Web Performer 2.0,” by

Ursula Endlicher. Web Performer 2.0 (WP2.0) is a World

Wide Web performance. The performance starts with six

suggested query strings, which represent “characters"

in the play. The user can change the performance at

any time by typing in a new query string into the

input field. The search requests submitted by the user

are forwarded to search engines. The returned search

results are displayed as images in a window assigned

to each character. All characters are defined by their

representation on the World Wide Web. WP2.0 is written

with javascript and css. Web Performer 1.0 has

previously been shown at The Thing/New York at

http://bbs.thing.net and was featured by

WNET/Channel13/New York at

http://www.wnet.org/reelnewyorkweb/index.html

(9/29/00 Reception for Ursula Endlicher at The Thing)

August 2000 The Thing [project], “glasbead.com,” by John Klima.

“glasbead.com” is an interactive, collaborative

musical toy. After downloading the 3-D

software, programmed by the artist, viewers can upload

sound files to shafts within a sphere, then spin and

play the virtual instrument while others who are

connected at that moment do the same. Reception for

the artist at The Thing, 8/15/00.

July 2000 The Thing [project] “Seltsam.com,” by Daniel Pflumm.

The Thing [video], Collider #38 (live talk show),

“VinylVideo”, GH interviews Gebhard Sengmueller/VinylVideo.

The Thing [audio]: “Live Constructions,” by Achim Wollscheid. Improvisational suite for 4 CDs on

Dean Roberts records. More context info at

www.selektion.com

May/June 2000 The Thing [project] “The Assoziations-Blaster,” by

Alvar Freude:

The Assoziations-Blaster is a text-network that

connects texts through automatic non-linear

real-time linking. Anybody can enter new text

via the WWW-interface, the Blast-Engine at once

establishes links to other related entries. With

a growing text database, the Assoziations-

Blaster becomes a tool to reveal how all things

are related.

April 2000 The Thing [video]: Collider #37 (live talk show).

” etoy 2000, “GH interviews etoy agents

Taki and Zai.

The Thing [video]: Collider (“special”)

GH and Douglas Kelly discuss the Armory Fair and

the "Greater New York" Show at PS1 (with videos from

both events).

March 2000 The Thing [audio]: “Liminal,” recorded live at a

broadcast/netcast of “Transfigured Night” on

WKCR, 89.9 FM, NYC, 03/11/2000.

February 2000 “Prototype 1,”by Carsten Nikolai, live webcast by

The Thing of performance from the Guggenheim Museum (archived in The Thing [audio]).

Cocktail reception for etoy (with the etoy.MANAGEMENT

and assorted agents and activists) to celebrate total

TOYWAR victory (at The Thing, 2/27, 6-8pm).

The Thing [projects]: VinylVideo by Gebhard

Sengmueller et al):

This website project presents to you a new and

fascinating product that will revolutionize

your daily TV viewing. With VinylVideo,

you can now transform your old record

player and your TV set into a brand-new

home movie medium - quickly, conveniently, and

without complicated instruction manuals. With

the revolutionary VinylVideo picture discs, for which numerous top-name artists have already produced exclusive works, you can now design your own TV viewing program featuring picture quality that is truly extraordinary.

The Thing [video]: Daniel Pflumm

“Neu,”media goods are turned into media art.

Berlin media man Daniel Pflumm intervenes into

corporate logos and images.

“CNN, Q&A,”by Daniel Pflumm. Calls from

Switzerland, Israel, Germany, Thailand.

The Thing [video]: Collider

“Collider #36,”GH Hovagimyan interviews

Whitney new media curator Christiane Paul.

“Collider Production 2000,”GH visits Paik show

at the Guggenheim. Interview with studio guests: Cesare Pietroiusti and Wolfgang Staehle

The Thing [audio]:

“Prototype 1,” by Carsten Nicolai.

“ELEKTRO,”by Kotai+Mo.

“WMF Party At Good World,” New York City, live webcast 11/11/99, "Children Of Berlin:”

Highfish & Diringer, Manuela Krause, plus DJ

Singe of soundlab.

“The User,”Thomas Mcintosh and Emmanuel Madan.

November 1999

- January 2000 TOYWAR (etoy versus etoys), hosted by thing.net and presented by The Thing [project]:

Starting September 1999, the international

artist group etoy became under heavy attack from

the biggest online toy retailer eToys (market

capitalization many billion dollars). eToys

filed a lawsuit and convinced an American judge

to limit the art services of the toy.CORPORATION

in the US and forbade the usage of the etoy

domain name).Parallel to the legal defense

operations etoy activated an immense network of

partners, journalists and online resistance

activists to fight (legally) for the art brand

etoy. This fight runs under the brand

TOYWAR.com, hosted by thing.net and presented on

The Thing website. TOYWAR.com is the

organization and visualization of this fight.

Due to immense pressure from the press, artists and

net activists around the globe, the TOYWAR was finally

won January 25, 2000 by etoy. Etoy.com is back online!

December 1999 Benefit art auction for The Thing, non-profit

organization. Online auction with art works by

Michel Auder, basicray, Dike Blair, Jordan Crandall,

Devon Dikeou, Christoph Draeger, Laura Emrick, etoy,

Helmut Federle, Peter Fend, Rainer Ganahl, Meghan

Gerety, Susan Goldman, Wayne Gonzales, Ron Gorchov,

Janine Gordon, Peter Halley, James Hyde, Noritoshi

Hirakawa, Danny Hobart, Heidrun Holzfeind, Simone

Huelser, Jacqueline Humphries, James Hyde, Manuel

Ismora (Collection of Jun Ja and Paul Devatour), Craig

Kalpakjian, Rebecca Landmer, Fabian Marcaccio, Miltos

Manetas, Matthew McCaslin, Josephine Meckseper,Paul D. Miller a.k.a. Dj Spooky that subliminal kid, Rudi Molacek, Prema Murthy, Joseph Nechvatal, RothStauffenberg, Thomas Sandbichler, Julia Scher, Max

Schumann, John F. Simon Jr., Kiki Smith, Wolfgang

Staehle, Gabriele Stellbaum, Rudolf Stingel, Beat

Streuli, Momoyo Torimitsu, Anton Vidokle, VinylVideo,

Tom Warren, Lawrence Weiner, David West. From

December 13 to 23, 1999 at (http://auction.thing.net).

