Iconic internet art?

Ever since I saw this article and the corresponding caption "An iconic image of internet art?" next to a snapshot of Alex Tew's web page I have been wondering about the emergence of an artistic landscape on the internet. If the internet is a city - or at least its streets and byways and pedestrian walkways, then perhaps it is something like Martin Scorsese's depiction of New York avenues at night.

Or maybe I'm getting carried away. Although I hope someone will get that far ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4585026.stm

I looked up some of the other web pages since Alex's is currently down, to see if the images continue to appear interesting. Here are two - one from Million Penny Home Page and another from Million Pixel Page.

Million Penny Home Page



Million Pixel Page



Is it possible for art to exist in an image that was not created by an artist, and if so what does that say about art - that the beauty of it lies in the eye of the beholder or in the vision of the creator?

But at the same time it is reminiscent of Tristan Tzara's dada advice on writing a poem:

"To Make a Dadaist Poem:

Take a newspaper.
Take a pair of scissors.
Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem.
Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them in a bag.
Shake it gently.
Then take out the scraps one after the other in the order in which they left the bag.
Copy conscientiously.
The poem will be like you.
And here you are a writer, infinitely original and endowed with a sensibility that is charming though beyond the understanding of the vulgar.

Tristan Tzara"


Is there a better metaphor? Perhaps this iconic image is not so novel after all, and digital Dada has finally hit the mainstream.