Deli Near. info (2014) is an intuitive piece to explore the dominance of checking, selecting, and censoring structures and algorithms on the internet. By creating a fully functioning digital social network called Deli Near. info, the artist aimed to intervene in these structures. The work challenged the linear structures that are prevalent in mainstream social media feeds. Instead, users could link various elements like images, websites, texts, and videos in a non-hierarchical structure on a separate page, resulting in a collection of associative collages. While these collages were partly created by individuals, they were mostly the result of collective effort. The overall network formed the artwork, with users' content carrying distinct signatures.

At Cultural Matter, the work was designed not to present interactively. Instead, an artist-made bot clicked through the work in an associative manner, providing visitors with an understanding of the complexity and scale of the networked artwork. The bot's path varied for each visitor, ensuring a unique experience and allowing them to discover different corners of the network. In the exhibition space, the screen-based work was accompanied by two physical whiteboards with magnets displaying images from Deli Near. info. These objects can be viewed as tangible extensions of the online artwork.

Digital art critic, writer and editor Nora Khan spoke with Harm van den Dorpel on the opening evening on 14 March 2018. They contextualised the social network within art history, drawing connections from the early works of Aby Warburg to contemporary networked practices. Additionally, curator and researcher Annet Dekker delivered a lecture on 11 April 2018 that shed light on internet archives, archiving practices, and the growing role of online curators and algorithms.

About Harm van den Dorpel

Harm van den Dorpel plays a key role in the genesis of the post-internet movement. Often in his work, feedback systems are present that connect computer algorithms and networks in order to trigger a dialogue that includes himself. Often in this networked practice, the final image of the work is created. Van den Dorpel lives and works in Berlin. (updated as of March 2018)

Events

Exhibition: 14 March - 25 April 2018 | 17:00-23:00 | LI-MA (Arie Biemondstraat 111, Amsterdam)

Event (1): Cultural Matter: Harm van den Dorpel in conversation with Nora Khan | 14 March 2018 | 20:00

Event (2):Cultural Matter: Annet Dekker on Harm van den Dorpel | 11 April 2018 | 19:30

Images in descending order

• Banner Cultural Matter: Harm van den Dorpel
• Installation view Harm van den Dorpel, Deli Near .info, 2014 at LI-MA, Amsterdam
• Critic Nora Khan in conversation with Harm van den Dorpel

Photos by Jose Miguel Biscaya