Heath Bunting emerged from the 80's committedto building open/ democratic communication systemsand social contexts. He came from the street up, passing through and often revisiting graphity,performance, intervention, pirate radio, fax/ mailart and BBS systems to become an active participantin the explosion of the internet.

He has produced many internet projects, some highlyrecognised and has helped form a strong context for the practice of net.art. Recently, he has movedinto the field of genetics proclaiming it to bethe next "new media", and is also making steps towardsproducing work within financial networks, believingmoney to be the ultimate media for artistic practice.

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I asked Heath for a definition of 'Professional Revolutionary' which seemed to me a ludicrous term for an artist to apply to himself. (I have since learned the value of subscribing to an overblown ludicrousnes - it helps to construct disbelief whilst deconstrcuting belief at the same time. Useful if you want to fly in the face of reason and logic) "I deliver a service in overthrowing existing structures. It's a creative occupation with clients and financial renumeration."

I wondered why he didn't become a Management Consultant. A lot of his clients tend to come from the art and academic world so it tends to be these structures that are affected by his particular brand of revolutionary methodologies. But as the term 'revolutionary' is applied to the latest brand of car just how meaningful can it be anymore? "We live in degraded environments" says Heath, "and that includes language aswell as morality, biosystems, architecture etc. Meaning is up for grabs for all kinds of developers - artists, marketers, politicians, business, property developers". The contestion of meaning and property - thats the first pre-occupation for the 'Professional Revolutionary'.

Rachel Baker, irational

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In a sense, much of Bunting's work could be described as'invisible art', from the anonymous traces of chalk onconcrete to the spontaneous ringing of a bank of publictelephones. As spaces for the production and distribution ofart, both the street and the web exist in tension-filledrelationships with both traditional media and theinstitutions of elite art themselves, characteristics whichthe artist clearly finds attractive. But that situation maybe changing.

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Alongside the institutional recognition of net.art,Bunting's own profile in the art world has risen, making theartist more attractive as a good investment. In otherinterviews, he has spoken of his opposition to beingprofessionalized, suggesting that he may "retire" in orderto remain outside the commodity art world. So I ask him whathe means by "retirement". He laughs. "It's like being aboxer. Boxers go into retirement just to get trained again.Then they come out of retirement and charge twice as much money!"

Mark Nixon, World Art Magazine
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