I Was Raised on the Internet

This summer, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents the landmark exhibition I Was Raised on the Internet, an immersive and participatory show examining the impact of the internet and how it has changed the way we experience the world. With nearly 100 interactive artworks from 1998 to the present, I Was Raised on the Internet spans photography, painting, sculpture, film and video, as well as emerging technologies, interactive computer works, and virtual reality. I Was Raised on the Internet presents a global range of artists working in new media such as Oculus Rift and platforms like Facebook and Snapchat, looking at culture and 'trending' content and how interacting with the world has shifted through constant exchange on the internet. Organized by Omar Kholeif, MCA Senior Curator and Director of Global Initiatives, I Was Raised on the Internet runs from June 23 to October 14, 2018 and is supported by a lead grant from the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation.

I Was Raised on the Internet examines the influence of gaming and entertainment, as well as social media and smart phones, on everyday life. Taking 1998 as a starting point, the exhibition decodes a generation of artists and viewers who have come to speak a unique vocabulary that has emerged with the new millennium. In addition to the idea of a millennial, the exhibition explores terms such as 'post-internet' and 'post-digital,' used by artists to imply a new, instant culture. Throughout the exhibition, the viewer becomes an active agent, engaging in new forms of technology and participating with the works both in the galleries and the digital works hosted online.

Highlights of the show include a series of photographs from artist Amalia Ulman's four-month Instagram project Excellences & Perfections, examining the influence of social media on attitudes toward the female body; an immersive, glowing matrix-like space by Hito Steyerl called Factory of the Sun; a hub connected to a private network by MacArthur genius grantee Trevor Paglen, called Autonomy Cube, in which visitors can surf the web anonymously; and a sculpture and video installation by Simon Denny that critiques the politics of cyptocurrencies, including bitcoin, and the economics of the internet.