When the internet first became more commercialized and accessible to the general public in the 1990s, there was no blueprint for how to really use it. AOL chatrooms, baby versions of search engines, and a few hours on Pong were commonplace.
Eventually, toward the mid to late 1990s, things got more sophisticated. Users and engineers alike realized that a lot could be done with internet access. In particular, webcamming became a lot more popular.
Like anything, the culture around webcams and early live streaming became a lot more explicit and NSFW toward the turn of the millennium. But in the early days, there were a few cultural gems worth remembering from internet history, as well as music history. One example would be Ana Voog, the American frontwoman of The Blue Up?. This experimental pop musician quite literally livestreamed her life at home 24 hours a day for 12 whole years.
Who is Ana Voog?
Ana Voog was not unlike Chappell Roan in the sense that she became a pop culture phenomenon very quickly. She was one of the first artists to utilize the internet and related media to promote and share her work. She was the frontwoman of the experimental pop band The Blue Up? for a while, and she also released a number of solo recordings as well.
In 1995, Voog scored a record deal with Columbia Records. She was signed to David Kahne, who had produced music with greats like Paul McCartney. Her band broke up in 1996 and she moved on to other record companies and management.
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Unfortunately, Voog experienced a lot of misogyny in the industry. This led her to leave the business and turn to something very new: webcam streams.
Anacam: How Pop Musician Ana Voog Livestreamed 24 Hours a Day
In 1997, Voog launched the webcam project anacam. The camera was set up in Voog’s home and provided a glimpse into her personal life. It was a unique venture for a few reasons.
To start, few musicians and artists in general had opted for a project quite as intimate as filming their homes for the world to see 24 hours a day. Just as well, viewers didn’t just get to see Voog eating oatmeal every morning and sleeping for eight hours a night. The project was also performance art, complete with visual experimentation. Voog would chat with her viewers, perform music, and even put on elaborate performances on camera using a variety of household objects.
The stream was also notoriously intimate. Voog wasn’t interested in censoring herself on anacam. In addition to vacuuming, singing, and hosting parties, Voog wouldn’t shut the camera off when she would walk around nude and even engage in sexual activities.
@markmallman
Ana Voog was The pioneering internet star you never heard of. #anavoog #lifecast #livestream #earlyinternet #cyberpunk #streamers #firstlivestream
♬ original sound – Mark Mallman
Anacam enticed the voyeuristic tendencies of many of her viewers, but it wasn’t intended to be pornographic, either. It was fascinating. Voog’s dedication to keeping the feed live 24 hours a day for a total of 12 years was incredibly impressive. It really had never been done before. Viewers not only saw her relationship with herself, but they also watched her friendships and romantic relationships play out. The conception of her first child was livestreamed, as was the pregnancy and physical birth.
Voog ended the stream on the 12th anniversary of its launch in August of 2009. Internet archivists have struggled to gather footage from the project. So, unfortunately, it really was something that you would have had to experience in real time to enjoy.
Few artists would be willing to be that vulnerable today. Regardless of how you feel about the explicit nature of much of anacam, you can’t deny that it was a historically significant project.
Photo courtesy of Ana Voog’s X account
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