Rachel Winchester - WordPress as a Paintbrush: Internet Art Then & Now

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION
As we venture into the future, we lean on history. The original Internet Artists, or Net Artists, working in the early 1990s, created artworks using the internet. Before the New York Times got online, artists like Mark Amerika, Olia Lialina, and JODI were using the internet as their artistic medium (demos included). For them, the internet was a new frontier – novel and unexplored. But, this was before WordPress and before most of us were truly aware of the internet and its capabilities. Newer tools like full-site editor provide a true no-code experience to website creators everywhere. Now, more people have the opportunity to create online and actively participate in the internet landscape. Plus, everyone can start an internet company and create internet art.

But what do we actually do once we rediscover the original Internet Artists? We learn from their innovation and fearless approach to new technologies. Artificial Intelligence is a new dilemma for artists of all kinds, especially those already working in tech. These trailblazers offer us invaluable lessons in innovation and a fearless approach to embracing new technologies, in particular, Artificial Intelligence (AI). By examining the pioneering spirits of the original Internet Artists, we uncover a wellspring of creativity, adaptability, and resilience that can empower today's artists to harness the potential of AI.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Rachel Winchester, or Win for short, is an independent product designer at Visual Webmaster L. L. C and the founder of the Focus Assistants. Catch her hosting the Philly WordPress Meetup.

Win began her career by teaching herself digital marketing, participating in WordPress meetups, and creating arts-related websites for fun. She deepened her knowledge by completing a UX Design boot camp while building websites for artists, academics, and entrepreneurs. Recently, she completed a contract with DigitalCube, working on their WordPress hosting products, client websites, and other user initiatives. Drawing on her art history and interpretation theory studies from Swarthmore College, Win is always looking to collaborate with other technologists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in innovative ways.

ATTENDING THE MEETUP
This event will be ONLINE ONLY. The Zoom link will be revealed and sent after you RSVP for the meetup.

It will be broadcast at 6:00 pm EDT on Thursday, October 19 as a live Zoom online meeting.

Participants are asked to mute their audio when the presentation begins. Please hold all questions until the end. After the presentation concludes, the presenter, organizers, and members of the meetup will discuss the presentation, answer questions, and socialize in video conference mode.

This presentation will be recorded! We will post it to our YouTube channel but without the interactive Q&A at the end.

Please subscribe now at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqesdRkxvQAolWo9v8dE11A to receive a notification of when this and future video-based meetup recordings are posted.

Please also RSVP so that we'll be able to get a headcount for tracking our attendance. If you cannot attend, please cancel your RSVP for an accurate headcount.