DIS/CONNECT

We heavily depend on the internet in our everyday lives – although we spend plenty of time online, we still struggle to define what the internet is. In his essay Non-places: An Introduction to Supermodernity (1992), anthropologist Marc Augé defines a place as a space where bonding and communication are encouraged. Augé also introduces the concept of the "non-place", which is described as a functional and highly impersonal space of consumption or transit (such as a train station). This Maturitätsarbeit explores whether the internet can be considered a non-place. In my theoretical part, I conclude that the internet embodies traits of both types of space: while the internet provides opportunities for bonding, it can also create a sense of solitude as contact often remains virtual. My practical work consists of a series of four pieces, each portraying a different aspect of the internet as a non-place. The internet is represented by components of a laptop, which are incorporated in assemblage, digital art, painting and projection. BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY is about our insatiable need to be connected. Striving for separation depicts surveillance and anonymity. Track me! explores the privacy of user history. Finally, Glitch examines how we present ourselves online and whether our online persona distorts our self-perception.