World wide web

Maximilian Völter

Painting - Acrylic on canvas

120 x 150 x 3 cm

In a polarized world, characterized by strong opinions, few gray areas, and a shrinking public space, we have hoped for a new form of mutual connection from the digital realm ever since its inception. Started with the promise of a novel form of freedom, an almost neo-romantic vision of the future, we have now reached a critical tipping point. We feel superior, as if we have everything under control, yet this appearance is deceptive. There is a sense that as a consequence of our arrogance, something may have slipped away from us, and we have become lost in the strands of the network, have become static and unable to move even a little from our respective positions. We linger on them like on small islands, declaring ourselves voluntarily or involuntarily their undisputed rulers, condemned to loneliness. And all that, even though these strands were once supposed to connect us. With that in mind the question of meaningfulness inevitably arises. How do we deal with a space that promised much but from which we could extract so little of that promise? Is there still a chance to correct this relationship? To actually fill this space with life, instead of just appropriating and personalizing it? Especially against the backdrop of the increasing use of artificial intelligence, the question arises whether we will succeed in making this space peaceful in the future, or whether we will be compromised by it and ultimately condemned to wither in the complexities of the World Wide Web. As sad rulers on barren islands, alone, without real opportunities for exchange and yet full of longing for touch and humanity. We still have the choice. Do we choose static isolation and undisputed sole rulership over ourselfs and our own little islands, or do we choose the possibility of harmonious connectedness? It’s up to us.