net.art

Superbad
Ben Benjamin 1997

“Superbad” is a website consisting of seemingly random images and stories that link to each other in an apparently endless variety. While the actual purpose of the site is unclear, it mirrors in concept a web version of Jorge Luis Borges’ short story The Garden of Forking Paths about a book that is written in such a way that it is constantly changing. Superbad is also ever-changing when browsed by a viewer as pages link and link back and forth with no discernable purpose. Initially, the site’s creator, Ben Benjamin, changed the homepage on a daily basis, further randomizing the user’s experience.

It received a 1999 Webby in the “Weird”category, and was one of nine websites featured in the Whitney Museum Biennial in 2000. The Webby awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The Whitney Museum says of Superbad, "The unpredictable and nonlinear experience offered by Superbad mirrors the medium of the web itself."

Benjamin himself had this to say: "People just keep asking me whether the inclusion of Internet art in the Biennial validates Net art. I say that it's already valid -- what I think it does, it makes it look more valid to the art crowd. So all of a sudden because it's in a museum it's not crap anymore?"