post/digital cultures research

recently, i started a new research project, the post/digital cultures research institute. its goal is to foster theory-practical thinkering (a term borrowed from Erkki Huhtamo) into the realms of our present day culture, where real and virtual worlds merge, borders are not clearly distinguishable anymore, the biological and technological merge more and more and in general technology has become an integral part of our daily lives and bodies.

speculative scenarios [Baltan Labs publication]

Annet Dekker invited me to contribute a chapter to her publication "speculative scenarios".
The book investigates into alternative models and concepts of archiving digital art and includes contributions by Annet Dekker, Jussi Parikka, Sarah Cook, Olga Goriunova, Edward A. Shanken, Layna White, Jill Sterrett, Sandra Fauconnier, Richard Rinehart, Christiane Paul, and Christiane Berndes.

Dekker, Annet (Ed.). Speculative Scenarios, or what will happen to digital art in the (near) future. Eindhoven/Rotterdam: Baltan Laboratories/The New Institute, 2013.

An online version of the complete publication can be accessed here: 


issuu.com/baltanlaboratories/docs/speculativescenarios_issuu?e=0/4591682


With the permission of Baltan Labs, the article was re-published in ArtNodes. E-Journal on Art, Science and Technology. No. 13 (2013) University of Catalonia. 120-125. (ISSN 1695-5951)
http://journals.uoc.edu/ojs/index.php/artnodes/article/viewFile/n13-wenhart/n13-wenhart-en  (english)
http://journals.uoc.edu/ojs/index.php/artnodes/article/viewFile/n13-wenhart/n13-wenhart-es (spanish)


I presented this paper at the re:new media art histories festival in Riga, October 2013.
panel chair: Frieder Nake. panelists: Morten Sondergaard, Francesca Franco, Tjarda de Haan and Christina Vatsella.
Archiving, panel A (paper session) http://renew.rixc.lv/days/october10.php

glitch art. on the political dimension of error.

presentation on a topic i am currently working on, involving questions of social materiality and materiality vs physicality.

servus CoreNightHike, december 5th, 2013. organized by Ushi Reiter (servus.at), hosted by devlol hacker space.

http://core.servus.at/content/servus-corenighthike-devlol-glitch-art-und-die-politische-dimension-des-fehlers-der-digitale

PNEK presentation on speculative archiving

http://www.pnek.org/archives/1908

"The term “archive” is used extensively these days as part of the discourse on the visual art/cultural heritage both in Norway and internationally. Which ontologies and methodologies do we use to tell the stories of our time, and how is it done practically? On February 14th, PNEK and The Norwegian Video Art Archive invite to a lunch seminar with the Austrian media art historian Nina Wenhart who prescribes a radical new method to understand and incorporate contemporary cultural trends into current archival practices. Her presentation will expand on her text from last year, Speculative Archiving & Experimental preservation of Media Art, first published in connection with the Transmediale festival in Berlin 2012."

http://www.pnek.org/PNEK_2014_web.pdf

#101112 at spacebar galleries

Img.: Alma Alloro, "Center Finder"

#101112 is the opening show of spacebar, a new/old/imaginative technology & media art gallery with a monthly changing program of exhibitions, lectures, concerts, workshops and screenings.

the title of this first show, #101112, is the date of the opening magically turned into the hex color value (that is also set as the blog’s background)

we’re very proud to present you glitch art && animated gifs of these great artists:

Alma Alloro

Sophia Brueckner

Emilio Gomariz

Jeff Knowlton

m.a.u.s.e.r. (Asli Serbest & Mona Mahall)

Lorna Mills

Jon Satrom

Station Rose

Daniel Temkin

Img.: Jeff Knowlton, "Glitch Images"

The link to #101112's tumblr with more detailed insights into the individual projects: https://spacebargalleries.wordpress.com/

BLOCK

BLOCK is an info game i created in september 2012 for the exhibition "hitlerbauten in linz" at NORDICO museum (Linz).

