September 10, 2001

MASS MoCA Patrons Learn to Maximize Global Excitement on October 12

(North Adams, MA) On Friday, October 12, at 7 P.M. Agent Zai, "Chief Executive" of the Zurich-based international underground artists' collective, Etoy, and his orange-coated companions will grapple with the cultural ins and outs of a once small but growing internet art consortium. Last year Etoy was at the center of a successful battle with the corporate giant eToys for the rights to its name. The New York Times has called the group "a fiercely independent World Wide Web ensemble looking to use the new medium to stir up the status quo and reshape the boundaries of artistic expression."

Etoy was launched in 1994 by a team of seven producers, artists, and architects who ranged in age from 19 to 24. The idea was to merge the intellect of these founders, whose backgrounds spanned five European cities and one U.S. city, into one corporate existence. By doing this, etoy makes a full spectrum of creative minds accessible to its internet investors. The pride of etoy is its zany, often eccentric presentation of digital art. Etoy investors receive packages that include items from high-quality digital art to t-shirts and compact discs. The founding members remain active from their international locations: Vienna, Zurich, Praha, Manchester, and Monza.

The etoy name received mass media coverage including articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and on CNN in its historic 1999 domain name legal feud with eToys, Inc. The corporate giant sued etoy for the right to the name, ignoring the fact that etoy was founded and registered years before eToys. Claiming the similarities caused confusion and that etoy's artistic nudes and angst-filled poetry were pornographic and contained calls to violence, eToys convinced a judge to order etoy to stop using the domain name. Etoy responded by launching a campaign to drive down eToys' stock as far as possible. Etoy's methods included organizing vast numbers of people to visit eToys.com at critical times, creating heavy traffic jams and making it inaccessible to customers.

While etoy relied on the support of its shareholders, finding a vast army of volunteers eager to help in the crusade proved to be easy. People around the world have been appalled by the commercialization of the Internet and were happy to have an opportunity to fight to preserve one small piece of it for art. John Perry Barlow, former Grateful Dead lyricist and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called on the entire Internet community to rally behind them saying, "This is the battle of Bull Run. This is the point where people begin to realize there is a difference between the Internet industry and the Internet community, and the Internet community needs to bind itself together and find a common voice." Within two months eToys' stock dropped from $67 to $15 when the corporate giant relented and dropped the suit giving etoy back its own name.

The etoy event is sponsored by Berkshire Gas.

Tickets for Etoy: Burning venture capital, maximizing global excitement on October 12 are $5 and are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office at 1040 MASS MoCA Way in North Adams from 10 am until 6 pm daily. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located at 1040 MASS MoCA Way in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org