Russian artist Alexei Shulgin’s Form Art (1997), which used HTML buttons and boxes as the raw material for monochromatic compositions, is at first glance a purely formal study of certain aspects of HTML. But it was also absurd: Form Art transformed the most bureaucratic, functional, and unloved aspects of the web into aesthetic, ludic elements.

Like much of Shulgin's work, Form Art was also a collaboration. Just as he had borrowed the bureaucratic structure of the HTML form, Shulgin borrowed the bureaucratic structure of the Prix Ars Electronica. He invited users to make and submit their own works to a Form Art Competition, giving rise to a short-lived but well-loved art form.

"I WAS ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT ART AFTER THE INTERNET WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AND THAT AN ARTIST DOES NOT NEED TO PLAY TRADITIONAL CAREER GAMES, INCLUDING MAINTAINING HIS OR HER OWN STYLE." – ALEXEI SHULGIN

By rendering these standard forms useless, Shulgin draws attention to the materiality and function of the web. “Bringing them in focus was a declaration of the fact that a computer interface is not a 'transparent' invisible layer to be taken for granted," Shulgin notes, "but something that defines the way we are forced to work and even think.”

Form Art was partly created in response to formal experiments with HTML carried out by Shulgin's peers, such as artist duo JODI. JODI and Shulgin are both closely associated with the avant-garde 1990s net.art movement, a loose group of artists who shared an interest in the net's potential to transform artistic production and distribution.