The Thing

Since its inception THE THING has provided a flexible and supportive venue for developing, presenting and distributing innovative forms of on-line activism, media art and cultural criticism.

THE THING was founded in 1991 and became a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in September 1998. Prior to that date it was supported entirely by the dedication and enthusiasm of a community of volunteer activists and artists. Even with these limited resources THE THING quickly gained a reputation as a center for new media practice and theory, social forums and on-line art projects.

Initially, in 1991, THE THING took the form of a dial-up bulletin board system (BBS) that facilitated discussion and experimentation, primarily within the New York City arts communities. In 1995 THE THING launched its website http://bbs.thing.net, expanding and intensifying its efforts through initiating individual and collaborative efforts with an extraordinary variety of emerging and established artists.

Over the last three decades, THE THING has played a seminal role not just in fostering a generation of network-oriented activist, artists, critics, and curators, but also - and equally important - searching out ways to interconnect their diverse interests and activities. (2022)

Network

• The Thing Amsterdam, founded by Walter van der Cruijsen
• The Thing Basel, founded by Barbara Strebel and Rik Gelles
• The Thing Berlin, founded by Ulf Schleth
• The Thing Cologne (*1992), founded by Michael Krome
• The Thing Düsseldorf, founded by Jörg Sasse
• The Thing Frankfurt, founded by Andreas Kallfelz
• The Thing Hamburg (1993-1994), founded by Hans-Joachim Lenger
• The Thing Hamburg (2006-2009), founded by the local art association "THE THING HAMBURG"
• The Thing London, founded by Andreas Ruethi
• The Thing New York (*1991), founded by Wolfgang Staehle, Gisela Ehrenfried, Max Kossatz, et al.
• The Thing Stockholm, founded by Magnus Borg
• The Thing Vienna (*Nov 1993), founded by Helmut Mark and Max Kossatz
• The Thing Roma, founded by Marco Deseriis and Giuseppe Marano

Publications

• The Current Thing, eds. Caspar Stracke and Keith Sanborn, New York: The Thing, 2020, 120 pp, PDF.

Literature

• Dike Blair, "His Thingness: Interview with Wolfgang Staehle", Purple Prose 9, Summer 1995, pp 133-135.
• Barbara Basting, "David gegen Goliath. Ein Besuch beim New Yorker Webprojekt 'The Thing'", c.2000. (German)
• Verena Dauerer, "Ein guter Ruf ist nicht gut genug", Die Tageszeitung, 31 May 2001. (German)
• Inke Arns, Netzkulturen, Hamburg: Europäische Verlagsanstalt, 2002, p 52. (German)
• Christiane Paul, Digital Art, London: Thames & Hudson, 2003, p 111.
• Josephine Bosma, "Constructing Media Spaces", in Media Art Net 2, Vienna: Springer, 2005.
• Mark Tribe, Reena Jana, New Media Art, Cologne: Taschen, 2006, pp 22-23.
• Verena Kuni, "Abfall für alle? Einige Gedanken zum Netz als digitalem Archiv der Wissens- und Kulturproduktion", in Literatur und Literaturwissenschaft auf dem Weg zu neuen Medien, eds. Michael Stolz, et al., Bern: Germanistik.ch, Verl. für Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft, 2005. [1] (German)
• Edward A. Shanken, Art and Electronic Media, London: Phaidon, 2009, p 50.
• Joshua Kopstein, "'The Thing' Redialed: how a BBS changed the art world and came back from the dead", The Verge, 15 Mar 2013.
• Susanne Gerber, "Crossing-Over of Art History and Media History in the Times of the Early Internet—with Special Regard to THE THING NYC", in Social Media Archeology and Poetics, ed. Judy Malloy, MIT Press, 2016, pp 309–332. [2]

Links

• Website
• Website (1995)
• Website (1997)
• The Internet Before The Web: Preserving Early Networked Cultures, March 8, 2013 panel discussion at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring archivist and historian Jason Scott, and Wolfgang Staehle founder of The Thing BBS in conversation with Digital Conservator Ben Fino-Radin
• The Thing Is, exhibitions, Berlin, 2022, [3]
• The Thing BBS Message Archive on Rhizome
• The Thing at Net Art Anthology
• https://mailchi.mp/rhizome/phantom-threads-the-thing-bbs-revisited
• Wikipedia