I Long for Network Spirituality

Announcement flyer for I Long for Network Spirituality (Hunters & Collectors, New Zealand / online, 2021).

I Long for Network Spirituality was the debut exhibition by Remilia Collective, curated by Charlotte Fang and presented simultaneously at Hunters & Collectors, New Zealand, and online at https://ilongfornetworkspirituality.net in 2021.

The exhibition marked the first public appearance of Remilia as an organized artistic entity and introduced the collective’s central philosophical concept, Network Spirituality, which would become the foundation for its later projects, including Milady Maker (2021) and the New Net Art Manifesto (2022).

Overview

I Long for Network Spirituality functioned as both an exhibition and a performative statement of identity. It introduced Remilia as a hybrid institution—at once collective, brand, and digital avant-garde—and presented the network as the site of artistic transcendence and self-organization.

The title, selected by Fang from a list of suggestions by collective members, originated with **FODKORP**, whose proposed phrase encapsulated the group’s underlying orientation toward spirituality in the digital domain. Fang subsequently defined network spirituality as the framework for network-native art practice, emphasizing post-authorship, transcendental participation, and distributed creation.

Exhibition Concept

The exhibition’s concept text, written by Charlotte Fang and circulated both physically and online, served as an early statement of Remilia’s ethos. It was regarded informally as the first Remilia Manifesto until the publication of the broader New Net Art Manifesto the following year.

“Welcome to Remilia

We are an embodiment – We're God's little warriors, We're network kommandos. We're whitepilled. We're lawyered up, in the court of clout. Nothing we can do can be cringe, except when it is and then we don't care, we don't care. We're live laugh lovers, and we put all our points into karma, charm and beauty. We're cDJs, we're fashion models, we're microdosers, and supplement freaks. We're lindy, we're Wired, we're Not in Employment Education or Training. We're viral cryptoxillionaires. We don't have to try. We're the new art.

And so we self-organized into Remilia.

Remilia is an institution. Remilia is a self-organization. Remilia is a lifestyle brand. Remilia is a master-planned community. Remilia is an investment fund. Remilia is an artist's colony. Remilia is a crowdfunded video game. Remilia is an autonomous smart contract. Remilia is an independent record label. Remilia is a community center for the digital village. Remilia is a manifesto. Remilia will save the internet.”

This text combined ironic internet vernacular with metaphysical aspiration, establishing Remilia’s characteristic fusion of humor, faith, and digital identity.

Participants

The exhibition featured works by the following artists:

• Atrpntime – digital illustrations combining psychedelic and anime influences, exploring altered states and paranormal imagery.
• Milady Sonora – text-based works and digital prints addressing performance, LARP, and romantic mysticism within online culture.
• Mara Barl – mixed-media and video works incorporating visionary and autobiographical elements, exploring psychosis and religious symbolism.
• Ilyena Nienel – mouse-drawn digital character designs, emphasizing spontaneity, liminality, and intuition in composition.
• FODKORP – digital collages and video pieces referencing early web aesthetics, risk management culture, and design nostalgia.
• Wretched Worm -
• Chensi Fang – video installation composed from recycled internet fragments, juxtaposing abundance and decay, and reflecting on mediated experience and confinement.

Each artist’s practice reflected aspects of early network-native aesthetics: appropriation, digital nostalgia, para-religious themes, and the negotiation between irony and sincerity.

Presentation

The exhibition was presented both physically and virtually. At the Hunters & Collectors gallery, installations included:

• A ThinkPad X11 displaying a live early alpha of Remilia Chat, an anonymous realtime chatroom interface designed by Charlotte Fang visible to both the physical audience and online viewers.
• A simultaneous livestream linking the gallery space to the online exhibition, enabling interaction between remote and in-person participants.
• Digital illustrations by Atrpntime, Milady Sonora, Mara Barl, and Ilyena Nienel exhibited as prints.
• Video works by FODKORP and Chensi Fang shown respectively on CRT monitors and projection screens.

This dual format expressed the show’s central theme: the network as simultaneous medium, subject, and spiritual environment.

Significance

I Long for Network Spirituality is the first public event debuting Remilia’s artistic identity. It introduced:

• The articulation of network spirituality as Remilia’s defining concept.
• The performative merging of art, community, and brand identity.
• The synthesis of post-irony and transcendentalism.
• A prototype for later hybrid digital–physical exhibitions within the New Net Art movement.

The show’s declaration “Remilia will save the internet” became emblematic of the group’s self-mythologizing and utopian ambition.

Reception

The exhibition drew attention in the New York Downtown Art Scene, including participation from art critic Dean Kissick and artist/writer Honer Levy.

In retrospectives, I Long for Network Spirituality is considered a bridge between the post-internet generation and Remilia’s network-native era—a declaration that the locus of art had shifted from gallery systems to self-organized digital exhibition; and kicking off the Transcendental Turn in art.

Legacy

Following the exhibition, the ideas expressed in I Long for Network Spirituality were expanded into the New Net Art Manifesto (2022) and the conceptual framework of Network Spirituality. The show’s language and structure directly lead into the development of Milady Maker and Remilia’s broader understanding of artistic production as spiritual practice within the network. The exhibition was a major moment for the emerging 2021 Vibe Shift scene.

See also

• Network Spirituality
• Remilia Manifesto
• Transcendental Turn
• Charlotte Fang
• FODKORP
• Remilia
• New Net Art
• Milady Maker
• Bonkler

References

• I Long for Network Spirituality exhibition text, 2021. [[1](https://ilongfornetworkspirituality.net/main.html) Archived online.]
• Hunters & Collectors, New Zealand. Exhibition documentation, 2021.
• Fang, Charlotte. Show statement and curation notes. Remilia Archives, 2021.

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