A Disillusioned Netizen Sets Out on a Walk Across Internet

Schlosspost Web Resident, March 2016

For his Schlosspost Web Residency on the topic »Decentralization of Internet Art« curated by NETRO, the disillusioned netizen Travis Hallenbeck set out for a walk across the Internet, blocking sites like Google, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and others from his browser for a month. He blogged about where he went, what he saw, and who he met. He also started new accounts to create new art. Below you can find the concept text, that convinced the jury. Read more about the project in an interview with the artist: A Disillusioned Netizen and check out his residency web page.

Concept

After spending most of the past 17 years online, I now rarely go anywhere other than eight sites: Google, Wikipedia, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinboard, Facebook, Youtube and Netflix.

Most of the art I make now is collaged Tumblr thumbnails and text collected on Twitter and Pinboard. It’s a slow process without much impact, and I’ve lost touch with the wider Internet. I often wonder what I’m missing and would be making otherwise.

For the web residency, I’ll block those sites in my browser for a month and blog here about where I go, what I see and who I meet. I’ll start accounts where I’ve never been, make whatever art is possible and link extensively. I’ll push myself to go as far and wide as possible and not obsess over any one place. At the end of the month, I’ll compile everything as a finished work, a map of the Internet as I will then know it.

(I’ll keep my Tumblrs somewhat active through auto-posts from my queue, and I’ll check my email once a day to not miss any urgent messages.)