Founded in 1996, ®™ark (pronounced
"art-mark") has a stellar track record in forging partnerships
for the "intelligent sabotage of mass produced items." By
joining together those with the ideas, to those who want to
carry them out and those who want to fund them, ®™ark
functions as an online clearinghouse for dissent.
®™ark
Funds contain projects that range from simple acts of
protest via email spamming campaigns to committing acts of
treason in the name of online freedom, are managed by ®™ark
and its affiliates. These include techno DJ's, editors of
prominent online journals, as well as individual artists. All
projects, which have no criteria other than they must not be
harmful to humans, use the ®™ark website and organizational
network as a sounding board, a place to collaborate and
exchange ideas.
The anonymous agents that comprise the core ®™ark
coalition number fewer than five on a permanent basis though
®™arks ranks can extend to many more depending on the
complexity of the project and the level of their involvement
with the organizations and individuals that they fund. From past projects
like the Barbie Liberation Organization or B.L.O., Zaptista
Floodnet, GWBush.com, and the Etoy Fund, "®™ark has
continually benefited from its workers' excitement. With the
press they generate, ®™ark successes lead to ever more bullish
markets, and also help popularize useful ideas."
Of course, an enormous amount of effort has gone
into creating the ®™ark brand and much spin is involved in
perpetuating the ®™ark myth. The group thrives on the
publicity that its exploits generates and today utilizes the
rapid- fire speed, and ubiquitous presence of online media as
a conduit to forward its selected causes.
The art institution is playing an increasing role
as a site of ®™ark operations.