the original
„The Original“ focuses on a (especially in the context of netart) seemingly obsolete yet hot discussion about originality and puts the www-user in the position to acquire his/her own and unique piece of art. The work plays with the different concepts of what is considered an original artwork and offers a way of approaching net art: The data any user accesses on any computer on this planet solely exists in this specific space with a unique combination of codes. According to this fact the net exclusively displays originals. By clicking on the according button the visitor of „The Original“ is rewarded with what can be called a legible original, marked by the serial number of the „artwork“ displayed on the screen, and the digital-virtual original not visible to the user’s eye. "The Original" raises thereby questions about the relationship between copy and original in different artistic forms of expression, about the consideration of the internet as a museum where artworks have a specific virtual place where they can be selected, placed, replaced and cloned, actually not asking for the copy since there are ONLY originals that are generated. [text: Sabine Hochrieser]