Olia Lialina on Net Art's Commodification and the Russian Internet's Literary Focus

Olia Lialina, a Russian net artist and theorist teaching at Hochschule fuer Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, founded Teleportacia Gallery as the first commercial online gallery for web-based art. In an interview conducted in Los Angeles on April 12, 2000, she discussed the Russian internet's distinct character, noting its literary-minded nature and development by émigrés outside Russia. Lialina emphasized that net art should be treated as a unique digital object, with ownership defined by URL location rather than physical possession. She sold her own work for $2000 through Teleportacia, challenging institutions that appropriated net art without compensation. The Russian internet, she observed, is concentrated in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and areas supported by the Soros Fund, with limited access elsewhere. Lialina also addressed net art's relationship with political activism, citing her involvement with the "Noone is Illegal" campaign at Dokumenta X, while expressing skepticism about online campaigns' efficacy in conflicts like Chechnya. She argued that net artists must reflect on the medium itself, distinguishing their practice from mere tool usage.