Our world now has another layer of reality on top of it, one made up of everything digital. Our lives are lived as much on the internet as in the streets. What could once seem like a distant and separate world has undeniably infiltrated every corner of our existences. What is the effect of this technological takeover on our most basic human function, our emotions ?

The digital has pushed affect to its extremes, whether in the mind numbing banality of social media or the overload of viral debates; the warping of space-time or the ultra accessibility of information. On the internet, we witness touching vulnerability and honesty, as well as blatant inauthenticity. The emotional state of our digital world is affecting us in strong and visceral ways – the physicality of the internet is no longer under question, just as neuroscience has shown that emotions are first and foremost a physical reaction. The internet has confirmed the multifaceted aspect of emotions : now more than ever, we know that emotions are social and political. In the past decade, we were sometimes painfully reminded that emotion is still the driving force of society, from the personal testimonies of the #metoo movement to the numerous fake news scandals. And emotion, like data, is also traded and speculated on, manipulated, fabricated and monitored, whether by governments, private interests or massive corporations that design and control the interfaces we use (with catastrophic human and environmental impact). And on the other hand, via these interfaces, close communities organize themselves and personal development flourishes when elsewhere it failed to take root. From one end or the other, feelings are prevalent in this new reality. Thus, the internet is a whole lot of affect crashing and speeding and multiplying : memes, forums, tweets, temporary stories, emojis, tutorials, vlogs, wikipedia articles even, everything that makes up the internet is moving information loaded with expressivity and it all relies on one underlying structure : code, or in other words, pure language. The internet, akin to language, is the one of the greatest and most complex tool ever for expressing feelings, and in this light, it is impossible to assume that the medium hasn’t affected the message. We shape our tools, and thereafter they shape us. How has the internet affected our relationship to our emotions ?

We process the world through feelings – finding ways of effectively expressing them in a world where nihilism reigns (perhaps rightly), a world where we are ever more aware of our own shortcomings as a species, of the global complexity of, well, everything, really, is essential for staying sane and, simply, living, while we can.

Group shows

  • May Abnet (BE) @vvvalala
  • Mathilde Block & Louis Garrido (BE+FR) @mathiblock/ + @louisrodeo
  • Tega Brain & Sam Lavigne (AUS+US) http://www.tegabrain.com/+ https://lav.io
  • Fiona Brunet (FR) @fio.ki
  • Laura Brunisholz (BE) https://laurabrunisholz.com/ + @laurabrunisholz
  • Martin Campillo (FR) http://copyright.rip/+ @detertiarisation
  • Sarah Dessardo (FR) @mononokecomplex
  • Alexa Detorakis & Dimitri Karastokas (CAN/GRE) Http://themostqualifiedpersonforthejob.com + @theworstpoet/ / @baklavaandcowboys
  • Giuliana Diada (IT/BE) http://giulianadiada.com/ + @translating_traditions
  • Darian Donovan Thomas (US) https://darianthomas.myportfolio.com/ + @darian.donovan.thomas
  • Héloïse Doret    (BE)
  • Xavier Duffaut (BE) @xa_vier_du_faux
  • Thiaba Egutchi Diop & Lena O’Faigan Konishi (FR/JP/SEN & FR/IRL/JP) @egutchi_/ & @lenaxko
  • Gabriel René Franjou (FR/USA) http://grf.copyright.rip/  + @grf.zip
  • Marie Frenois    (FR) mariefrenois.eu + @marie___www
  • Madeleine Gerles (FR) @megamadelon
  • Léo Gillet (BE) @lelegillet
  • TPO (Technological Powers Observatory) (BE) @tpo.world
  • Miebi Iyeyemi    (FR/USA). @utilisateur387
  • Joséphine Jadot (BE) @josephinejadot
  • Clément Lambelet (CH/FR) https://c-lambelet.com/ +@clement_lambelet
  • Zeste Le Reste (FR/BE) http://zeste.ee/ + @zeste.ee
  • Hadrien Loumaye (BE) https://hadrienloumaye1.netlify.app/ + @hadrienloumaye
  • Seokyung Kim (KR) http://www.seokyungkim.com
  • Sophia Msaoubi (FR) http://sophiamsaoubi.com
  • Sylvain Peters (BE)
  • Victoria Primina (BE) @victori4primin4
  • Kénia Raphaël (BE) @kenia.raphael
  • Gladys Sauvage (BE) https://gladyssauvage.tumblr.com
  • Laurel Schwulst & Gene McHugh (USA) https://laurelschwulst.com/ + @laurelschwulst
  • Davy Styles (USA) https://radical.town/@fructose_dealer
  • Dorian Timmermans (BE) https://dorian.systems/ + @ungueale.blade
  • Yanmeng Zhang (CHN)

