absurd.org

Is absurd.org a zine or a very clever work of net.art? This site more than any other really confuses this issue. Here one will find much code work, interface manipulation, and self-referential text that is reminiscent of superbad.com, subculture.org, and other browser straining sites. Windows pop out of nowhere and even go beyond the parameter of the browser application. In fact, this site is at its most startling when it appears to take over ones entire computer, almost suggesting to the user that it is reaching beyond the confines of the computer screen. Many of the works refer to what they are doing in a fiction/narrative style of writing that begins to tell the story of the user, not the author. It narrates the actions of you, the user, as you read this part that says: ‘It narrates the actions of you, the user, as you read this part that says…’
By controlling what is actively viewed and then referring to it, a very eerie feeling is experienced. As a zine, this piece can be compared to online code depositories and demonstration sites such as flashkit.com or various javascript sites. In fact, these sites can be thought of as ezines as well. Throughout this essay, I have been comparing and blurring the distinction between ezines and net.art, as well as other site categories, but perhaps I have been going about this backwards. It can be argued that ALL websites are really ezines. Whether a site has been posted by an individual, a company or corporation, a government, an artist, a terrorist, a university, or generated from the combined and emerging consciousness of the Internet (imposable?) is really beside the point. All websites are really a narrative of sorts and all convey information much in the same way as ezines generally do. Do ezines really exist on the net or is everything on the net really just an ezine?