The Webby Awards are here again, honoring the best of the best in all things internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, mobile software and apps, and the web’s social realm. Looking for new experiences online? Just peruse one of hundreds of fascinating projects in the many of Webby categories. Art on the Web is a great place to start. It features emerging migrations of old art world institutions to new media platforms, grassroots arts projects picking up steam, and an independent galleries directory bringing eyes to small spaces.
The Webbys themselves are given out by a body of web experts and are highly coveted, but the People’s Voice awards, voted in by the internet community, honor not only critical achievement but also audience pride. This year, winning both the Webby and the People’s Voice award in art, was The Creators Project, an event series held in 2012 featuring “artworks and installations, screenings, a panel discussion and dozens of performances by creators from all over the world.”
The Creators Project is a partnership between processor giant Intel and VICE Media, serving to promote artists’ collaboration with technology. The project includes an online arts channel documenting innovative figures in art, music, film, design, and gaming. Their ‘About’ page certainly aims high, proclaiming, “The Creators Project features a slate of original artwork commissions, a music video series, featuring household and emerging names, tech-focused tutorials, and deep-reaching collaborations between Intel Labs and high profile artists within the program.”
Why would Intel foot the bill for such a project? When more people are creating — art or music or video — they need faster computers than the consumers who just check email and watch YouTube. This generally means they require very fast non-Apple processors. The more creators the brighter the company’s future. But it’s a fine line between supporting and selling out. Has Intel stepped up to the plate as an art benefactor of the new era or will The Creators Project become Intel sponsoring alternative artists just like Red Bull sponsors alternative sports, fully branded?