the floor plan is an exact reproduction of the Harbachsiedlung, a neighbourhood built during the nazi-regime in linz, which represents the typical characteristics of this type of architecture: the rectangular shape of the building complex and the park that is situated in its middle.
for the game, the rectangular arrangement of building is used as the game-board. visitors walk from one field (=house) to the next, following the thematical paths laid out in the books that are related to each field. thereby they collect piece of a puzzle. all pieces put together will result in a QR-code that leads to the game's blog.

link to the blog

i created a predecessor to this game in june 2012, which is more directly inspired by the game monopoly and which can be played in situ at Spallerhof, another neighbourhood of linz.

link to the spallerhof-monopoly

both blogs are in German only, sry.

breaking bad[ly] - glitch art series

breaking bad[ly]- glitch gallery on flickr

&& this is a slowly growing vis/text/ual interpretation of virilio's concept of picnolepsy

{he}artbreaking to the core. zombie data and the arts of re/de/transcoding

link   link   link   link  
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Digital corpses all abound, zombie data that is still there, but cannot be performed anymore. Change is inevitable, if the artwork should survive. Besides the archivists' efforts to revive the work in its original state, artists have developed their own strategies of embracing the errors and glitches of re/de/transcoding processes

Digital corpses all abound, zombie data that is still there, but cannot be performed anymore. Besides archivists' efforts to revive the work in its original state, artists have developed their own strategies of embracing errors and glitches of re/de/transcoding processes and open up a dialogue of sameness and change, obsolescence and progress, memory and forgetting, positioned as an antithesis to constant technological progress and perfection.

panel with Melissa Barron, Daniela Kuka, Rosa Menkman and Nina Wenhart @ ISEA Istanbul, September 16th 2011

presentation @ rewire Liverpool, September 28th 2011

full txt online && slides

Digital corpses all abound, zombie data that is still there, but cannot be performed anymore. Change is inevitable, if the artwork should survive. Besides the archivists' efforts to revive the work in its original state, artists have developed their own strategies of embracing the errors and glitches of re/de/transcoding processes

Digital corpses all abound, zombie data that is still there, but cannot be performed anymore. Change is inevitable, if the artwork should survive. Besides the archivists' efforts to revive the work in its original state, artists have developed their own strategies of embracing the errors and glitches of re/de/transcoding processes

presentation @ STEIM patterns and pleasures conference

"the new past" panel together with with Steina Vasulka (http://vasulka.org), Kristina Anderson (http://tinything.com); panel chairs: Lucas van der Velden & Arie Altena (http://sonicacts.com)
September 26th, 2011.

http://patternsandpleasure.steim.org/2011/08/26/symposium-session-1/ 
http://patternsandpleasure.steim.org/2011/09/26/finished_symposium-1-the-new-past-nina-wenhart/ 

BYOB Linz && grrrilla galleries

BYOB Linz is a screening event taking place on September 1st and 2nd in public spaces around the city of Linz. "Bring Your Own Beamer" is a "frenchise" exhibition format originally conceived of by Rafael Rozendaal. Artists team up with a beamer and project their videos in a gallery setting for an evening. In the case of BYOB Linz, this gallery is called grrrilla galleries. This is a purely time-spaced gallery that operates in a guerilla gardening style, temporarily occupying public spaces.

BYOB Linz I + II will take place on:
Thursday, September 1st, starting at 22:00, @ the underpath next to the ars electronica quarter (photos)
&
Friday, September 2nd, starting around 21:30 (after the prix ars gala), danube park in front of brucknerhaus

more information on grrrilla galleries and BYOB Linz I + II on: grrrillagalleries.blogspot.com
and on the BYOB concept and previous shows on byobworldwide.com
BYOB Linz on BYOB worldwide: http://www.byobworldwide.com/tagged/linz

chicks on SPEED SHOW

September 3rd, 2011
18:30 - 21:30
internet cafe, Graben 17, Linz, .AT
www.chicksonspeedshow.tumblr.com (online from September 5th 2011)

Chicks On Speed Show is the first speed show evva in linz && the first one that only showcases female artists. The line-up includes media artists from the early 90s up to today. Join us for an evening of great women in media art!

