Internet Core: Tiny mythologies

Internet Core : Tiny mythologies  is a tribal portal to a space of crossover, critical reflection and collective action around internet aesthetics and subcultures. In this two-day meeting, we will share experiences about cores that emerge as forms of resistance within commercial social networks and that converge with dynamics developed in dark and deep spaces of the web. The event will bring together artists, users, cultural agents and theorists, and will include talks, performances and roundtables with the aim of promoting a unit of artistic research on the Internet Core condition and avoiding the programmatic isolation of platforms. 

The Internet Core condition emerges from the perspective of digital natives, the dystopian present and the profound questioning of binary structures - digital/physical, real/virtual, human/machine, material/immaterial. In a purely corporate online present dominated by private companies that support worrying dynamics, Internet Core emerges as a response from artistic practice that brings to light different ways of being online. On the other hand, from a chronological review, this condition brings to the table perspectives and positions critical of the ‘post-internet’ label, whose attempt to dissolve the boundaries between artistic disciplines ended up consolidating a concrete list of privileged artists. 

At the gathering on 24-25 September, we will recreate our tiny mythologies around a post-digital campfire, narrating personal narratives, and sharing emotions and reflections of our online activity. Through hyper-specific identities, fandom, shitposting, cores, AI slop and inspirational image archives, we will find signifiers of this small-scale present.  

IC held its first edition "Internet Core. Aesthetics of Digital Disaster" on 3 and 4 April 2025 organised by Diana Millán, Ezequiel Soriano, and Geert Lovink at Santa Mònica and Hangar, Barcelona.  

Participants: Netsequé, Laura Paloma, Mariem Iman, Gabriele de Seta, The Void, Voidsent, Ambientador.exe, Leah J. Liu, Andrés C. Sacristán, Kafheina, Héctor Fuertes 

Organised by: Medialab Matadero and Nigredo.tv.  
Coordination: Diana Millán and Ezequiel Soriano.  
In collaboration with: Institute of Network Cultures (HvA), DeVisiones (UAM), Mediaccions (UOC). 

Website: networkcultures.org/internetcore 
Image: @4nd7ro  
Rapporteur: Jardines Vallados + @ivanmcgill 

Date: 24-25 September from 18:00 to 22:00h  
Location: Nave una, Medialab Matadero  
Language: Spanish and English  
Free admission, subject to capacity