I miss add art

illustration of add art

I miss add art, the nice FireFox add-on that replaced advertising on websites with curated art. I really like the idea of being fed with art rather than advertisement while browsing the web.

add art is a free and open source project developed by the artist Steve Lambert hosted at Eyebeam. It works as an extension for the popular FireFox add-on, AdBlock plus that replaces ads with blank spaces. A combination with AdBlock and add art turns your browser into an art gallery as it replaces the empty spaces with art.

Some time ago, Steve Lambert decided to do something else and since then the project need a new lead developer. The last version does no longer work on later FireFox versions and from February 2011 there hasn’t been any new exhibition.

When add-on worked, it presented a new show every two weeks. The first exhibition, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, by Endo Hiroshige was launched in May 2008. It was curated by Joan Cummins, from the Brooklyn Museum‘s Lisa and Bernard Selz Curator of Asian Art. The show I remember the most, which is also my favourite, was Net Art 1.0 curated by Steve Dietz inkluding the artists Vuc Cosic, Graham Harwood, Lisa Jevbratt, Jodi, Melinda Rackham, Vivian Selbo and Paul Sermon.

I miss the concept rather than the actual shows. I believe one could have expected a little more from many of the exhibitions, but still hope they will find someone to continue the project and make the update needed for newer versions of FireFox.

Read more about their project on their website. If you want to become their new developer? Find out more here.
Some history.

    Picture rights belong to the artist unless otherwise stated

    POST: 5 December, 2012 · Artwork