with
the wonderful monica panzarino
the amazing mez breeze
the lovely rosa menkman
the unbelievable LIA
the one and only cornelia sollfrank
the great amy alexander
the incredible melissa barron
the overwhelming sara ludy
the adorable jennifer chan
the blazing dain oh
and the unbeatable VNS matrix

curated and organized by nina wenhart

SPEED SHOW is a format for online-exhibitions conceived of by Aram Bartholl. Visit speedshow.net for an overview of all past SPEED SHOWS!

screenshots taken from http://chicksonspeedshow.tumblr.com

writing

for past && current writing projects, please use this link to beam over to p/art//icles, which includes:

▲ repetition is a form of fucking change. the work of art(&facts) in the age of viral remixing. (2011)
▲ speculative archiving && experimental preservation of Media Art. (2011 - )
▲ (he)artbreaking to the core. zombie data and the arts of re/de/transcoding. (2011)
▲ celebrating the 100th International Women's Day. (2011 - )
▲ w0rdm4g1x. or how to put a spell on Media Art archives. (2010, 2011)
▲ ars electronica. re:shaping a city's cultural identity. (2009)

v1ru5

<1ru5 is an exhibition/workshop/adventure/game on [hystorical] artistic computer viruses, their dissemination&& spreading, their various deaths, forms of survival&& states of hibernation. The project researches into virus as artistic practice/expression of appropriating&& breaking the art system as a whole, reflects on hosts&& parasites. virus as a format of tourette is a chinese ghostscript story of self/de/con/struction as playfulness as the ultimate state of f*ck u.

On location, <1ru5 will playfully explore its host bodies, create entropic states, frown and sing its deathly 1<3u lullabies and only follow its own irrational magix.

currently in process (2011). The paper will be presented at FILE Symposium in São Paulo, Brazil, in July 2011.

a small collection of resources can be found here.

collaborators:
Jeff Donaldson (US, http://notendo.com)
Rolf Van Gelder (NL, http://www.cage.nl)
Carmin Karasic (NL, http://www.pixelyze.com/)
Nina Wenhart (AT, http://prehysteries.blogspot.com)

open scorez

open scorez is a multiplayer online game, based on the association one has meandering through the wilderness of the web, the brain, books, emotions etc

it remixes robert rauschenberg's idea of open score, ludwig wittgenstein's language game where we make up the ruley as we go along, and the situationist international's dérive.

started in December 2010, ongoing

url: openscorez.tumblr.com

my contribution: ides&concept, implementation, player

current players:
Nina Wenhart (AT), Sandra Rosas-Ridolfi (MEX), Wiltrud Hackl (AT)

w0rdm4gix

Aaa, sdafsda, sxjhk hfjk asfjkl. What reminds of onomatopoeia or a poem by Ernst Jandl, are actually tags that can be found as descriptive metadata in archives of Media Art. They describe and depict the contents of these archives. I call these words magical because they conjure up works and knowledge from the depths of the archive. Magical also, because who but a magician would know about the “spell” sxjhk hfjk asfjkl? What and if we actually find something in an archive significantly depends on the quality and accessibility of the descriptive metadata assigned to the artworks.

“Word magic” provides insights into hystorical and current attempts to capture ephemeral Media Art via descriptive metadata and thus create a system of order. Methods and contraptions for the linguistic extraction of essential qualities are discussed; and prospective cures and damages of different terminology models examined (the “majikal rites” of experts culture vs the “digital punk approach” of open public tagging). What is lost and what is gained with different documenting strategies is core to this investigation.

In analyzing existing archives and their strategies, I contrast open and closed approaches to documenting Media Art and the effects on knowledge creation. Throughout my research, I identify the closure of archival database systems as a main problem. The question of opening up these processes to or closing them from the public is at core a political issue. It exceeds the limits of Media Art and sheds a light on the value of openness in society at large and on how accessibility of knowledge shaped and shapes specific societies. In addition to a critique of and an alternative to current approaches, I suggest models of openness, such as Wittgenstein's Sprachspiel (language-game) as more functionally fitting the task of describing evolving knowledge and culture.


published in "mind and matter. comparative approaches towards complexity", transcript verlag, 2011

link to the online version

media art ghosts

seminal media art histories texts are databend and sonified.

so far the media art ghosts series includes:

