In March you will be able to go the Scope Art Fair in NYC and buy a 16” x 20” framed print of MTAA’s Simple Net Art Diagram (SNAD) for 625 USD. The weird part is that you could, at this very moment, download the SNAD digital graphic file from this site, blow it up into a 16” x 20” graphics file using any number of popular graphics editing programs, take it to a printer and then to a frame shop and have the exact same thing that we’re selling. This process will cost you less than 625 USD (it would run you under $250, depending on your choice of frame of course, we suggest something heavily and deeply carved with lots of gold leaf).

Actually, that’s exactly how we created the print we’re selling. M.River downloaded the Illustrator version from the web, imported it into a 16” x 20” Photoshop document, scaled it to fit comfortably in the frame of reference and then sent it off to a digital output joint.

So. What’s the deal?

First, the SNAD is free. Yes, thanks to a generous Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license, you can do with it as you will. Which naturally leads to this question: If it’s free, what are you buying for 625 bucks?

The answer: Production.

Yes, that’s right. You will be paying for the cost, time, and expertise of having MTAA make the work for you. As the production was done by a member of MTAA, the work may be thought of as an “Official Production SNAD” or, more obtusely, an “OP-SNAD.” However, it’s completely legal and even encouraged for others to print their own SNADs and sell them. If you buy a SNAD print from someone other than a member of MTAA you will have an “Entrepreneurial Production SNAD (AKA EP-SNAD). If you print it yourself, you will have a “DIY Production SNAD (AKA DIY-P-SNAD)”. For us, EP-SNADs or DIY-P-SNADs are both nice choices for your home, office, gallery or museum. Although, if you’re short on time, have the money and can actually find one, an OP-SNAD is the way to go.

If you happen to buy a 16” x 20” OP-SNAD, what will keep MTAA from making more? The short answer is “nothing,” but there are some reasons that we probably won’t:

1. We’re lazy.
2. We tend not to repeat ourselves. Sure, someday we might make a 48” x 60” on canvas OP-SNAD or maybe a 32” x 40” light box OP-SNAD, but chances are you will be the only one in the world with a 16” x 20” OP-SNAD from 2006.

Get it? Got it? Good.

(Note, this is a rare post that was written by both members of MTAA. The first draft, by M.River, was edited by T.Whid for this final version. It should probably go in the Texts part of this web site, but it seems too time-relative to belong there.) permanent link to this post