‘The internet hasn’t made us bad, we were already like that’: The mistake of yearning for the ‘friendly’ online world of 20 years ago
Some artists and movements are claiming back the innocent world wide web of 25 years ago, but other experts note that all the current errors already existed back then, and that this nostalgia is preventing us from focusing on finding solutions
In the visuals of María Escarmiento’s concerts, as in those of many other figures of the urban scene, iPods, Blackberry phones and screenshots of Fotolog, Messenger or Tuenti appear often. A large part of the public is too young to have used these technologies, but they know what these devices and websites were used for. Even they associate them with a time when virtual spaces were more welcoming, fun and habitable. Such is the force of the Y2K aesthetic or Flow 2K, one of the latest revivals that, as in all artistic disciplines, entails revisiting and reinterpreting the designs and interfaces of electronic devices from around 20 years ago.
