Voices of VR #1686: 15 Years of Hand-Written Letters about the Internet in “Life Needs Internet 2010–2025” Installation
Dec 7, 2025
In this conversation, Jeroen van Loon, a Dutch artist dedicated to documenting digital culture, delves into his fascinating long-term project, Life Needs Internet. He shares insights on how a 2010 offline experiment transformed into a global archive of handwritten letters. Jeroen highlights generational shifts in attitudes toward the internet, with letters revealing both connections and critiques of technology. The importance of preserving physical archives over digital ones is also discussed, along with thoughts on the future of communication and AI's potential impact.
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Origins In An Offline Experiment
- Jeroen began the project in 2010 after going offline for two months and running an analog blog by typewriter.
- That analog exchange of handwritten letters became the seed for a 15-year archive of personal internet stories.
Longitudinal Value Through Repetition
- Jeroen always intended the archive to gain value by continuing over many years and updating every five years.
- The long span lets the collection show cultural shifts rather than a single moment's opinion.
Elicit Honest Stories With Handwriting
- Ask people to handwrite anecdotes to elicit more personal, unedited stories instead of polished digital replies.
- Prompt for a specific personal experience to avoid generic lists of online activities.