The Thing [video]:

“Super Mario Sleeping,” by Miltos Manetas, 1999.

“Caracas Miss Something,”by Roberto Cabot, 1999. From the humbot excursion.

“Digital Jam,”CNNfn broadcast, 1999

Steven Young from CNN interviews Ricardo

Dominguez and Wolfgang Staehle on news breaking story re. etoys versus etoy.

Etoy Press Conference at MoMA. TTNews,

12/20/1999 includes speech by Meszoly,

most of Rushkoff and some other impressions... until the camera battery ran out.

“10 Years After,”Waling Boers and Thomas

Wulffen, 1999. Berlin Culture Clash. A talk

with Mareike Dittmer, Cottbus and Agnes Wegner, Rostock.

November 1999

-ongoing “Member since… ongoing ad campaign since November 1999 (in Artforum, Index Magazine, Zing Magazine, Merge

Magazine) with ads by Christoph Draeger, Vik Muniz,

Rainer Ganahl, Janine Gordon, Dike Blair, Robbin

Murphy, Vladimir Muzhesky, and many more.

November 1999 Reception for slant.org, an online project curated by

Angie Eng, November 7, 1999.

e-Flux and The Thing announce the creation of the

world´s most comprehensive database of art

professionals on-line. Both entities will share

information and services to facilitate a more

direct communication within the international art

community.

The Thing [project] section:

Eugene Thacker, “ftp_formless_anatomy,” ftp_formless_anatomy is a counter-anatomical response to the National Library of Medicine's Visible Human Project, an online archive of cut-up and encoded male and female human body. Using the model of a

Web-database, it utilizes anatomical cross-sections, 3-D modeling, and samples from online surgeries to

construct and re-animate the digital-anatomical body.

The Thing OfficeRadio live webcast (in cooperation with Klubradio, Berlin) of performance by WMF, Berlin, and Soundlab at Good World Bar, New York, November 11, 1999.

The Thing [video]:

Collider #35, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH: GH talks with Mark Napier, the man behind “The Shredder.”

“Times Square,”Crowded Theater, 1999

Is there going to be a Military Takeover of New

York City on New Years Eve 1999?

“TV Party Trailer,”Glenn O´Brien with Debbie

Harry and Chris Stein, 1981. Another gem from

the Videoblitz collection.

October 1999 Presentation of VINYLVIDEO at The Thing. Artist

Gebhard Sengueller has created a technique for storing

and reproducing conventional video signals (moving

image and synchronized sound) onto conventional analog

long-playing vinyl (LP) records. The VinylVideo

picture disk can be played back on a standard

turntable with an ordinary diamond needle and a

conventional black and white television set. As a

hybrid of different technologies, VinylVideo reveals

and connects a variety of media history alignments,

combining art, science and technology. Published

editions include works by: Heimo Zobernig, Vuk

Cosic/Alexei Shulgin, Jodi, et al.

Collider #34, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

GH talks with Rainer Ganahl, who talks in foreign

tongues.

Collider #33, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH: GH talks with James Andrews, Tamas Banovich, Wolfgang

Staehle, Stacy Pershall, and Scott Patterson.

September 1999 Collider #32, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

G.H. with Ricardo Dominquez about Infowar Projections.

Collider #31, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

G.H. talks with Jarryd Lowder (with an intuitive

spinning of audio/video tracks).

Collider #30, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH: G.H. talks with Wolfgang Staehle.

August 1999 Collider #29, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

G.H. talks with Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, the creators

of AIRWORLD, a metaCorp skimming the surface of

Technology in Business.

June 1999 First of a series of curated streaming video group

shows, curated by artist/curator Florian Wuest for The

Thing [video] section. Upcoming video group show will

be curated by artist/curator Johan Grimonprez.

Collider #28, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

This time, James Andrews interviews the moderator GH

Himself. The show´s creator talks about some of his other projects.

Collider #27, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

G.H. chats it up with Marianne Macy, a New York-

based writer and the author of “Working Sex.”

Collider #26, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

G.H. interviews Maciej Wisniewski, author of the

“netomat” meta-browser.

Collider #25, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

G.H. talks with Tim Whidden, founding member of M.T.

Art Associates, producers of non-spectator performance

art.

May 1999 Web casting of “Five29Ninety9,”a one-day art

symposium with 24 lectures, an exhibition, and a

SoundLab performance; at St. Ann’s Church, Brooklyn,

NY, May 29, 1999.

“CyberArt99,” conference organized by Cynthia

Pannucci/ASCI with invited panelists including

Wolfgang Staehle of The Thing (other participants:

see below). At Cooper Union School for Art and

Architecture, New York, May 1999.

Collider #24, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

GH talks with Jeanne van Heeswijk, a Dutch artist, who

explores New York´s artists´ spaces (in collaboration with Martin Lucas.

Collider #23, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

GH Hovagimyan talsk with Jon Ippolito, an artist and the new media curator of the Guggenheim Museum

Collider #22, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

GH Hovagimyan talks with Jenelle Porter, curator at

Artists´ Space. Includes clips of videos from

the current show.

