Oblomov’s Dream

An Art Practice-Led Enquiry Into Radical Boredom in the Network World

Abstract

A refusal to engage with, or to share in, a digital network culture that demands a permanent state of receptivity can be a powerful statement both personally and politically. In this paper I discuss how strategies of resistance to the technological enframing of experience in the network world may be developed through a kind of ‘radical boredom,’ developed in response to the ‘radical distraction’ (Morozov) of the network world. I explore this in relation to my 2015 video work Oblomov’s Dream, referencing Jan Verwoert’s concept of performing dissent through embracing ‘I Can’t’ as a form of agency.