"Not that there's anything wrong with it, but most experiences on the internet resolve like this: into a sales pitch. Then you scroll to the next video or click to the next post, and it happens again. When designer and digital researcher Mindy Seu finished her performance lecture A Sexual History of the Internet last month at New York's Performance Space, I felt that I had that experience in public instead of in the private, intimate dynamic I usually have with my social media feed."
"Seu's lecture is described in the promotional copy as a gathering of "anecdotes, artworks, and historical artifacts that reveal the pervasive and perverted origins of our digital tools." Like Seu's last performance lecture tour on the Cyberfeminism Index, this show is quite popular. All events thus far have sold out. It heads to the Kunstverein in Hamburg and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo next."
"My friend and I were scrambling to find seats together when Seu entered holding a microphone and began to give us instructions. We had to take out our phones, turn up the brightness and the sound, turn on the "Do Not Disturb" function, and open Instagram. As neither my friend nor I had the app, I downloaded it quickly, all the while wondering how long it would take me to delete it again."
A sold-out performance lecture traced the sexualized and commercial origins of digital tools through anecdotes, artworks, and historical artifacts. The event reframed private online behaviors as public performance by prompting the audience to use their smartphones during the show. Attendees were asked to increase brightness and sound, enable Do Not Disturb, and open Instagram, prompting some to download the app on the spot. The setting included casual mingling, an influencer presence, and a dimly lit room with scattered chairs, creating an intimate yet socially mediated atmosphere. The program is popular and will travel to venues in Hamburg and Tokyo.
Read at ARTnews.com
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