What poses a threat to the avant-gardism of American Internet is the online culture itself. With such a fast and wide distribution for Net art and net innovations, art has a tendency to become outdated and overused at a much greater rate than it did only a century ago. Nowadays, art that was considered new and avant-garde only a few years ago has now been exhausted of all possible appeal to a modern audience. Attention span grows shorter with art, as innovations become clichés within a fortnight. Since there is no one specific type of art online, such as expressionism or formalism, it is not style but technical tendencies that should define online art movements. Therefore, the direction of Net art depends on the technical capabilities of the Internet, such as its worldwide spread that Salvaggio so powerfully captures in his work.

In the meantime, American Internet is not yet outdated as Net art. While this is partially due to the lack of an alternate direction for Net art discussed above, it is the contemporary relevance of the work that gives it its most powerful effect during our present problem of war. Although Salvaggio believes the work goes beyond the political issues of our times, it is difficult to leave such strong political criticism unnoticed: “This isn’t internationalism so much as globalization – we’re asking cultures to adapt to us.”*

Can this piece, however, have longevity, as its message to society and its style become a thing of the past? According to Salvaggio, he believes the piece can stand through time by changing its meaning in accordance to world issues. What seems more probable in this case, nonetheless, considering the pattern of past artistic movements, is that American Internet runs the danger of being appropriated into history as a representative of a specific stage in Net art. Being reflective of a certain minimalist use of the Internet and of American globalization, the artwork stands for not only a specific period in American history but for a specific point in Internet history. Still, the nostalgic quality of the work and the pure form of Net art may allow the work to live on in a different sense, as Salvaggio proposes.

We have used American Internet as a representative of both the greatness and the faults of Net art. While it is superior in distribution to all previous forms of art, its rapid distribution aspect is not only its highlight, but also its downfall. Net art demands more constant updating and reinterpretation of the medium. While Salvaggio successfully attains High Art status for his work, it is doubtful whether he will remain on top for long, not due to any flaw in his work, but more so due to the flaw of the medium itself. It seems possible that for the Internet to gain any kind of longevity and security for its works it must pursue a course which many online artists like Salvaggio have now undertaken – the sale of printed versions of Net art pieces in order to ensure their permanence.

“I can see it reflecting the idea of empire in its early stages, I can see it reflecting the idea of the American Arrogance that led to its decline, I can see it as just looking at Coca Cola cans.”*

Footnotes:
* Exerts from interview with Eryk Salvaggio, March 2003.

Written by: Jenny Gofman