The Blind Alley of Social Platforms?

Critical considerations of network platforms are nothing out of the ordinary and are influenced by several factors: our apprehension about sharing personal data with social media companies, the impact of the rapid advancement of technology and the internet on our understanding of the world, our saturation with network platforms and the content they generate, as well as the acceleration of activities that constitute various aspects of our lives (education, e-commerce, cultural engagement, and relationships). These phenomena became particularly pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public life was abruptly halted and all activities – public, private, interest-based, and work-related – transitioned to the online realm. This significant online migration marked the establishment of a “new normal” for everyone with a functioning internet connection.

As a consequence of several months spent constantly connected, we became oversaturated with the online world. Various art projects and performances in physical space attempted to escape this reality. Perhaps for the first time since the 1990s, there is a collective effort to liberate oneself from virtual environments and rediscover physical spaces, fostering opportunities to share, collaborate, and communicate face-to-face. Nevertheless, these tendencies had already existed in the art world prior to 2020, evident in projects that explored possibilities for departing from or disconnecting from the online realm.

In 2018 and 2019, Finnish visual artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö undertook a performance titled 6 months without (October 2018 – March 2019), during which all her activities took place outside the internet. Throughout a six-month residency at Somerset House Studios in London, all her communication with the outside world was conducted offline. At the beginning of the project, she emailed selected participants to inform them that during this period, they could only contact her via letters, phone calls to her landline, or personal visits, which might evoke a sense of time travel. In addition to these forms of communication, she also organised workshops, seminars, and reading groups, all held at Somerset House Studios. 

The aim of Nastja Säde Rönkkö’s project was to explore alternative forms of citizenship and the formation of communities. It examined both aspects of the internet, posing the questions, “Are we all addicted?” and “Is using the internet beneficial for our brains?” while also acknowledging that the internet connects people and facilitates the creation of new platforms for activism and communication.