Net art generator (nag) was first conceptualized by artist Cornelia Sollfrank in 1997, and It is a long-standing web application and a functional tool for generating images from available data in real-time to question normative authorship, copyright and some of the underlying infrastructures of artistic production.
The latest version 5 of nag (launched in 2017) generates images by combining the data that is sent from Google via the web search API. Interestingly there is a daily limit set at one hundred API requests, which means that once exceeded users will experience a customized error page and images can no longer be retrieved. The latest version questions to what extent we are allowed access to hidden layers of software that queries the available data and generates new arrangements. It examines the technical object - APIs and its cultural and political implications of the terms and conditions, business models, API specification, software updates, etc.
The project proposes a new version of nag to consider the politics of technology and data processing via continuous development and maintenance of the web tool (with the perspective of feminist maintainers). It will explore the use of other web search applications such as Duck Duck Go and YaCy, in which they don’t collect or share any personal information and present a different operating model beyond advertising business. By using different data sources and interfaces, this project will open up the research on alternative search engines in terms of how different search players organize their data and structure their terms via providing APIs. As a result of building technical and cultural artefact, this research contributes to the discussion of data accessibility and API practices in the area of critical and feminist data studies.
Winnie Soon, Cornelia Sollfrank, Gerrit Boelz, Janine Sack, Eric Snodgrass, Matthieu Vlaminck.
