In the offline art world, the main validation system that has built up around art is the art gallery. It is a relatively new phenomenon, but despite is youth, holds great sway in the art establishment. Although many active in net art claim it is free of such systems, its default validation system is the text.

In his recent book Internet Art: The Online Clash of Culture and Commerce, Julian Stallabrass describes the 'conversational' aspect of the medium of net art. The origin he and many others find for the initial increase in discussion, aside from the Internet providing so many tools for self publication and information distribution, is the way artists work with computer based tools, in a very open way: there is open source for starters, but there is also the open discussion or critique, just like the art school 'crit', and artists very often work as though they have neighbouring studios.

Where the online art world often balks at gallery systems, it boasts of its text networks, and its text networks, in turn, boast about net art.

Many systems employed in net art are very reflective of those offline. It is in this reflection however that refraction occurs. The systems look similar, but they take quite different trajectories. The list-serve for example might appear at times to be both a Left Bank coffee house, and an international arts symposium, but it has its own unique form, style, conventions (or netiquette), and capabilities. It offers an environment in which anyone can speak, without academic credentials, there is fast-paced debate, multi-authorship and an archive which is both steadfast and ephemeral.

On the other hand, lists have their own set of limits, which more than just reference the offline world. It is a deeply controlled space. List-owners and moderators can remove unwanted posters or alter an argument trajectory. Global time zones still exist and an argument can suffer its own form of jetlag when subjected to long delays. There are also still language barriers, phrases from one country can confuse and cause consternation in another whilst lists in general are limited to the predominant language of the list-owner or subscribers, not to mention lilting to the language of the most prolific posters.

Although artists do discuss ideas visually, until this very new method is itself allowed the space to grow, most return to text based discussion (on lists or private emails) to expand their ideas and the text itself can feel quite limited when it is unable to adopt some of the technology already formally exploited by net art to let its discussions more readily reflect the art to which it pertains. However this puts the language of net art in a unique position. Its new and unformed state, but close proximity to technological innovation, net art critique provides the ability for writers and artists to begin to form a language of net art very consciously, and to allow new media art and new media text to develop concurrently, and close the linguistic gap that has defined disciplines for so long.

Its time to Further txt!

If text is the prevalent validation system for net art, then furthering the relationship with text and net art will provide infinite ways of interacting with net art, and as these methods are reflected offline, with art as a whole. Furthertxt aims to become an integral facilitator and hyperlink in this chain of change.

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