2009 Artcontext Annual

Here is a sampling of new work brought online at Artcontext this year. These websites are not sponsored by advertising. They are effectively non-profit projects with negligible budgets, but they have the virtue of being spontaneous and unencumbered by bureaucracies or focus groups. While art is commonly judged according to its monetary value, I give mine away because I can, and because I'm not interested in catering exclusively to a wealthy elite. As digital media expands to affect people everywhere, I feel there's good reason to continue applying my creative imagination to the realm of free online cultural works.

—   Andy Deck


The 30th edition of the calendar made by Andy Deck features "Artistic Licenses" contributed by the general public through Artcontext. This colorful collaborative calendar can be downloaded and printed for free. The limited edition, signed calendar is printed on-demand and available for immediate shipping. It can be purchased online for $7.99

Since 1979
Preview it online!
  [Calendar]

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[Anti-War 404]  

Contemporary search engines have a tendency to make dead websites disappear quietly. AntiWar404 counteracts some of the resulting amnesia. It offers a concise record of the peace movement forgotten by Google, resurrecting pages and pages of war resistance that you won't find in your search engine results. Peace documents re-found!


Produce your own Artistic License in a matter of minutes using your web browser. Instead of biometrics and radio frequency ID chips, Artistic License embraces freedom, collaboration, sharing, and imagination as keys to a more appealing modernity. Your Artistic License doesn't require you to look like yourself, and it does not impose factual restrictions. Nonetheless it has the truthiness coveted by authority. Join the hundreds who have already made theirs.   [Artistic License]

[Ecoartivismo.net]   After convening in Spain for the first time in eight years, Transnational Temps has launched the site EcoArtivismo.net. The name signifies a fusion of ecologically-themed art and activism. Presently the group is involved in research into mobile computing as a way to bring a more spontaneous and participative aspect to its network of activities. [Transnational Temps] The group has also been adapting technological devices for ecoartivist purposes using solder and circuit bending.

The Obamagram was conceived shortly after the last U.S. presidential election. At that time, the administration established a new 500 character limit for messages directed to the president through the Whitehouse.gov website. Simultaneously, the administration began lauding their website's new "openness." In a matter of weeks the 500 character limit was abolished, but the notion of openness is still doubtful. The letters are in no way 'open.' So the Obamagram serves as a proxy for the open letters that can't be written at Whitehouse.gov.   [Obamagram]