May 1999 *Bindi,* web project by Prema Murthy for The Thing

[project] section. Bindigirl is a character or

Murthy´s avatar. She is a construct of fe/male

desire, created out of what is deemed ´exotic´ and

´erotic´. Murthy takes Bindigirl pictures of herself

and juxtaposes them with ancient Indian texts

excerpted from Hindu Deity mythologies and The Kama

Sutra as translated by Sir Richard F. Burton. Master

Card, Visa, and American Express cards accepted for

merchandise and special live video performances.

Collider #21, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

GH Hovagimyan talks with Jennifer Dalton about her

eBay project at Steffany Martz Gallery.

March 1999 “CyberArt99,” mailing list hosted by and, exclusively, web-archived on The Thing web site. Moderated by Cynthia Pannucci/ASCI with invited

participants, including Max Anderson, Director of the

Whitney Museum; John Ippolito, Guggenheim Museum;

Martha Wilson, Franklin Furnace; Steve Dietz, Dir./New

Media Initiatives, Walker Art Center; Bill Jones,

Editor/Artbyte Magazine; Randall Packer, UC Berkeley;

Robert Atkins, art critic; Kevin Teixeira, Intel

Corp.; Doree Duncan Seligman, BellLabs Comm. Software

Research Dept.; Mark Napier, artist; Wolfgang

Staehle, artist/Dir. of The Thing, and others.

“Thingist,” online forum with a loosely-knit,

rotating group of invited participants who address a

variety of issues, such as collisions between art,

science, and technology; infowar and hacktivism;

biotech and life science; digital web casting and

models of distribution. Moderators: Eugene Thacker,

artist, net culture critic; and Wolfgang Staehle.

Collider #20, live talk show webcast, moderated by GH:

GH talks with digi-artist Joseph Nechvatal.

March 1999 New features in The Thing [video]:

“Collider #19,” live TV webcast show moderated

by GH Hovagimyan: Interview with artist Prema

Murthy, who’s new web project for The Thing site

will be launched in May.

“Hood Ornament,” video by artist Skip Arnold

produced for The Thing.

“Circle’s Short Circuit,” film by artist

Caspar Stracke.

February 1999 The Thing is one of 13 large (web) communities

selected for presentation at ArcoElectronico

(electronic media arts festival in Madrid, Spain,

entitled “the post-media era” at http://aleph-

arts.org/epm/eng): “Hosted by aleph, and organized for ArcoElectronico99, "the post-media era" introduces itself as a system that tries to facilitate a critical approach to the contemporary transformations of the public sphere—those induced by the emergence of new media, especially the internet--focussing the analysis on the role that concerns all cultural and artistic practices in that context.”

[The post-media era]--A constellation of (web) communities of media producers:

The constellation of selected webs are:

[ alt-X ], [ betacast ], [ blast ],

[ convex tv ],::eco::,[ gallery 9 / Walker Art

Center ], [ nettime ],[ nirvanet ],[ P.A.R.K.

4DTV ],[ raveface radio ], [ rhizome ],[ The

Thing ],[ Xchange ]

Musee d’Art Contemporain, “Musique en Scene,”

exhibition participation of The Thing (represented by

Wolfgang Staehle), with a presentation of “office

radio” (see below). The show is focussed on

electronic sound projects by selected internationally

known artists and arts organizations prominent for

their work in this field.

In [audio]: officeradio [the mix]. The story of the cut T1-line. An audio collage by The Thing crew produced for “Musique en Scene.”

GraphicJam, a web artwork by digital artists Andy Deck

and Mark Napier, connects visitors into a live, online

collaborative drawing. A collage of creative

impulses, GraphicJam is a live mix of doodles,

drawings and color created entirely by those who

visit the web site.(http://bbs.thing.net [projects])

January 1999 In [video]: Momoyo Torimitsu’s ”Miyata Jiro”

Three videos, taking the format of "commercials," featuring her Japanese businessman robot Miyata Jiro.

“Web Performer,” by Ursula Endlicher, produced for

and published by The Thing (in “projects”). "Web

Performer" is a web project that introduces six

different characters. The characters are based on

some of her video/live performances. As the piece

develops new images are downloaded directly from the

web based on a search-engine result for each

character.

Opening reception (January 22) for artist Ursula Endlicher on the occasion of the inauguration of “Web Performer” online The Thing (see above).

In [audio]: The Electronic Disturbance Theater interviews Manuel De Landa. This section opens with his view of strategies vs. tactics

under the flows of neo-materialism and the Left.

“Collider,” a weekly live web broadcast. online The Thing. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan (GH):

In Collider #14 GH features an interview with Rainer Ganahl, conceptual artist and photographer of academic

superstars.

In Collider #13 GH and writer/media theorist Peter “Blackhawk” von Brandenburg discuss socio-culture and media theory.

December 1998 Publication of web project “The History of Moving Images,” by Vuk Cosic. From the Official History of Net.art, volume III: Watch films. Star Trek, Blow Up, Deep Throat...

In Collider #12, GH talks with Ricardo Dominguez from

The Electronic Disturbance Theater about recent FloodNet actions.

In Collider #11, GH talks with Peter Fend, the internationally renowned eco-artist

November 1998 “Collider,” a weekly live web broadcast. online The Thing. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan: Interview with Marisa Bowe, editor-in-chief of the online magazine “Word.”

In [audio]: Bob Dodds “Bob's Media Ecology.”

October 1998 “New Media Art: The Artists, The Market, The Politics,” seminar organized by United Digital Artists (UDA) and Rhizome at UDA, New York; Oct. 22, 1998. Panel participation by Wolfgang Staehle/The Thing; other participants include Maciej Wisniewski, Natalie Jeremijenko, Beth Stryker, Vivien Selbo, Tamas Banovitch, John Ippolito, Barbara London, Rachel Greene.

“local.language” by Rainer Ganahl; publication of

online web project with discussion board in connection

with solo exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria.

“Collider,” weekly live web broadcast. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan:

--Live interview with artist Stephan Pascher, moderator of “Almost(A)live From LA” web discussion board published by The Thing.

