Post-Internet
movement in arts and criticism
Post-Internet is a loosely defined 21st-century art movement that generally referred to contemporary art concerning the concept of the Internet no longer being perceived as a novelty in society. In 2006, artist Marisa Olson coined the term "postinternet art" to describe her work. The term was then adopted by writer Gene McHugh who authored a blog titled "Post-Internet" in 2009, which further discussed and popularized the concept into a movement growing out of previous Internet Art.
The movement is associated with the 21st century contemporary art world and aimed to reflect the ubiquity of the Internet in the Information Age through practices derived from the Internet as a medium or its effects on aesthetics, culture and society. Notable artists include Jon Rafman, Artie Vierkant, Ryan Trecartin, Brad Troemel, Joshua Citarella, Molly Soda, Cory Arcangel, Stepan Ryabchenko, Parker Ito, Kalup Linzy, Amalia Ulman, Petra Cortright, Ryder Ripps, Andrew Norman Wilson, DIS, Seth Price, Katja Novitskova, Jonathan Monaghan, Rachel de Joode and Lizzie Fitch.
Etymology
In 2006, artist/curator Marisa Olson coined the term "postinternet art" in an attempt to describe her practice. Digital art and the internet date back to the 1970s, post-internet art refers to art made after the internet became a ubiquitous part of day-to-day life. According to the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, rather than referring "to a time 'after' the internet", the term refers to "an internet state of mind". Eva Folks of AQNB wrote that it "references one so deeply embedded in and propelled by the internet that the notion of a world or culture without or outside it becomes increasingly unimaginable, impossible." According to a 2015 article in The New Yorker, the term describes "the practices of artists [whose] artworks move fluidly between spaces, appearing sometimes on a screen, other times in a gallery." Fast Company's Carey Dunne summarizes they are "artists who are inspired by the visual cacophony of the web" and notes that "mediums from Second Life portraits to digital paintings on silk to 3-D-printed sculpture" are used.
There is theoretical overlap with writer and artist James Bridle's term New Aesthetic.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Post-Internet” is movement in arts and criticism. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Post-Internet, movement and arts, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “movement in arts and criticism” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17299972. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2009 and 2015.
Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Post-Internet”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Post-Internet primary sources, Post-Internet archive and Post-Internet research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Post-Internet”?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
- Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Post-Internet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.