The DreamBook

The Dreambook is an ongoing cyber experiment dedicated to exploring the aesthetic potential of the internet. It is obvious that the internet has revolutionized the identity and distribution of knowledge. The power of the world wide web to convey information is in fact, so critical to contemporary society that its hypothesized failure is referred to in terms of apocalypse.

The internet, however, was not only designed to withstand nuclear war, according to academic Bruce Sterling, it was created specifically for it. In his Short History of the Internet, Sterling quotes the 1964 RAND Proposal to the United States Government for an information network that would "have no central authority" and "be designed to operate while in tatters". Ideas and programs for this decentralized intelligence network developed quietly for decades until exploding in the 1990's when Tim Berners-Lee and CERN Switzerland introduced HTML and HTTP as universal programming languages. It was only moments after the first web pages appeared that everyone began participating in the new technology. At the dawn of 2006, the internet has proven itself as the most powerful communicator of our age. All aspects of American life from business to romance have become dependant upon the web's anarchist nature.

Now that our navigational abilities have been finely tuned, and acquiring information from the internet is easier (and more interesting) than using a dictionary, many individuals are learning to publish on the web. It is exciting to see artists, musicians, writers, scientists, children use the egalitarian nature of the internet to promote personal endeavors. Free from censorship, expensive PR, and editorial review, Americans are ecstatically celebrating true freedom of expression.

The density of brainpower relating and acquiring information through the world wide web at any one moment is unimaginable. The internet has proven its functionality beyond the wildest hopes of its developers. It is an astonishing tool that is still in its early stages. So far the design-side of internet development far exceeds aesthetic exploration. Bands, Artists, and corporations spend millions creating the most cutting edge promotional sites. There are a handful of exceptional addresses that are not commercially motivated and a crucial need for more. Thus far the medium of web.art has not made near the impact one might expect within this age of cyber-revolution. The Dreambook might be seen as an encouragement for artists to investigate the medium of internet for its particular aesthetic potential.

Besides intellectual content, web sites covey cultural, generational, and personal codes. The human-computer-human interaction represents a new encounter for our species that has not yet been thoroughly explored. Personal interests, situations, and habits are generating a completely unique experience with the hyper-world. Instead of manipulating the web to carry specific information, the Dreambook is a work in progress which explores the hidden, anti- and non-functions of the internet.