[theoh]

I don't really know about intersection of art and hacking, maybe Dorkbot, Ars Electronica, MIT's http://hackingarts.com/

Most artists work in what is sometimes called MCA (mainstream contemporary art) as opposed to NMA (new media art). The use of TLAs to describe the sub-fields is something Ed Shanken invented, coming from the tech side. If you google "MCA NMA art" you can get an insight into that discourse.

Apart from digital tech, a lot of artists are into bricolage and DIY engineering. I don't have a good link to a web resource for that scene, maybe because their focus is on individualistic tinkering on mechanical devices, not web media.

You could try Michael Craig Martin's recent book for general thoughts on artistic practice.

A really good extract from "Akademie X":

http://www.artspace.com/magazine/news_events/book_report/car...