Foundland was invited to create an interpretation of “My Boyfriend Came Back from the War” (1996), the iconic internet artwork by Russian artist Olia Lialina. Foundland takes the narrative content of Lialina’s original work as starting point and extends the idea of an estranged conversation caused by the complexity of conflict. We created a video work comprised of a series of online chats between a mother and her radicalised son, who has left the Western world to join a Jihadi fighting force. Their strained and clumsy conversation is captured across many media platforms, over several months. Neither is sure who is listening or who is answering. His seduction into conflict is likely born out of social media and then ironically his mother has no choice but to desperately search YouTube videos to spot her son in the background.

Video commissioned by MU in Eindhoven, The Netherlands for their retrospective exhibition and the 20th anniversary of the Internet artwork.

“My Boyfriend Came Back From The War” (MBCBFTW) curated by Annet Dekker.

Find Baby Come Home on Vimeo and the online museum dedicated to iterations of Olia Lialina’s work here.