Welcome to the fourth and the last issue of Art Orbit. Yes, the death of Art Orbit was expected at this time of the year. 1998 comes to an end and so does the funding of Art Orbit from Stockholm - the European Cultural Capital of ´98. But I nourished, and still nourish, a vain hope for some further funding. I haven´t found a solution yet, but there are still some deadlines for applications out there in the nearest future. I do hope for resurrection at some point. But on a more serious note it is important to really consider this issue as the last issue of Art Orbit - at least for now. I feel the urge to point out that a project in the blurred domain of "art" cannot be done without money. And that is a political issue. However, I will not let go of the network of contributors and webvisitors who have been of fundamental importance in the existence of Art Orbit. OK, let´s not dig too deep into that. Here is the fourth issue which I hope that you will enjoy. This issue doesn´t have a theme. And if it would have had, it would have been "Art & technology" again. I am very happy that Art Orbit got the permission to present a large block of sound files from the Media Art Symposium - MASS ´98- which was held in Stockholm in December. This symposium was missing persons/institutions which really should have been part of audience. The presence of Swedish curators, art critics, gallerists and museums was very sparse. To my big surprise. This ignorance towards a new and expanding form of art - and the top score of international speakers - is hard to explain. However, we give everyone a second chance at Art Orbit where a selection of the most interesting speeches are accessable through Real Player as usual. This issue also contains interviews by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. As always I am amazed by his energy. He seems to be everywhere at the same time, always producing interesting stuff along with the artists. We love it! This time he talks to legendary architect Rem Koolhaas, the very much connected John Brockman, the ever-fighting auto-destructionist Gustav Metzger, and artist Kara Walker who is cutting black paper which question the concept of "the other". Enjoy! And there is much more. For example, there are some artists who appear twice in this issue. You can check out Leif Elggren´s Snapshots and read Håkan Nilsson´s interview with Elggren. You can read the interview with Perry Hoberman and also hear his speech from MASS ´98. Don´t forget to watch the very last video clips from Arkipelag TV! There are also all the articles from our contributing art magazines - Index, Merge, Material and Siksi. Once again I would like to thank their editors for their kind cooperation! Well, I do not really know how to thank you all! But thanks! And goodbye! Yours, Annika Hansson Chief Editor