In Pictures: How do you tell the story of the Internet?

Electronic SuperHighway show — A new exhibit at the Whitechapel Gallery looks back at 50 years of digital art, tracking a complex relationship between art and technology through the eyes of over 70 artists.

Whitechapel Gallery is launching a major retrospective on art in the digital age. Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966) is massive, with over 70 artists covering a period of 50 years in a wide variety of mediums.

The exhibition, which is curated by Omar Kholeif and Séamus McCormack, features work that anticipated and responded to computer and Internet technologies. While showcasing the chequered story of the Internet’s development, the exhibition tracks the way art has changed alongside it. Documenting the history of the Internet has become a serious problem in the past decade. For one, as the amount of content grows and technology evolves, it becomes harder to access those cheesy old blogs you made when you were 13.

One of the artists in the show, Olia Lialina, has gotten creative with the archive process, developing an art/research project with Dragan Espenschied centred on the former web hosting service GeoCities – mining screenshots from an archive of GeoCities sites and presenting them on One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age.

This week Rhizome received an Andrew C. Mellon Foundation grant to develop Webrecorder, an open source “archival tool to create high-fidelity, interactive, contextual archives” of the internet’s content. Both One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age and Webrecorder speak to the threat posed by the Internet’s ephemerality: the culmination of unimaginable wasted hours exposed to the sands of time.

Asymmetric Love (2013) by Addie Wagenknecht, Courtesy bitforms gallery, New York. Photograph by David Payr © Addie Wagenknecht

The exhibition is arranged in backwards chronology, starting in 2015 with new artwork, and ending with the 1966 Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) group. E.A.T. was based out of New York and was seminal in linking artists and the industrial technology sector, with collaborations from Andy Warhol, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and John Cage.

E.A.T.-News-–-Vol.-1 by Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.)

The artists range from the cheeky to the severe. Cory Arcangel, whose piece in the exhibit was paired with the release of his own surfware line in November, describing it as “somewhere between suburban mall goth and self-help, […] aimed towards content creators of all ages,” represent a tongue-in-cheek millennial approach to the internet’s kitschy aesthetic history.

Snowbunny/Lakes (2015 by Cory Arcangel

Snowbunny/Lakes (2015) by Cory Arcangel

James Bridle’s piece Homo Sacer (2014) is an uncanny installation piece that speaks to an alternate history of technology. It features a hologram (like those that have been popping up in airports and government buildings) that repeats lines from UK, EU and UN legislation emphasizing the violent nature of citizenship and government control.

Homo Sacer by James Bridle

Homo Sacer (2014) by James Bridle

Using a more traditional medium, Celia Hempton captures the internet’s slippery erotic life. Hempton paints arresting portraits of anonymous men from internet meeting-places like Chatroulette.

Aldo and Jesi, Albania, 16th August 2014 by Celia Hampton

Aldo and Jesi, Albania, 16th August 2014 (2014) by Celia Hampton

Some of the other artists include Douglas Coupland, Trevor Paglen, Nam June Paik, Jon Rafman, Hito Steyerl and Amalia Ulman.

Whitechapel Gallery is also presenting a series of events to accompany the exhibition. The gallery’s film, animation and video programme, Artist’s Film International, will be screening Rachel Maclean’s Germs (2013). The short and haunting parody of female-targted advertising can be watched below

Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966) runs from 29 January to 15 May 2016.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.


You might like

Surreal abstract illustration featuring pink and grey organic shapes and forms on a dark background.
Culture

Inside the weird world of audio porn

Porn without pictures — Storyline-driven and ethical, imageless erotica exploded during the pandemic. Jess Thomson speaks to the creators behind the microphones.

Written by: Jess Thomson

Group of young people dancing and embracing at a nightclub, with neon lighting and colourful outfits.
Culture

On a night out with the cast of Skins, Ewen Spencer captured millennial hedonism in all its unabated, messy glory

One Night in Watford — Commissioned to take promotional pictures for the generation-defining teen drama before it hit screens, the legendary youth culture photographer revisits the fun-fuelled evening, which was equal parts work and play, in his new photobook. 

Written by: Isaac Muk

Colourful collage of album covers and record sleeves on display in a gallery or museum setting, with glass panels on either side reflecting the vibrant arrangement.
Culture

Largest-Ever Display of UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Opens at Tate Modern

Grief Made Visible — Comprising hundreds of panels made by lovers, friends and chosen family, the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt returns in full for the first time since 1994 – a testament to grief, friendship and the ongoing fight against HIV stigma.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Children playing in a park fountain, black and white image
Culture

The carnival and community of New York’s block parties

Soul of the Summer — Since attending his first street party in Crown Heights two decades ago, photographer Anderson Zaca has spent his summers travelling across New York’s five boroughs, documenting over 300 in the process.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Diverse group of people with various expressions and styles, surrounded by bold text and graphics in dark colours.
Culture

Remembering New York’s ’90s gay scene via its vibrant nightclub flyers

Getting In — After coming out in his 20s, David Kennerley became a fixture on the city’s queer scene, while pocketing invites that he picked up along the way. His latest book dives into his rich archive.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Huck 79

We are all Mia Khalifa

How humour, therapy and community help Huck's latest cover star control her narrative.

Written by: Alya Mooro

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...