The ‘post-human’ Internet dimension: Ai Weiwei and Cao Fei online

This article presents an argument for the Internet as a novel ‘post-human’ dimension where individuals around the world can explore possibilities for social engagement in a virtual environment beyond the confines of their ‘real’ lives. Artists take to the Internet to conceive original forms of aesthetic expression outside of ordinary objective existence; the diversity encountered within the Internet realm reflects the complexity of our human condition in the twenty-first century. While the authorities in mainland China continue to patrol cyberspace in an effort to maintain control over actual society, some Chinese artists are finding ways to engage the digital sphere to create virtual communities, political opportunities and sensual experiences that transcend corporeal and ideological borders – ostensibly the post-human environs of the Internet surpasses our human reality. Through their dynamic use of social media and other online platforms, artists such as Ai Weiwei and Cao Fei are redefining social activism and artistic praxis in China today.