--Live interview with Paul Garrin, artist and founder of PG Media, Inc.

--Live interview with Miltos Manetas, artist.

September 1998 “The Telegraph Wired 50,” online project by Heath Bunting. Another Heath Bunting accolade. Click on it. Own, be owned or whatever...

“Do You Like Mathematics?” online project by

Nicholas Frespech.

“Collider,” weekly live web broadcast. Live streaming audio/video program moderated by Gerard Hovagimyan: Live interview with artist Wolfgang Staehle.

June 1998 Reception for Sawad Brooks and Yoshi Sodeoka, June 25,

1998.

May 1998 Publication of new online project by Sawad Brooks “

[ sous rature ... ] A Reflection on Digitial Media

(As Drawing)” (The Thing “projects” section).

April 1998 Publication of new online project by Yoshi Sodeoka

“Prototype #22,” 5 products from OPT Technologies,

Inc.(The Thing “projects” section).

Autonomedia and The Thing book launching party for

“Media Archive” by Adilkno (The Foundation for the

Advancement of Illegal Knowledge) published by

Autonomedia, with presentatione by Geert Lovinck

(Adilkno) and introduction by Jim Fleming

(Autonomedia) at The Thing space, May 11, 1998.

March 1998 The “Threads” section of The Thing website is

expanded to include the following discussion and

announcement boards: “Bulletin” for general

announcements, “Thingist” moderated by Arfus

Greenwood and Wolfgang Staehle, “Infowar” moderated

by Rick Dominguez, “Rainer’s Reading Seminar” moderated by Rainer Ganahl, “Almost (A)live from LA” moderated by Stephan Pascher, “Nettime” (see below), and “Guestbook” for comments on the website.

February 1998 The Nettime mailing list, focussing on net theory and

criticism and moderated by Geert Lovinck, Diana

McCarthy, and Pit Schultz, is archived on the web

exclusively by The Thing (“Threads” section).

Inaugural launch party on February 22, 1998 (with

presentation by nettimers Pit Schultz and Diana

McCarthy).

Launch of The Thing’s new interface and of in-house developed “community server/messaging” software (code by Max Kossatz) providing features like paging, user profiles, threaded messaging, and much more. It is based on an SQL database.

Opening reception for Vanessa Beecroft.

January 1998 Publication of new web project by Vanessa Beecroft,

co-produced by The Thing (ad announcement in Index

Magazine).

Fall 1997 Publication of new web projects by Bullseye Art, Franz Stauffenberg (second version/“Happier Days”/co-produced by The Thing), Rainer Ganahl (“Basic Korean,” co-produced by The Thing and also presented at the Kanju Biennale of Art, Kanju, Korea), Susan Goldman (“second version/”uniCity”), Max Kossatz/Holger Friese (“antworten.de”), and Paul Devautour (“”Sowana”).

June 1997 Launch party on June 21 with performance of the band

“Blood Necklace” to celebrate The Thing’s

participation at the “documenta X” website

showcasing the “new” Thing site, a new series of art

projects and programs, such as WTTR (The Thing Radio).

“Blood Necklace” is a New York City TechNoCore band

with Steven Parrino, Trudie Reiss, and Jennifer Syrie.

Summer 1997 The Thing website is selected by the curatorial

committee of the quintannual international

“documenta”exhibition, Kassel, Germany, to be

presented via their official website

(www.documenta.de), Documenta X, June-August 1997.

Spring 1997 Complete redesign of The Thing website interface

(www.thing.net) and publication of new online

projects, including new features such as “TT TV”

(Real Audio/Video) and “WTTR” (The Thing Radio) and

custom-designed messaging and live chat applics, as

well as the launch of a new “Spotlights” series of

individual art projects, and new publications of Thing

Editions, etc.

May 1997 Panel participation at “Transmedia” cycle of

conferences, organized by Internationale Stadt, Berlin

(May 26 to June1).

The Thing is featured in “evelmachines,” a

multimedia kiosk that is an “ambient interactive

commingling” between Zing Magazine (published

by Devon Dikeou) and cyberNY (produced by Mike Brown)

with its premiere version launched with a party at

Club Void, May 22.

April 1997 “Maintenance/Web,” (the uglier side of technology)

by Kevin and Jennifern McCoy, and Torsten Zenus Burns

(organized by Ricardo Dominguez).

March 1997 “Floating Thing,” two evenings of CuSeeMe projects

via The Thing web site based on live performance by

Floating Point Unit at The Thing office (organized by

Ricardo Dominguez).

“Future’s Memory,” a digital soap opera in 13

scenes. Screenplay by Ricardo Dominguez and Diane

Ludin; CuSeeMe project by Floating Point Unit

(www.thing.net/~floating); produced at The Thing and

broadcast as a weekly cross-media internet/cable TV

show on Channel 16 (public access) starting March 30,

11:30pm on Channel 16.

January 1997 “Digital Eros,”organized by Ricardo Dominguez at The

Thing , with readings by Doll Yoko/Gashgirl of VNS

Matrix, Petrol Head, Shelly Marlow, and Robert Kylee;

a new web project by Zhang Gu; and online videos by

Prema Murty and Wolfgang Staehle.

December 1996 "Thing World," a project by Wolfgang Staehle for the

back cover of Lusitania, a bi-lingual art magazine

published by Martim Avillez (Vol. #8 “Being On-Line—

Net Subjectivity,” guest editor: Alan Sondheim), New

York City.

November 1996 Party at The Thing to celebrate the “In the Flow...”

web project series.

October 1996 "In the Flow: Alternate Authoring Strategies,"

exhibition curated by Daniel Georges at Franklin

Furnace, New York City, October 1996(the exhibition is

accompanied by the website http://www.franklinfurnace.org/flow).