• vannevar bush's "as we may think"
• donna haraway's "a cyborg manifesto"
• william s. burrough and brion gysin's "the third mind"
• michel foucault's "archaeology of knowledge"

media art ghosts by nina wenhart

in my appropriations of these texts, i only use sources found online and in various formats. the remixes are then fed back into the public domain. i thereby want to make a statement about open access to digital cultural heritage and express my approach to archiving as an active process.

this series is inspired by all of the above mentioned texts, especially by the following quote from "the third mind":

Any narrative passage or any passage, say, of poetic images is subject to any number of variations, all of which may be interesting and valid in their own right. A page of Rimbaud cut up and rearranged will give you quite new images. Rimbaud images—real Rimbaud images—but new ones.

the grammar of new media

"The Grammar of New Media - descriptive metadata for database archives of media art" is my master thesis at the Danube University's Media Art Histories program.

"I believe that this study will have both immediate impact in its advocacy for more open, interactive, and semantically rich approaches as well as a lasting value for capturing the state of the field at this particular juncture".
Bruce Jenkins on "The Grammar of New Media"

written in 2009/10

advisors:
Dr. Bruce Jenkins
Ing. Gerfried Stocker

ARS ELECTRONICA - re:shaping a city's cultural identity

30 years ago the first Ars Electronica festival took place in Linz, Austria. Ars has grown to be one of the most influential Media Art festivals and centers worldwide. But while much has been written about it, and still more will be talked about its history when Ars celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2009, there has not yet been a comprehensive study about Ars Electronica's influence on the local community and its impact on the cultural development of Linz. This paper investigates the socio-cultural and artistic traces Ars Electronica has left on the city of Linz. This Media Art historical account also details a very personal history, as the author, being four years old at the time of the first festival and amazed by its fireworks display, remembers the festival's beginnings from her personal experience and – having worked for Ars Electronica's Futurelab for many years - from a professional perspective as well.

The main question of this talk is how the then marginal field of art, science and technology, placed in an even more marginal, working-class and steel-producing city contributed greatly to the creation/development of a new cultural identity of the city, the art scene and the community as a whole. My investigation into the histories of this cultural institution focuses on the regional impact, regional being interpreted as geographically located/rooted as well as interpersonally built.

written in 2009

a live-photoshop presentation - shown at:
artboom festival, Krakov, June 2010 (thanks to Joanna Walewska, who presented it!)
media art histories program, Danube University Krems, May 2010
re:live conference in Melbourne, Australia, November 2009
the upgrade! Chicago, November 2009

leben im strafraum

exhibition at the Lentos Museum of Contemporary Art, Linz

"Eight surveillance cameras with wide-angle lenses are mounted above the pitch, documenting the development of the footballgame moves. This results in videos consisting solely of the rolling and flying lines of the ball marked by the chalk cart. These videos are documented in the Lentos exhibition as visualizations".


produced in 2008

my contribution: initial idea (together w/ Magnus Hofmüller)

collaborators: Doris Prlic, Thomas Philip, André Zogoly, Magnus Hofmüller

prehysteries of new media

prehysteries of new media is nina wenhart's collection of resources on the various histories of new media art. it is the base for a forthcoming book and consists mainly of non or very little edited material i found flaneuring on the net, sometimes with my own annotations and comments, sometimes it's also textparts i retyped from books that are out of print.

it is also meant to be an additional resource of information and recommended reading for my students of the prehystories of new media class that i teach at the school of the art institute of chicago (SAIC) in fall 2008 and 2009.

additionally, on prehystories.blogspot.com the syllabus for the class is available online as well as a summary for each class.

“Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.”
Paul Valéry, Pièces sur L’Art, 1931
Le Conquete de l’ubiquite

started in 2008, ongoing project

datenpunkarchive

a digitally punked archive for collecting, deconstructing + reconfiguring media art in theory and practice, pirating, harvesting data and information, undusting it, spreading it, making them seeds of love, remixing and remastering, experimenting, researching and analyzing. seriously, play.
 
started in 2008 

// phase 01 [2008 - 2010] collection of materials
// phase 02 [2008 - 2012] research && writing
// phase 03 [starting 2012] putting the A/V materials online - this unfortunately will be delayed a bit :(

zielinski - a font

the zielinski font was created out of photos i took during Siegfried Zielinski's keynote speech at the re:place media art histories conference in berlin (november 2007). in a font creator, i used the bitcrushed images to replace the letters of the alphabet.With this new font i re-enacted the manifesto Zielinski presented at re:place.

the original photos can be seen on my flickr account.
my re-enactment of Zielinski's talk is on p/art//icles.

produced in 2008

IX - documentation

Review of project processes and backgrounds, collaboratively written by Nina Wenhart and Jon Cates.