Résidences Instagram / Instagram Residencies

  • Trevor Bazile (USA) @trevor_memes_bazil420
  • Tom Galle (BE) @zero.emission.memes.2025/ + http://tomgalle.online
  • Soaking Wet Angel (USA) @soaking_wet_angel
  • Selyes (TR) @_______________________10_0
  • Luz de Amor (CO/BE) @luz_deamor
  • Laura Brunisholz (BE) https://laurabrunisholz.com/ + @laurabrunisholz

Readings

  • Adebissi Agnes Adeye/ Butchibou (DE/BEN) @bissiadeye
  • Luz de Amor (CO/BE) @luz_deamor
  • Gabriel René Franjou (FR) http://grf.copyright.rip/  + https://www.instagram.com/grf.zip
  • Elke de Rijcke (BE) http://elkederijcke.be/new
  • Loïs Soleil (FR)

Intervenant.es / Speakers

  • Éric Cyuzuzo (BE)
  • Éric est activiste et travailleur culturel. Vit et travaille à Bruxelles.
  • Giovanni Frazetto (IT/IR)
  • Giovanni est neuroscientifique travaillant sur les émotions. Vit et travaille en Irlande.
  • Nargisse Mhammedi (BE)
  • Nargisse est herboriste et modératrice de safes spaces. Vit et travaille à Bruxelles.
  • Peggy Pierrot (BE)
  • Peggy est travailleuse intellectuelle et penseuse des médias. Vit et travaille à Bruxelles. http://peggy.pierrot.work

Organisation & Curation

  • Martin Campillo (FR) http://copyright.rip/+ @detertiarisation
  • Gabriel René Franjou (FR/USA) http://grf.copyright.rip/  + @grf.zip
  • Laurie Giraud (FR) @lauriegrd
  • Colin Roustan (FR)
  • Tega Brain & Sam Lavigne - Get Well Soon : https://getwellsoon.labr.io/
  • Thiaba Egutchi Diop & Lena O'Faigan Konishi - Love Letter
  • Xavier Duffaut - Forever Loading Web Pages
  • Gabriel René Franjou - My Calling (web) : http://grf.copyright.rip/mycalling/
  • Seokyung Kim - Encyclopedia of emotion : https://github.com/seo-kyung/Encyclopedia-of-Emotion (only local for now)
  • Zeste Le Reste - Things I liked : http://zeste.ee/things.html
  • Sophia Msaoubi - Erhewon
  • Dorian Timmermans - My Favorite Color
  • Laurel Schwulst & Gene McHugh - When all of my friends are on at once : https://allmyfriendsatonce.com/#0
  • Davy Styles : https://3e3e3e3.neocities.org/
right in the feels Know your meme page : https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/557213-feels

By us

  • Are.na open channel (feel free to add) : https://www.are.na/gabriel-rene-franjou/right-in-the-feels
  • Spotify Playlist (fuck Spotify tho) : https://www.are.na/gabriel-rene-franjou/right-in-the-feels

Websites

  • Rhizome https://rhizome.org/
  • Net Art Anthology : https://anthology.rhizome.org/
  • E-flux Journal https://www.e-flux.com/
  • The Wrong https://thewrong.org/
  • DIS MAGAZINE https://dis.art/
  • Dis.art https://dis.art/
  • New Aesthetic https://new-aesthetic.tumblr.com/
  • Library Of the Printed Web https://libraryoftheprintedweb.tumblr.com/