Other participants include titok (Robin Silverberg and

Secret Providers), Planet and Eies Texts (Frank

Gillette with Teleconferees), Phantasmagorium/Blast 5 (X-Art Foundations and

participants), Posters (Group Material), Mail Art

(Beattie and Davidson), Photographs (Louise

Lawler), Bus Poster (Group Material), GoGo Drawings

and Ink Blots (Laura Parnas and GoGo Customers and

Dancers), Mail Art (from 1984 FF exhibition),

Especially for You (Gabriel Martinez and Interactors),

we both belong (Ben Kinmont and participants), PS 217

Sites Mural (Sylvia Benitez and Students of PS 217),

Wall Drawing (Sol Lewitt and Drafters).

“In the Flow,” new project series in the ArtStuff

section of THE THING including projects by Susan

Goldman “uniCity,” Franz Stauffenberg “Happier

Days,” Zhang Gu “Untitled,” Eva Grubinger

“Bikini Project,” Christine Meierhofer “Order a

Theft,” and Ursula Endlicher “Live Performance.”

June/July 1996 "Super" is a fictive "faux Hollywood-style" movie by

artist Danny Hobart produced for THE THING's website

(http://www.thing.net/thingnyc). The movie trailer is

"generated" by way of a series of original video

clips, soundtracks, scripts and still images

periodically updated and "promoted" by collectibles such as posters (screen savers) and

trading cards (online editions).

May 1996 Participation at "Version 2.2," a cycle of conferences

("Communication Internet") at the Museum of

Contemporary Art, Saint-Gervais Geneve, Geneva,

organized by artist Barbara Strebel and Andre Iten,

Art and Electronic Media Director, Saint-Gervais

Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland. Other participants

include Max Kossatz, Felix Stefan Huber/Philip Pocock,

Joachim Blank, Walter van der Cruissen, Herve

Graumann et al.

“Version Box,” 22 editions by 25 artists (including

Wolfgang Staehle/Ricardo Dominguez/The Thing New York)

coordinated by Simon Lamuniere, published by Saint-

Gervias, Geneve, Switzerland in the context of the

“Version 2.2” conference.

Exhibition participation in "Departure Lounge," a

group exhibition at Clocktower Gallery/The Institute

of Contemporay Art (PS1), organized by Arfus Greenwood

(PS1), artist Franz Stauffenberg, and writer Deborah Drier. "Departure Lounge" is conceived as a

gathering space where visitors may move through a

network of projects, objects, sound, moving and still

images, performances, and cocktail parties. This

network was developed by encouraging artists to

introduce other artists to the project, create "links"

between their work, or combine the works of other

artists with their own.

"Quick Times," a group show in the Artstuff section of

THE THING's website (http://thing.net/thingnyc).

Curated by Wolfgang Staehle, the show includes videos

by John Baldessari, Klaus vom Bruch, Cheryl

Donegan, Rainer Ganahl, Herve Graumann, Felix Huber &

Phillip Pocock, Rudi Molacek, Daniel Pflumm, Steven

Pollack & Renate Sturmer, Christopher Roth & Franz

Stauffenberg, Wolfgang Staehle, and Michael Smith.

The presentation marks our increased commitment to

present original multimedia arts content on THE

THING's website. The clips range in style from the

'cool' Techno loops of Daniel Pflumm to the

ideosyncratic animation of Rudi Molacek. Quick Times

focuses on artists who not only produce outstanding

video works, but also fully understand the concept and

master the requirements of networked computing.

THE THING workshop at "The Space of Information at the

Rotunda," a program of informational workshops, talks

and an installation on the intersection of art with

electronic environments, curated by Laura Trippi, May

4 - 30. Other participants include Echo, Word,

artnetweb, adaweb, New York Online, et al.

Party to celebrate the "OutASite" project on THE THING

website (see below), May 1, 1996.

April 1996 "Reading Seminar: Deleuze," is a public discussion

forum moderated by artist Rainer Ganahl on THE THINGS

WWW Discussion Board (with invited participants).

March 1996 THE THING introduces its "WWW Discussion Board" open

to the public.

THE THING Amsterdam node (mirror site of THE THING NYC

WWW site with telnet function into THE THING BBS).

"Cyber Stars" Award for THE THING NYC by Virtual

City's First Annual Awards (sponsored by IBM)

featuring a link to THE THING website (Virtual City,

NYC, @ http://www.virtcitnow.com).

"ThingReviews" Party organized by Thing editors, Susan

Goldman and Craig Kalpakjian, at THE THING NYC

headquarters (4/9/96).

February 1996 "...follow, follow the yellow brick road..."

exhibition at the New York Kunsthalle with

presentation of THINGWorld, the multimedia live chat

rooms on THE THING's website. Other participants

include Felix S. Huber/Philip Pocock's "From the Artic

Circle to the Tropic of Cancer," a web project also

residing on THE THING's website, and works by

Warren Neidich (opening February 23, 1996)

THINGReviews is reviewed by The McKinley Group's

Professional editorial team of international

publishers, technologists and information

specialists, and rated a "4-Star" site, the highest

rating an internet site can achieve in Magellan,

McKinley's acknowledged internet navigational and

informational directory

FAT Magazine, a New York bi-annual print publication,

which mixes fiction, commentary and art in an

enigmatic tabloid format, with each issue loosely

organized around a theme, such as "Good and Evil"

(Issue #1) and "Surrender" (Issue #2). FAT Magazine's

website, designed by THE THING/John Rabasa, premieres

this month on THE THING WWW

(http://www.thing.net/fat).

"Schnittstelle Netzhaut," a project by THE swiss THING

as part of the project series "Sprechende Koerper," at

the Skulpturhalle, Basel, Switzerland, Feb. 29, 1996.

January 1996 "Out A Site,"a web project premiering on THE THING NYC

WWW site, produced by artist Steven Pollack with

multimedia projects including a previously unpublished

interview by author Paul Bowles, a previously

unreleased music video of David Byrne, previously

unpublished photographs of Brancusi's studio, and

more.

