The readings that we began this week with are transforming our topics of interest in this class from the older ways of the internet and launching into the present and the future. One paper discusses ‘postinternet art’ and what this is saying about our society, including both artists and the people surrounding art who purchase, enjoy and critic it. Elisavet Christou, the author of this says, “Internet culture becomes just culture, a new cultural reality that composes the fabric of our everyday lives” (128). In previous decades, the culture of the internet has been its own thing. People who post internet art were seen as strictly internet artists, and even simply users of the internet were potentially looked at differently because of their decision to spend time on a screen. However, today this has changed entirely, and boundaries are constantly being broken around what the culture of the internet once was.
Christou uses the term ‘appropriate’ quite a lot throughout her writing to describe the process that is occurring to internet art today and use that to identify the shifts and predict future outcomes. A definition that she gives says that “to appropriate is to adopt, borrow, recycle, sample, or simply use pre-existing material in ways that form the concept, structure and nature of the end-result” (127). It is interesting to consider this specific classification of the term, and the importance that comes along with it. Due to the massive amount of content that is out on the internet today it can be difficult to see something and not be inspired by it, as an artist. To use this pre-existing material in a way that does not entirely form the content, structure or nature of a new piece can be a challenge, perhaps when using certain mediums such as painting or other forms of art that require more physical materials.
When it comes to internet art, it was initially much less of a challenge to avoid appropriation, however as time goes on this is becoming less and less true. “…By appropriating the internet, its technology and its content, we are appropriating all culture” (129). Because the internet has become such a relevant part of our culture as a society today, the appropriation of the websites and art that people create on the internet could potentially have negative effects on our culture as an entirety. This makes me think about artificial intelligence and what an impact it is having even today on our world. As we continue to advance technologically as a society, especially during these COVID times where we are almost forced to, I believe that the internet is going to transform into an even more relevant aspect of our culture. The way that we choose to create and recreate will be important to our future, and if the internet continues to be appropriated, we may end up losing the diversity and excitement of the internet altogether.
One final point that stuck with me from Christou’s pieces is the idea that an inside joke is not necessarily “inside” these days, as it can just as easily be referring to an internet meme or video that has gone viral. There is a sense of a lack of privacy that comes from the internet being appropriated, and I am curious as to where this is heading as we continue to advance.
Elisavet Christou. “It’s Just the Internet! Appropriation in Postinternet Art” in Artech2017, September 06-08 2017 [6]
Post-Internet Art’s Lessons for the Pandemic and What Comes After – ARTnews.com