Article & Essays

  • A drop of love in the cloud https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/fei-liu-a-drop-of-love-in-the-cloud/
  • In Defense of the Poor Image by Hito Steyerl https://www.e-flux.com/journal/10/61362/in-defense-of-the-poor-image/
  • Politics of Post-Representation by Hito Steyerl http://dismagazine.com/disillusioned-2/62143/hito-steyerl-politics-of-post-representation/
  • An Essay On The New Aesthetic : https://www.wired.com/2012/04/an-essay-on-the-new-aesthetic/
  • Xenofeminism -A Politics for Alienation by Laboria Cuboniks : https://laboriacuboniks.net/manifesto/xenofeminism-a-politics-for-alienation/
  • Digital ressources for a Mouvement Against Police Violence https://rhizome.org/editorial/2020/jun/03/digital-resources-for-a-movement-against-police-violence/
  • Empathy is Not Enough, part 1 - How empathy became a buzzword in the games industry by Lana Polansky https://rhizome.org/editorial/2019/mar/27/empathy-is-not-enough-part-1/
  • On the “We” of Transmediale By Phoebe Cripps https://rhizome.org/editorial/2018/feb/27/on-the-we-of-transmediale/
  • Cat Pictures Please : http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_01_15/
  • The Meta-Ironic Era http://thephilosophersmeme.com/2017/09/09/the-meta-ironic-era/
  • On Oasis of Horror in an internet of boredom by Angela Nagle https://thebaffler.com/latest/transgression-nagle
  • Hell is Other Internet People by Josie Thaddeus-Johns https://thebaffler.com/latest/hell-is-other-internet-people-thaddeus-johns
  • We Know How You Feel https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/19/know-feel
  • Affect Theory and the New Age of Anxiety https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/25/affect-theory-and-the-new-age-of-anxiety
  • Trevor Paglen Plumbs the internet by Tim Sohn https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/trevor-paglen-plumbs-the-internet-at-metro-pictures-gallery
  • Why do change our avatars after a Tragedy ? By Vinson Cunnigham https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/change-avatars-tragedy?mbid=social_facebook
  • The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web by Robert McFarlane https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web
  • The quest to make code work like biology just took a big step by Cade Metz https://www.wired.com/2016/06/chef-just-took-big-step-quest-make-code-work-like-biology/?mbid=social_fb
  • If Walt Whitman Vlogged by Kenneth Goldsmith https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/if-walt-whitman-vlogged
  • The Internet Lives in a Huge Hotel in Manhattan https://www.wired.com/2015/11/peter-garritano-where-the-internet-lives/
  • This Is Where It Ends: The Denouement of Post-Internet Art in Jon Rafman’s Deep Web
  • https://momus.ca/this-is-where-it-ends-the-denouement-of-post-internet-art-in-jon-rafmans-deep-web/
  • In Praise of the Flaneur : https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/10/17/in-praise-of-the-flaneur/
  • The Ecstasy of Influence by Johnathan Lethem : https://harpers.org/archive/2007/02/the-ecstasy-of-influence/
  • The Rise and Fall of Internet Art Communities by Kelsey Ables
  • https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-rise-fall-internet-art-communities
  • Scientists explain how happiness makes us less creative by Ephrat Livni https://qz.com/790226/happiness-creativity-neuroscience/?utm_source=qzfb
  • Trending Trauma by Lauren Michele Jackson https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/11/13/trending-trauma/
  • Technologie : la rebellion ou la survie par Evgeny Morozov https://blog.mondediplo.net/la-rebellion-ou-la-survie
  • Google’s improbable deal to recreate the real world in VR https://www.wired.com/2016/12/googles-improbable-deal-recreate-real-world-vr/?mbid=social_fb

Videos

  • Cecile B Evans Interview : The Virtual is Real : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDe_W11KY4c
  • Cecile B Evans : What The Heart Wants Lecture : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSgz3SxIrf4
  • Rhubarb – Aphex Twin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AWIqXzvX-U
  • Recode by Vox https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5eXhp_RaSKeGUs0YYb8XAKt

Podcasts

  • La Vie Numérique https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/la-vie-numerique
  • Reply All https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all