Networks collapse space by transmitting data in (nearly) real time — from telegraphs and telephones to multimedia Internet chats — and networked art has taken advantage of these transmission capabilities for over a century. Equally important, networks collapse time by storing data — from voicemail and e-mail to cloud computing and social networks. The sender and recipient need not be simultaneously connected to the network in order to communicate.
This chapter explores these complementary network functions and their role in networked art — collapsing space or collapsing time; transmitting data or storing data, facilitating real-time or non-real-time communication; creating environments for collaborative performance or for collaborative creation; and serving as mediums for teleprescence or for shared memory.
Through a comparative analysis of related works that differentially emphasize these functions, the chapter reveals how the focus of networked art works relative to these dichotomies is affected by technical network infrastructures, and how it affects the nature of collaborative creativity and the relationship of process to product.
Examples considered in the chapter include compositions by networked music bands; multi-location multimedia performance works; web-based collaborative composition and collaborative drawing systems; participatory radio works; and location-based works.