For the full documentation, see http://p-art-icles.blogspot.com/2011/01/ix-documentation.html 

written in 2008

co-authors:

jonCates

Nina Wenhart

hacked raven input

Hacked Raven Input (nina wenhart, jon cates + jake elliot) remixes and transcodes raw data from various Media Art Archives, converting files into realtime audio video noise, building a nest for digital punk computer witches and crashing systems across a network connecting Linz/Chicago.

For an in-detail documentation of the project and the process of developing it: www.hackedraveninput.blogspot.com


 































Hacked Raven Input - reinterpretations by nina wenhart



produced in 2008

my contribution: idea, concept development, creation, performance

collaborators:
Jon Cates, Nina Wenhart, Jake Elliott

performance:
January 2008, at quitch, Linz

IX

IX is a vicious and powerful magical device for bewitching computers. It contains nine randomly executed spells that are set free by shaking an enchanted cube.
But like in the Magician's Apprentice, once the user executes control, the device goes out of control and does whatever magic it wants.

To hack and hex the operating systems, IX combines traditional stage magic and irony (as an element of hacking culture) in the magic spells, the h.exe files.
IX plays with the user's expectations by constantly shifting the position of power and questions who is in control.

For the detailed documentation: www.h3x3n.net


produced in 2007 (version 1, Madrid), 2008 (version 2, Chicago), 2009 (version 03, Paris; version 04, Montreal)


my contribution: idea, concept development, design

collaborators from h3x3n:
Mark Beasley, Jon Cates, Nina Wenhart, Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy, Alex Inglizian, Fernando Lbarrajon (version 1), Abraham Andrade (version 1), Sandra Rosas Ridolfi (version 2), Raimund Schumacher (version 1)

others about IX:
IX on rhizome.org editorial (July 20th, 2010) http://rhizome.org/editorial/3666
IX on rhizome.org editorial (November 25th, 2010) http://rhizome.org/editorial/2113

Slitscan Video with additive soundsynthesis

Finger exercises for the eyes and ears.
Sound und visuel impressions of the city are de/con/structed and randomly synthesized in a collage of image and sound.

produced in 2006 

videos on vimeo
s1  s2  s3  s4  s5  s6  s7  s8



glitched versions of "passagen" 2011
v1  v2  v3

peng!

Suggestion for a jingle for Ars Electronica's „Simplicity“ festival.
It was trying to answer what could be done with a weapon like the one in the festival sujet.

produced in 2006

my contribution: idea&concept, camera, postproduction

credits to: Dietmar Offenhuber (who is shot with a carrot)

video on vimeo

dvd productions for ars electronica

Active Score Music (1999)
Multiangle DVD of Masaki Fujihata's concert „Small Fish Tale“ and Golan Levin's „Scribble“

Dialtones – A Telesymphony (2002)
Documentary of Golan Levin's mobile phone concert

images4music (2004)
Multiangle DVD with artist- videos*) to the music of  Steve Reich and Philip Glass
*) visual artists: Casey Reas, Martin Wattenberg, Lotte Schreiber/Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Dietmar Offenhuber

CyberArts DVDs (2000 to 2006)

heinz weiß - naredmaned

“Some time ago, a moving company cleared out the residence of the retired Heinz k. (name changed). Among his belongings were a tape recorder including a 90-minute tape. Heinz K. spent the last 5 years of his retirement spying on his neighbors and recordSome time ago, a moving company cleared out the residence of the retired Heinz k. (name changed). Among his belongings were a tape recorder including a 90-minute tape. Heinz K. spent the last 5 years of his retirement spying on his neighbors and recording his thoughts and observations.

The Munich based label bodensatz came into possession of the tapes, which they kindly made available to us as raw material for our film.

