two handwritten letters jeroen van loon collected during his travels

in 2010, dutch designer jeroen van loon began travelling and investing the presence (and non presence) of the internet in various corners of the earth, trying to generate a representation of the extreme possibilities of our access to the world wide web – from a village in west papua, where nobody has even heard of the concept of internet, over to the bustling metropolis of singapore, where constantly being virtually connected has a strong impact on everyday life and in a way controls society.

jeroen interviewed all types of people he met during his travels, asking each one to hand-write a letter describing the influence of access to the internet on his or her daily life. he chose this as his medium, as by looking at our digital world through the traditional technique of handwritten letters, we are able to discover original and personal stories which portray our global digitalization. the ‘life needs internt’ installation shows the growing influence of digital media on different cultures and on one’s personal life. it is not meant to criticize our increasingly technologically-based modern world, but rather, leaves the question of whether it is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ open for the public to decide for themselves. the project discusses ‘digital awareness’ in regards to time, technology, society, information, generations… and why for those of us who do have access to the information superhighway, do we keep turning on our screens.

jeroen van loon: life needs internet two handwritten letters

jeroen van loon: life needs internet ‘life needs internet’ installation view

jeroen van loon: life needs internet each person is identified by their name, age, location and occupation

jeroen van loon: life needs internet installation view

jeroen van loon: life needs internet ‘life needs internet’

jeroen van loon: life needs internet eight selected authors

jeroen van loon: life needs internet a papua woman writing about digital technology

jeroen van loon: life needs internet jeroen van loon finding places without digital technology

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.