Dimensions of the Post-Internet Condition : An Exploration through Post-Internet Art

Christou, Elisavet and Gere, Charlie and Hazas, Mike (2022) Dimensions of the Post-Internet Condition : An Exploration through Post-Internet Art. PhD thesis, Computing and Communications.

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Abstract

This thesis introduces post-Internet art as a novel exploratory medium for Internet research. The thesis proposes that post-Internet art as a cultural product of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can operate as an investigating mechanism of the post-Internet condition. Through a rhizomatic methodological approach and the application of a sociotechnical and a technocultural lens, the research work examines post-Internet art’s rhizomatic unity to the world. Post-internet art reflects the developments in ICTs and the World Wide Web approximately from 2005 to 2020, like ubiquitous computing and semantic web. The thesis examines a large number of post-Internet artworks and makes connections to discourse from Internet-related research fields like media theory, digital cultures and digital humanities. Five key dimensions of the post-Internet condition are identified; these are appropriation, mediation, spatiotemporality, publics and public spheres, and identity. The concept of dimensions is used to discuss the ways of considering the post-Internet condition. These ways are analysed as interconnected elements that make up a whole within a historical present. The findings offer a new expanded view into how we can better define and understand our contemporary condition through the medium of post-Internet art. The artworks examined in this thesis include works by artists: Oliver Laric, Jennifer Chan, Krystal South, Jon Rafman, Erica Scourti, Evan Roth, James Bridle, Heath Bunting, Benjamin Grosser, Jay Simons, Guido Segni, Zach Blas, Jonas Lund, Filippo Minelli, Cuadalupe Rosales, Natalie Bookchin, Amalia Ulman, Jeremy Bailey, Ed Fornieles, Bogosi Sekhukhuni and Jake Elwes.