"From the Arctic-Circle to the Tropic of Cancer," a

continuation of the website road movie by Felix Huber

and Philip Pocock at THE THING WWW site (a auto-visual

diary from trips to the Artic Circle, Summer 1995,

followed by reports from Mexico, January/February

1996).

THE THING introduces THINGWorld, an exciting new

chat application with a specially designed fantasy art

world tour, where visitors can explore, alter and play

in galleries, studios and rooms familiar to many in

the New York art world, talk with friends and

strangers in the back room of an art dealer or just

have unlimited martinis, which are always at hand,

while viewing a gallery show. Almost anything can

happen in THINGWorld. Check it out!

December 1995 "Bulletin Board," exhibition/investigation at Spot 71,

New York City (participants include Mike Ballou and

Four Walls, Devon Dikeou/Zing Magazine, Jackie

McAllister, Printed Matter Bulletin Board, Alexis

Rockman, THE THING International BBS, et al).

"Aliased Father," a web site by artist Stefan Beck,

produced for THE THING NYC WWW's Art Stuff section.

November 1995 "THINGreviews" is an ongoing art review project on THE

THING WWW site, as well as on THE THING BBS. Edited

by artists/writers Susan Goldman and Craig Kalpakjian,

"THINGreviews" publishes on-the-spot reviews by an

international group of contributing art critics

and artists/writers reporting on exhibitions and art

events in the US and abroad. Since it is our

intention to further communication within the art

community on the global level, we will offer

translated versions of reviews--that is English-

language reviews translated into other languages and

vice versa--in the near future.

("THINGreviews," see http://www.thing.net/thingnyc)

"A Garden Project," by artist Alyson Shotz. The

multimedia project is presented in THE THING WWW

"Artstuff" section (http://www.thing.net/thingnyc).

October 1995 "Cyber Soho" Arts Festival, Soho, New York City. 3-day

public presentation of www and CD ROM projects such as

THE THING, Laurie Anderson/Voyager, Whitney Museum,

Dia Center for the Arts, adaweb, Tractor, ArtnetWeb,

et al. With a series of talks moderated by

Janine Cirincione (Microsoft) and Timothy Druckrey

(New York University).

September 1995 Martin Kippenberger, Achim Kubinski "Beuys," audio-

visual piece in THE THING WWW ("Art Stuff").

August 1995 "Arctic Circle," an exhibition on the internet by

Felix Huber and Philip Pocock via THE THING NYC BBS

(artic-circle@thing.nyc.ny.us) and

THE THING Web Site (http://www.thing.net/thingnyc)).

The project is a "double travel," a physical journey

over the Artic Circle to the least populated, last

remote wilderness on earth (Klondike, Yukon, Northwest

Territories, Alaska), and, concurrently, over the

globe-blanketing infobahn. "Arctic Circle" represents

an investigation of contemporary loneliness, in a

natural wilderness and in front of the computer

screen. A series of short performance video and sound

loops will be produced on and above the 66/67th

Parallel, the Artic Circle, as well as additional

text, image, sound and video files relating to the

travel-as-art-as-information. The project will also

be presented at "Photography after Photography –

Defining Photography through Digitality," a travelling

exhibition sponsored by Siemens Cultural Program,

Munich, Germany; and "Telepolis," a Luxembourg Goethe-

Institute Exhibition, Luxembourg, and other locales.

July 1995 THE THING NYC is moving from the basement space in

Tribeca to a loft space on the 16th floor of the

Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea (601 W 26 St, NYC

10001):

A T-1 leased line circuit to provide full internet

connectivity is installed and an SGI Web Server

connected to our LAN. The setup allows to combine the global access, multi-media capabilities of the

WWW with the interactive/discursive qualities of the

message-based information system (THE THING BBS). A

telnet link from THE THING WWW site

(http://www.thing.net/thingnyc) into THE THING

BBS allows for real-time conferencing and

participation in THE THING's local and international

discussion groups.

June 1995 Ars Electronica (June 20-23), Linz, Austria.

Presentation of THE THING, premiering multi-page World

Wide Web sites of THE THING NYC, Vienna, and Basel,

with telnet function into THE THING BBS's

message forums and live conferencing area. The Web

site will function as an ever-changing exhibition and

publishing area. Taking advantage of the HTML

programming language, this will include hypertexts,

still images, video clips, and sound files. The event

includes a symposium with a lecture by Wolfgang

Staehle, THE THING NYC. THE THING

NYC's WWW projects produced for Ars Electronica

include:

Image Files, a interactive stock image bank project by

Wolfgang Staehle and Franz Stauffenberg; Alter Stats,

an interactive visualization of user access of the web

site, by John Simon; “Angel Dust” a sound and image

project by Mariko Mori (with Karaoke

recording at The Thing studio); and projects by Sam

Samore; Noritoshi Hirakawa; Beat Streuli; Felix

Huber; and Christian Marclay; THE THING Archive, a

selection of texts from THE THING NYC BBS (including

Transactivism/online symposium; “Gray Goo

Lounge”/online interview with Dike Blair; “The

Twist”Thread; “Snap to Grid”/online interview with Rainer Ganahl etc.); and telnet function into THE

THING BBS. Catalogue available, including texts on

THE THING by Andreas Kallfelz, Jordan Crandall, and Klaus Ottmann.

"Art and Telecommunication: Universality - Balance/A

Pancultural Project," Civitella d'Agliano, Venice,

Italy. Internet art project with participation of THE

THING (coordinated by THE THING Vienna). Other

participants include Geert Lovink, Digital City,

Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Pit Schultz, Museum for

the Future, Berlin, Germany; Derrick de Kerkove,

McLuhan Institute, University of Toronto, Canada;

et.al.

