Intentions of mur.at

The net art platform mur.at, established in 1998, is a strategic alliance of art initiatives and artists of Graz and dedicated to creating an electronic network. mur.at allows networking between different initiatives in the field of art and culture in a [common] virtual space. In analogy to interuniversity networks allowing cooperation in the field of science, mur.at is creating an infrastructure for the arts sector.

• is a virtual net sculpture distributed over currently 14 physical network nodes and more than 150 members.
• The members of mur.at are operating internet servers themselves, thus developing a far-reaching network.
• The application of new media and technologies is promoted in a special Net Art Competence Center.
• As a space for art in Graz, mur.at not only offers an opportunity for new net art projects but also creates a community of artists and recipients.

• Expanding the network through admission of new network nodes
• Promoting art in electronic networks
• Documenting and archiving art in electronic networks
• Building a community in the sector of network art
• Developing new technologies for application in the arts sector
• Implementing the Austrian Cultural Backbone, i.e. country-wide networking
• Public access - interfacing with the public

mur.at used the development of the internet as a model for its own structure and organization. Like the internet, mur.at is a loose assembly of local computer networks. Each member of mur.at is responsible for its own network node as well as for the further development of the network. The mur.at network also resembles the internet in that it has been purposefully designed in the form of a decentralized structure, taking into account that independently acting units are the best way to stimulate communication on new technologies. Additionally, the existing and envisaged network nodes of mur.at are located in the context of initiatives in the field of art and culture that already exist as places and/or institutions, each implementing its own specific art projects and attracting its own set of artists. Thus the members of mur.at also represent the interfaces between the internet and the interested public.

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