Eva & Franco Mattes

Italy/USA, 1976

Artist duo living in New York and Milan. In the early 90s they realized that the nascent internet would play an increasingly influential role in shaping contemporary culture, and they started devoting their waking hours almost exclusively to exploring this new medium: its possibilities, pitfalls, and implications for the creation and dissemination of content, predicting the fundamental insinuation of the internet into every aspect of our lives. Operating anonymously or releasing works under various pseudonyms –most notably 0100101110101101.org– they became central figures in the scene, and with classic works like Life Sharing (2000) they helped shape the medium. Some of their most controversial works have even got them into legal troubles, like the famous trial with Nike, the invention of notorious artist Darko Maver or the spreading of a computer virus at the Venice Biennale. Interventions like these have given them cult status, and their influence on younger generations of artists continues to grow. Their works can be found in the collections of the SFMOMA, Whitney Museum of American Art, Fotomuseum Winterthur, X Museum and the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis).