[...] J8~g#|\;Net. Art{-^s1 [...]

After a few months Cosic sent the mysterious message to Igor Markovic, the publisher of a Zagreb-based journal, Arkzin, who was eventually able to decrypt it. It was a manifesto that heaped all kinds of reproaches on traditional art institutions and in contrast claimed that artists on the Internet had independence and freedom. The correctly converted excerpt, from which the 'net.art' fragment originated, is: "All this will become possible with the arrival of the Net. Art as a concept will become superfluous...", etc. Unfortunately, according to Shulgin, this manifesto no longer exists, because it was lost, together with other valuable data, in the summer of 1996 after Igor's hard drive crashed. A crazy story, one after Alexei Shulgin's own heart: "I like this strange story, because it perfectly illustrates the fact that the world in which we live is much more complex than all of the ideas that we have of it". The birth of net.art stems from an accident. So much for the myth.

The Birth of net.art Stems from an Accident

PS: According to Alessandro Ludovico, "few days ago, Cosic in Venice publicly stated that this story was completely invented."

So much for the myth...