The videofootage has been recorded by seven individuals portraying their private spaces. Technically, a modified videocamera with a mirror ball for recording a 360° image has been used

produced in 2005

credits:
video: dietmar offenhuber, nina wenhart, with recordings from roland keil,peter brandl, birgit benetseder, karl offenhuber
sound: sam auinger with material from the “heinz k. aus h.” sampler bodensatz records (www.bodensatz.de)
special thanks to benno zehetmaier

live visuals for Sonar opening concert

Opening concert together with the Barcelona Symphonic Orchestra (conducted by Pedro Alcalde)

A trip  through one day and one night, a roadmovie, the pulse of a city. With it the sounds of Modest Mussorgskys „Down over the river Moscow“ and Claude Debussys „Nocturne“. With the images we created random fragments of memories and experiences. The visuals were programmed in virtools. During the live performance they were played like an additional instrument of the orchestra.

produced in May / June 2005 and performed on June 16th and 17th 2005 at l'auditori, Barcelona

concept and show: Dietmar Offenhuber and Nina Wenhart

videos:
Debussy video on vimeo / youtube
Mussorgsky video on vimeo / youtube

line-up for the opening concert:
Richie Hawtin, Doseone, DJ/Rupture, Dietmar Offenhuber / Nina Wenhart, Rachel Reupke
program: http://www.sonar.es/2005/eng/pdf/SonarByNight24-04-17-25.pdf 

on other websites:
review (spanish)
entry on Dietmar Offenhuber's website

6000 euro

Flip book

Videomontage out of 60 100 Euro bills.
A livecam sequence was shot, showing trucks and cars drive on a bridge. In the flip book, the real cars drive on the fictious bridges of the Euro bills.


produced in 2005 for the 1st edition of flipt! daumenkino festival

living room

„Living Room“ is a multimedia installation for the federal school center in Kirchdorf, Upper Austria. It creates a room that comes to life through the students' inputs. Living Room is a documentary, a game, theatre, stop motion animation, reality soap, comic strip,..

On four stages the students can inscene short stories, that are shown on four screens in the school hall. Here, the screens melt into one collaborative story, like a comic strip. The physical space of the school building is thereby transformed into a narrative space.


produced in 2004

my contribution: idea, concept development, design

collaborators from Ars Electronica Futurelab
Carlos Andreas Rocha,  Christian Naglhofer, Christoph Scholz, Christopher Lindinger, Erwin Reitböck, Florian Landerl, Helmut Höllerl, Horst Hörtner, Martin Bruner, Martin Honzik, Dietmar Offenhuber, Nina Wenhart, Peter Brandl, Peter Freudling, Robert Abt, Robert Praxmarer, Stefan Mittlböck-Jungwirth, Walter Steinacher

timeline - 25 years of ars electronica

„Timeline“ tries to illustrate Ars Electronica's history in a collage of images, video and sound. Next to the relevant data of the festival visitors could see connections to relevant events and developments.

produced in 2004

my contribution: research, collection and tagging of all Ars Electronica images, DVD-Production

collaborators:
Michael Naimark, Gloria Hwang Sutton, Jutta Schmiederer, Nina Wenhart, Stefan Schilcher, Stefan Eibelwimmer, Günther Kolar, Gunther Schmidl

gulliver's world, gulliver's box

Starting point for the mixed reality installation „Gulliver's Box“ is a tracking system that allows you to to live-recordings for a virtual space. In Gulliver's Box, real and virtual creatures meet, every visitor can be integrated in the virtual space. Various tools are there to rearrange patterns, you can even shoot a photo of yourself in the virtual world and email it to your friends.


produced in 2002 and 2004

my contribution: idea, concept development

collaborators from Ars Electronica Futurelab:
Roland Haring, Horst Hörtner, Christopher Lindinger, Gerfried Stocker, Christine Pilsl, Pascal Maresch, Andreas Jalsovec, Stefan Feldler, Martin Honzik, Wolfgang Ziegler, Rudolf Hanl, Gerold Hofstadler, Gernot Ziegler, Scott Ritter; Adrian Cheok & Hirokazu Kato, Nina Wenhart