Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 7: Net Era (1990s)

1996

Rhizome Begins

Event · North America

Grey early Rhizome website with keyboard-letter logo and December 1996 articles.
Rhizome’s website as archived on 20 December 1996, the year of its founding; rendered from the preserved original HTML. Rhizome / Internet Archive. Browser capture, 27 September 2026. Image source.

Rhizome begins: “Rhizome is the home of born-digital art and culture since 1996.” That 1996 start occurred when Mark Tribe founded Rhizome, initially as an email list that attracted some of the earliest artists exploring online mediums. Since its inception, Rhizome has been instrumental in shaping the trajectory of art intersecting with the internet and networked technologies. From its humble beginnings, Rhizome has evolved into a thriving non-profit organization affiliated with the New Museum. Today, its robust programs encompass a wide range of initiatives aimed at supporting and preserving artistic practices that engage with technology. It remains an important repository for early net art, especially.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

Mark Tribe

Movements

digital art, New Media Art, net art

Filed under

Ideas
born-digital, digital art, net art, New Media Art, preservation
Technologies
Internet, mailing lists
People
Mark Tribe
Organisations
New Museum, Rhizome

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