April-May 2009
Deconstructing Wikipedia
This article by Mary Louise Schumacher appeared in both the online and print editions of the MJS
“Two artists staged an art intervention within Wikipedia, turning the ‘free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit’ into an art medium.
“By making a sort of readymade art object from a Wikipedia page, Nathaniel Stern, of Milwaukee, and Scott Kildall, of San Francisco, have challenged the conventions of art in a way that doesn’t happen everyday.
“The wikiwar that’s erupted is not unlike the outrage inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s urinal or Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes.
“‘Wikipedia Art’ was, to the artists’ minds, both an artwork and a legitimate Wikipedia page.
…
“The artwork — and yes, it is art — is certainly relevant. Like good art sometimes does, it makes us look at things differently. It critiqued the way human knowledge is organized by one of the most important sources of information on the planet.
…
“Stern and Kildall’s work is of art historical significance, picking up on many threads, such as the Surrealists and their exquisite corpse. It challenges the very definitions of art, media and knowledge, and it taps into a real truth about the distrust many have toward art.”
