Collection: "ghost kitchen" an exhibition of new works by diallectuals
November 5th, 2024 - January 6th, 2025
Press Release:
Two snake enclosures, similarly organized loosely according to a “left” and a “right” organizational logic. You could argue what you see on the left side are critical send-ups of the past four years, as displayed as a mix of entitlement, ignorance, and carefree mass slaughter. The right snake tank, however, riffs at a popular early internet saying from the early 1990s.
Back then, Usenet and the Internet were largely the domain of a small, and dedicated, professional class of computer professionals and enthusiasts. Each September, however, university students would gain access to the internet and be completely unaware of the predominant customs and protocols of how people engaged with one another.
In 1994, AOL offered access to Usenet groups and an endless stream of new users completely unaccustomed to the existing online etiquette. With such a new paradigm in place, existing users called it “Eternal September” and the phrase, “The Internet is Full. Go Away!” became popularized as a viral way to push against this onslaught.
This installation draws back to that moment and recontextualizes it with 21st century populist vigor, as if to foretell the damage that online addiction would do to society. Guarded by faithful serpents, the borders to the internet are closed, though we are left to wonder whether it falls on individuals themselves, or the manipulation of mass connection, where things have gone awry.
