Unlike a hacked website which might be the work of a single hacker, FloodNet was conceptual Internet art of becoming -- it needed the participation of thousands of online participants to become fully actualized. FloodNet enabled a performance of presence in solidarity with the Zapatistas, which said to Mexico (and its close ally the United States): we are numerous, alert, and watching carefully.

This work was a symbolic gesture created to increase awareness about the low intensity war in Chiapas, Mexico. This artwork raised questions about the current definitions of cyberterrorism, information warfare, civil disobedience, and legal use of the Internet. Consequently, it has received much international media attention.

Brett Stalbaum and Carmin Karasic worked together online to create FloodNet, which was designed to make browsers automatically reload targeted webpages several times per minute, as a form of Freedom of Speech expressed artistically on the Internet. FloodNet is a hybrid of political and conceptual interactive performance art that empowered and mobilized netizens through Internet activist art. As the target, usually the Mexican President's website, was automatically reloaded, surfers could also upload server log messages, like "human_rights not found on this server."

FlooodNet and EDT:    Scrapbook Items