Art on the internet is almost a contradiction in terms.

How can the internet possibly relate to art and, if it can, what sort of art does it deliver?

The Tate Modern gallery is adamant that art is not only possible on the internet but can actually be enhanced by a computerised delivery.

New web pages for the Tate Modern are a sumptuous celebration of electronic artwork.

"Uncomfortable Proximity" is the title of a new online project created by Harwood, a member of the culturally diverse art collective, Mongrel.

Commissioned by Tate National Programmes, it mirrors the Tate's own web-site, tate.org.uk, but offers new images and ideas.

It was developed from Harwood's own experiences, his readings of Tate works and publicity materials and his interest in the Tate Britain site.

Harwood said: "From adolescence I visited the Tate, read the art books and generally pulled a forelock in the direction of the cult of genius.

"This is a personal response to the cultural attitudes that I found within the aura of the collection."

The Mongrel collective described themselves as "a mixed bunch of people and machines working to celebrate the cultural methods of London street culture."

Groups of electronic artists are emerging all over the UK.

Like the Mongrel collective, they all have similar aims and ambitions.

Mongrel's Harwood summed up this new breed of electronic artist when he said: "We make socially engaged cultural product employing any and all technological advantage that we can lay our hands on.

"We have dedicated ourselves to learning technological methods of engagement, which means we pride ourselves on our ability to programme, engineer and build our own software and custom hardware."

Heady stuff - but how will an upsurge in internet art impact on ordinary people?

Quite simply, people are already using the internet as a universal research tool.

Art is merely a facet of the overall web culture which is sweeping the world.

Soon, people everywhere will be demanding art online in the same way they now take online books for granted.

The Tate Modern is not the only organisation to recognise the significance of art on the internet.

Most of the world's major art galleries are now online and almost all the UK's leading art schools have a web presence.

Even the prestigious Courtauld Institute of Art has a website, although it is a rather boring offering which takes ages to download.

The Courtauld site's only saving grace is an excellent collection of art-based web links.

Locally, Brighton is blessed with a huge community of online artists taking full advantage of technology to create both still and video-based installations.

Near the top of my personal favourites list comes Tatty Seaside Town, which documents much of Brighton's astonishing collection of graffiti and preserves it for posterity.

www.tate.org.uk/modern/ default.htm www.courtauld.ac.uk
www.graffiti.org/brighton/ (for Tatty Seaside Town).

For more online arts information, take a look at websites for the Brighton Media Centre (www. lighthouse.org.uk), the Arts Council (www. artscouncil. org.uk), Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (www.hotelworld.com/about/sussex/vn/a4.html) and the Art Lover's Guide to Britain and Ireland (www.artguide.org).