The narrative of the birth of internet culture often focuses on the achievements of American entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, but there is an alternative history of internet pioneers in Europe who developed their own model of network culture in the early 1990s. Drawing from their experiences in the leftist and anarchist movements of the ’80s, they built DIY networks that give us a glimpse into what internet culture could have been if it were in the hands of squatters, hackers, punks, artists, and activists. In the Dutch scene, the early internet was intimately tied to the aesthetics and politics of squatting. Untethered from profit motives, these artists and activists aimed to create a decentralized tool that would democratize culture and promote open and free exchange of information.
Author(s): Amanda Wasielewski
Series: Cities and Cultures
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 255
City: Amsterdam
Cover
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Cracking the City
Provocation
Homo Ludens
Homo Bellicus
2. Cracking Painting
Art School as Laboratory
Dancing on the Volcano
Image Flow
Land of Milk and Subsidies
3. Cracking the Ether
Pop Art Pirates
Pirate Media, Pirate Politics
4. Passageways
The Underpass
Artists Talking Back to the Media
Back to the Future
Networked Events
Conclusion: The Digital City
Primary and Archival Sources
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
Figure 1: Robert Jasper Grootveld and Bart Huges, Gnot-Appeltje drawing in Open het graf publication, 1962, pen drawing, 57.4cm × 40,3 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Figure 2: Constant, New Babylon – Holland, 1963, ink on street map, 59 × 59.9 cm. Kunstmuseum, The Hague.
Figure 3: 30 april aktiedag!, 1980, poster, 61.5 × 43 cm. Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG), Amsterdam.
Figure 4: Tram on fire at the intersection of Van Baerlestraat / Willemsparkweg in Amsterdam following riots at the Lucky Luijk. Photo ANP, Amsterdam.
Figure 5: SKG graffiti, 1980. Photo by José Melo. Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG)/Staatsarchief, Amsterdam.
Figure 6: Peter Klashorst, poster for De Koer, 1980. Photo by Eddy de Clerq.
Figure 7: Details, Sandra Derks and Rob Scholte, Rom 87, 1981–82, acrylic on paper, 44 sq. m. Rob Scholte Museum.
Figure 8: Maarten Ploeg and collaborators as living paintings in the Stedelijk Museum, 1982. Photo by Martin Grootenboer.
Figure 9: Jan Marinus Verburg, poster for Beeldstroom exhibition at Aorta, July-August 1982, 62 × 44.5 cm. Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG)/Staatsarchief, Amsterdam.
Figure 10: Installation view of Beeldstroom exhibition at Aorta, Amsterdam, Summer 1982. Photo by Fred Schoonberg.
Figure 11: Stills from PKP-TV, September 9, 1981 broadcast. Courtesy of Rogier van der Ploeg.
Figure 12: Stills from Lokale Omroep Bijlmermeer (LOB) broadcast, late 1971. Stadsarchief, Amsterdam.
Figure 13: Mike von Bibikov behind Liesbeth den Uyl at a PvDA meeting over the Lucky Luijk, October 19, 1982. Photo by Rob C. Croes. National Archive of the Netherlands.
Figure 14: Stem niet, kies zelf, 1981, poster, 32 × 43 cm. Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG), Amsterdam.
Figure 15: De Digitale Stad [The Digital City] interface, 1994. De Waag Society.
