Description
Parodying the Madonna del Granduca, I wanted to explore how our reliance on digital technology has become religious in the omnipresence and reverence toward our digital devices and the world they “open” up for us.
Though the creators of our digital age are men, much like God is believed to be, the “caretakers” (those that drive the social internet through interacting and creating communities), like Madonna, are predominantly young women. I represent the care of the Internet like the care of children: not only do young women go unacknowledged in their child care (and their role in maintaining and monetizing the Internet), but they are doubly burdened by the amplification of perception, objectification, and marginalization of women’s bodies by the Internet.
By reframing the Madonna as a young and ordinary caretaker, rather than a holy mother, I hope to challenge viewers to acknowledge their own religious attachment to the internet and to see the uncompensated work women have put into growing the internet and digital communities.
