As I researched the development of web art, I became fascinated by its growth in the early 2000s. At that time platforms like Flash helped web art thrive. But as Flash was discontinued and web optimization, e-commerce and SEO became more important, web art started to fade, becoming a smaller part of the internet.
For my prototype, I wanted to see if it’s possible to bring web art back in a new way—through vibecoding, a method where creativity guides coding to produce art. Because I didn’t have enough time to fully create a web art website, I decided to let participants make small digital art artifact using p5.js. With the help of ChatGPT and DeepSeek, three people created their own art in just 15 minutes.
The participants were diverse in terms of age and experience: one was 60 years old and had never used AI for coding before; another was 25 with no coding experience; and the third was 24 and knew basic JavaScript. After the activity, I asked them about their experience and how they felt during the session.
What I learned from this experiment is that with a little guidance and some basic knowledge of the subject, AI can make it easier for people to get involved in web art. Even with limited experience, the participants were able to create their own pieces quickly. AI and vibecoding, therefore, can open the door for anyone to join the world of web art.
Looking at this, I think web art might be ready for a comeback. Thanks to AI tools, more people can now experiment and contribute, even without advanced skills. The time could be right for web art to return and gain new life.
