UbuWeb is a free independent resource of sound, text, and video files dating from 1516 to contemporary. They have hundreds of gigabytes of material. In sound alone, I’ve found Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Guy Debord, ee cummings, William Carlos Williams and more, mostly recorded by the authors themselves.

What makes this site stand out for me is how they have de-commodified the art. Everything about the site is free: they don’t accept donations, they don’t sell merchandise, they don’t advertise themselves, and they don’t sell advertising space. The archive is upheld entirely by volunteers, and web space is either given by universities or purchased cheaply. As long as a work is out of print, they upload without permission, and encourage their audience to do likewise.

UbuWeb is primarily an archive for the “outsiders,” obscure, and hard to find work that might not make it into the popular sphere. Find Patti Smith’s poetry, David Cronenberg’s opinions on Andy Warhol, Brian Eno’s video paintings, and bizarre personal ads’s taken from New York bulletin boards. This is a reminder of everything that is art, and a good place to get lost.

http://www.ubu.com/