Postinternet Art and Its Afterlives

by Ian Rothwell

Focusing on the ‘postinternet’ art of the 2010s, this volume explores the widespread impact of recent internet culture on the formal and conceptual concerns of contemporary art. The ‘postinternet’ art movement is splintered and loosely defined, both in terms of its form and its politics, and has come under significant critique for this reason. This study will provide this definition, offering a much-needed critical context for this period of artistic activity that has had, and is still having major impact on contemporary culture. The book presents a picture of what the art and culture made within and against the constraints of online experience looks, sounds, and feels like. It includes works by Petra Cortright, Jon Rafman, Jordan Wolfson, DIS, Amalia Ulman, and Thomas Ruff, and presents new analyses of case studies drawn from the online worlds of the 2010s, including vaporwave, anonymous image board culture, ‘irony bros’ and ‘edgelords’, viral extreme sports stunts, and GIFs. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, contemporary art and digital culture.

182 pages, Hardcover

Published December 19, 2023