WE BEGIN WITH THIS ASSUMPTION:

The exchange between artist to audience is as valid as that which is
more tangible: The transfer of a product or a service.

An artisan creating any such product must adapt to the market of the
economy for that good or service; therefore, the artisan should not be
expected to survive by simply giving away his product or skill.

We may now ask the question: Why is net.art free, when its creators are
not without needs for food, clothing, shelter, medicine, warmth, or
comfort?

The reality is this: the internet grows more and more commercial every
day, and with it comes the necessity for commercial wealth: isps cost
money, domain registration costs money. Servers cost money, cable modems
cost money, scanners cost money. Increased traffic brings about
increased fees. All of this is set aside by the artist for the simple
goal of creating an environment for this audience to experience _free
and accessible_ artwork at no cost to the viewer. Internet Art is merely
an extremely expensive gift.

The reward for this is of course equal to that which is demanded.
Nothing.

I have spent five years as an original member of a community and as a
founding artist of the form now known as internet art. [Yes, its true:
one38.org was founded in 1997; I have projects which date to 1996.]

In that period, artists have questioned how to survive through the work,
to make a meager set of earnings so that we may continue to do the work.
I have often criticized these attempts because they paid too much heed
to institutions which existed. The discussion was not, "How do we
survive?" but "How do we as artists get credibility, academic interest,
museum attention?"

That has come: Now, a handful of founding artists are getting paid. They
are, unfortunately, not getting paid for their work, but rather, paid
for the presentation of their work, and even this is a meager
compensation for the amount of people who see the work on a daily basis.

NOW, WE MUST FACE THE LOGICAL PROGRESSION:

We have created a situation where the collective work is valued at zero.
There is an abundance of material on the web simply because it cannot
exist without the web. Its creation already implies its distribution.

This network has created a new set of institutions which thrive on the
work that we are creating for free or at cost: The Whitney Biennial,
Rhizome, Doors Of Perception, Nettime, to name a few. The Webbies, The
Walker, SFMOMA.

What are these institutions created on? The answer is startling: The
mud-solid backs of the artists who support them as "resources."

CIRCUMVENT THE LOGICAL OUTCOMES:

One38.org is now no longer public. While certain links are maintained,
these will be slowly removed over the course of the month until the
server is completely empty on New Years Day, 2001.

From that point on, certain work which has already been donated to
rhizome.org will exist in its artbase. These are the last donations I
can afford to make.

+ + +

The future is this:

One38.org will produce original works of art exclusively for commission.

The price for all works will be set at $200.00 and consist of what is
sufficiently "a piece" by the artist; usually running from 1 to 5 pages
of html.

One38.org will subtract $50.00 for those who will host the work on a
public server for the duration of at least 1 year without
advertisements. It will subtract an additional $50.00 from those who are
private collectors of the artwork. If a work is purchased by a museum or
art gallery, the above is mandatory for the original price of $200.00.
Fellow internet artists which I determine are of essential caliber who
agree to host the work on their sites are eligible to pay only $75.00.
In all cases, credit must be given to the artist and all work must be
unaltered unless by special, documented proof of consent from the artist.

The work will be sent via cd-rom with signature in a time allotted via
personal dictates between the artist and the consumer.

Breakdown:

$200.00 starting
$150.00 if consumer provides ad-free hosting of work with credit
for minimum of 1 year.
$100.00 if consumer is private collector.
$75.00 if consumer is fellow net.artist with own domain, isp, and work
online for a period of at least 1 year, who agrees to host work on
server for a period of at least 1 year.

Additionally, CD-ROMS of one38.org in its current incarnation will be
made available for a cost of $500.00. Anyone commissioning a new work
will receive this volume complimentary to their original art.

Questions may be addressed to one38@one38.org

+ + +

IN CONCLUSION:

Free Public Art with no compensation to the artist is a form of bondage.
This is not a matter of copyright; nor is it against the free exchange
of ideas. It is a blow against the exploitation of the idea-makers by
the idea users, a strike against the rampant exploitation of creativity.
This is my extended refusal.