May 1995 Springer, a new Viennese magazine "focusing on

investigations of the broad terrain of history,

theory, and criticism of the visual arts,

while concurrently inquiring other scholarly fields

such as new media and pop culture, opens online forums

on THE THING BBS (Vienna) with writing access for

their contributing editors based in various

European and American cities and reading access, as

well as a feedback channel, for the public. Springer

Magazine is also a bimonthly print publication.

April 1995 James Nares portfolio of JPEG images, produced by the

artist and THE THING, presented online TTNY BBS.

March 1995 "Quicktime Movies," by John Baldessari, produced for

THE THING, by David Platzker. Concurrently, an

exhibition of Baldessari's "Books and Ephemera," also

curated by David Platzker, takes place at Printed

Matter at Dia Art Foundation, New York, March 9 to

April 28.

February 1995 "Art, Identity and Boundaries: Limits and their

Transgression," a cycle of four conferences organized

by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Ludovici Pratesi at

Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy, February

26 - March 19. Wolfgang Staehle is invited, as artist

and founder of THE THING, to participate on the

February 26 panel "Beyond Physical Boundaries: New

Cybernetic Communications." Other participants

include Antonio Muntadas, artist, USA; Catherine

David, organizer of Documenta X, Germany; Jimmie

Durham, artist, USA; Michelangelo Pistoletto, artist,

Italy; Renee Green, artist; USA; Hermann Nitsch,

artist, Austria; et al.

"Blast 4: Bioinformatica," exhibition at Kunstverein

Cologne, Germany, with participation of THE THING.

February 4 - March 19, 1995.

January 1995 "Dagegen/Dabei - Production and Strategy in Art

Projects Since 1969," a six-part exhibition series at

Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany, curated by Bettina

Sefkow and Ulrich Doerrie. One of the projects

Presented there is THE THING (organized by Michael

Krome, TT Cologne).

Online art project by Chris Kramer (gif files, text

collages).

December 1994 "Informatics: The Electronic Frontier and You,"

seminar by Jordan Crandall and Wolfgang Staehle, THE

THING, at White Columns, NYC, Dec. 12 and 19. The

seminar is part of the seminar series "Theoretical

Studies in Art" at White Columns.

"Freaks Online," online art project by Claire Jervert

(gif files).

November 1994 "Altwien Neuzeit," group exhibition curated by Warren

Niesluchowski, New York, and Hubert Winter, Vienna,

with participation of THE THING.

"The Laws of Humans," online project by Noritoshi

Hirakawa in the <O>n Show project area of THE THING

(avi, gif, and wav files). The project will also be

presented as part of a solo exhibition by the artist

in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February, 1995.

Media Alliance, lectures on "Art-related computer

networks," organized by David Greene, Dir. of the New

York Foundation for the Arts, with participation of

THE THING representative.

Limited electronic art edition (portfolio) by James

Nares, produced and published by the artist and THE

THING New York (available online).

Production of electronic art edition by Peter Schuyff,

produced for THE THING New York (print version will be

available via Pace Gallery/Pace Editions, NYC).

October 1994 "What Is In Your Mind," group exhibition curated by

Frederick Harleman for the National Museum of Science

and Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, with participation

of THE THING (organized by Wolfgang Staehle/THE THING

New York). Other participants include

Bigert & Bergstroem, Klaus vom Bruch, Aris Fioretos,

Rainer Ganahl, Michael Joaquin Grey, Michael Joo,

Laurel Katz, Jon Kessler, Mikael Lindgren, Matthew

McCaslin, Nam June Paik, Jean Tinguely, Teddy the

Artist, Dan Wolgers, Fredrik Wretman/Mats Hjelm. Oct.

21 - Nov. 30, 1994.

"Cybersphere," Symposium at Kulturhuset, Stockholm,

Sweden, Oct. 22,23. Wolfgang Staehle participates as

the founder of THE THING. Other speakers include

Michael Benedikt, Dir. Center for American

Architecture and Design at Univ. of Texas at Austin,

TX; Donna Haraway, History of Consciousness Board at

the Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA; Allucquere R.

Stone, Dir. of ActLab, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX; Rob Tow, Researcher at Interval Research Corp., Palo Alto,

CA; Peter Weibel, Dir. Inst. for New Media at

Frankfurt Art Academy, Frankfurt, Germany; Norbert

Bolz, Prof. Communication Theory at Univ. Essen,

Germany; Amy Bruckman, Researcher at MIT Media Lab,

Cambridge, MA; Brenda Laurel, Researcher at Interval

Research Corp., Palo Alto, CA; Elisabeth List, Assoc.

Prof. Dept. of Philosphy, Univ. Graz, Austria; Marcos

Novak, Dir. Advanced Design Research Program,

School of Architecture, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX;

Jeffrey Shaw, Dir. Inst. for Image Media at ZKM

Karlsruhe, Germany.

THE THING Stockholm node opens.

"Pain," online video show curated by Shauna Sampson

and Steven Overman. Project includes an online

catalog with image and text files. Project produced

and published by the curators, the artists, and THE

THING. Artists include: Laura Parnes, Kelly Parr,

Jason Fox, David Weeks, M.M. Serra, Skip Arnold,

Richard Karnatz, Ricardo DeOliveira, Cheryl Donegan,

Rainer Ganahl, Wayne Gonzales, Mike Wodkowksi,

Janine Gordon, Michael McAuliffe, Andrew Perret,

Joshua Singer, Wolfgang Staehle, John Tremblay, Jane

Duncan, Kenneth Goldsmith, Meghan Gerety, Ken

Goldberg, Bryan Gonzales, J.R.Gross, Charles

Labelle, Peter Lunengeld, Julia Parker, Crystal Reiss,

Trudie Reiss, John Tipton, and others. Opening

reception for “Pain Online/The Thing” at "Here," a

non-profit space in Soho, NY, Oct. 22, 1994.

