Some of My Favourite Web Sites Are Art
http://www.alberta.com/unfamiliarart/

Project #11:

NETZBIKINI
Eva Grubinger
http://www.thing.at/netzbikini/

The bikini can be a garment inflected with a certain amount of feminist
concern: who is wearing it? is it part of a dubious fashion layout in a
women's magazine? does the wearer look good? Sometimes looking at a
woman's body becomes a tiring hyper-politicized activity.

Not so at Netzbikini. There, looking at women (and men) in bikinis is
fun. Although I don't usually pay attention to web graphics until they
are completely downloaded, the actual process of downloading is an
interesting part of Netzbikini. The loading images are impressionistic
at first. Then the playful photographs come into regular focus.

Netzbikini's interactivity is limited. The user can select either a
small, medium or large bikini. The treatment of these consumer choices
protects the user from having to choose from too many patterns. And,
indeed, aren't the choices of small, medium, and large, enough? Some
people spend hours or days of their lives in deep thought about the size
of their clothing. Netzbikini might not be the most "creative" project,
in terms of user interaction, but it does have a good imbalance between
production and consumption. That is, one can produce a whole range of
commodities, but doesn't have to buy them–one can produce and
download bikinis forever, or at least until free space or memory become
limited. Netzbikini offers a communion of the bikini, both international
and gender indeterminate.

Netzbikini offers an alternate type of online community, different from
those that consist of graphical representations (avatars), silly screen
names (chat rooms) or email addresses (mailing lists). Here people are
literally laid bare, united by an art project based on a sunny woman's
garment.