"jon.tower@thing.nyc.ny.us," an online project by

conceptual artist Jon Tower. The artist opens an

interactive office for consultation. The

project also includes video, sound and text files by

the artist. Opening reception at I.C.Editions, Soho,

NY, Nov. 1994.

May 1994 "Basic English, Basic Japanese," online art project by

conceptual artist Rainer Ganahl. Includes video,

image, sound (interview R.Ganahl/Sagawa) and text

files (online interview W.Staehle/R.Ganahl). This

<O>n Show project deals with the study of

a new language as a non-object-oriented, but

personality and social relationship altering cultural

exchange. In Oct. 1994, the project was republished

by THE THING Vienna (additional online interview

F.Rakuschan/R.Ganahl).

April 1994 "virusheaRtbeAt,"limited electronic art edition by

Joseph Nechvatal, published by the artist and THE

THING (available online).

"No Cover, No Minimum," online interview with artist

Dike Blair in The Thing's <T>alkshow forum.

"Artists in the Information Ghetto - A Way Out,"

workshop introducing artists to computer technologies.

Participants: Wolfgang Staehle, THE THING

("Networking"); Gretchen Bender, artist; Stephania

Serena, Charles Warren, consultants; Rainer Ganahl,

artist; Marshall Blonsky, writer, Prof. of Semiology

at The New School for Social Research, NY, April 30,

1994.

"Mean Things," limited electronic art edition by David

Diao, published and produced by the artist and THE

THING (available online).

March 1994 "Bioinformatics," moderated online forum. Part of a

larger project for the Kunstverein Cologne (see Jan.

1995). The project functions as a map or guide with

which readers can situate themselves as living

biological systems within many informational systems,

to orient themselves as bioinformatic entities.

"Julio," limited electronic art edition by Rudi

Molacek, published by the artist and THE THING

(available online).

"9 Sculptures, New York," online art project by Helene

von Oldenburg with floor maps of nine New York Museums

and a legend indicating dimensions and location of

nine imaginative sculptures in these spaces (catalogue

available).

"nOn Television - THE THING," television documentary

by artist Aki Fujiyoshi, broadcast on public access

Channel 16, New York, March 23, 1994 (videotape

available). Part of a television series on

collaborative art projects in New York.

"Copy," limited electronic art edition by Rainer

Ganahl, produced and published by the artist and THE

THING (available online).

"Snap to Grid," first online interview (Wolfgang Staehle/R.Ganahl) from a series of online interviews in one of the public forums of THE THING. Each

interview will be archived in the File Area for later retrieval.

"Provisional," online art exhibition by Felix

Huber. The interactive artwork is designed by the

artist to bring together your world with that of

homeless people and refugees - right into your living

quarters.

THE THING introduces internet email and newsgroups.

December 1993 "Building Process," online art project by John F.

Simon. The artist creates "Line Drawings" from a

paint program he designed after Paul Klee's concept of

"active lines, passive lines, and mobility agents."

THE THING Frankfurt node opens.

THE THING Vienna node opens.

November 1993 "Transactivism," online symposium organized by Jordan

Crandall and The Thing. The panel discusses the

production and circulation of art and sociality in

transactional space. Invited panelists include

artists, critics, and curators (archived in the File

Area; also available on disk).

September 1993 "Superdream Mutation," unlimited, numbered electronic

art edition by Peter Halley, published by the artist

and THE THING (available online).

July 1993 THE THING Berlin node opens.

"Accrochage," online art exhibition curated by

Wolfgang Staehle.

Craig Kalpakjian, “Line,” 3-D animation (Quicktime

movie)

April 1993 "1916," limited electronic art edition by Olivier

Mosset, produced and published by the artist and THE

THING (available online). First online edition

published by THE THING.

December 1992 Benefit Art Auction for THE THING at Nathalie Karg

Gallery, New York. Public terminal of THE THING to

demonstrate the network in function.

November 1992 THE THING Dusseldorf node opens.

Public terminal of THE THING (New York and Cologne) at

Friesenwall 116a Project Space (home of The Thing

Cologne), Cologne, Germany, for the occasion of

the Cologne “UnFair” event (alternative event to the

official Cologne Art Fair, and coinciding with the

latter).

Public terminal of THE THING at Daniel Buchholz

Gallery booth at Cologne Art Fair (with sale of the

“Yellow Reader” publication as well as a limited

edition of “The Thing BBS” baseball caps, produced

by The Thing New York).

Publication of the “Yellow Reader," print

publication with excerpts from discussions online The

Thing New York and Cologne.

Public terminal of THE THING at "F.A.R. Bazaar,"

Foundation for Art Resources, Los Angeles. Live

demonstration of the network by artist Kelly

Hashimoto.

"Manifesto," art project online THE THING; group show

curated by Benjamin Weil, with digital reproductions

of poster works by artists Henry Bond, Gavin Brown,

Angela Bulloch, Laura Emrick, Sylvie Fleury, Liam

Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Happier Days,

Yasuma Morimura, Marco Mazzuconi, Julia Scher, and

Wolfgang Staehle.

October 1992 "Remaking Civilization: Rethinking Evolution,

Intentionality, Time, and Identity," online discussion

group. The project is a collaboration between The

Thing and Blast (text available in the File Area; also

available on disk as part of the Blast #3 edition

box).

July 1992 "Pressure on the Public," THE THING's online symposium

is part of a project on the art public, organized by

Mitchell Kane, The Hirsch Farm Project, Northbrook, IL

(catalogue).

June 1992 "Wochenschau," THE THING's first online symposium,

organized by THE THING New York and THE THING Cologne,

focuses on new modes of art production and exhibition

(text available).

March 1992 THE THING Cologne node opens.

November 1991 THE THING starts operating out of basement at 44 White

Street (Tribeca), New York City.