Our perception of the internet has changed dramatically over the past decade. Edward Snowden’s revelations two years ago, confirmed people's suspicions about covert data collection and unwarranted observation, while Facebook’s privacy infringements have seen people steadily move away from the social-media site in favour of more secure platforms such as Whatsapp and Snapchat. In other words, there's been a shift from the open-access euphoria of the internet’s heyday, to the present semi-Orwellian scenario.

“The Internet is always changing," explains multi-media artist Evan Roth. "But my relationship with it has changed dramatically in the last few years.” So much so that he has dedicated his latest exhibition, Voices over the Horizon, to rediscovering the initial excitement the internet presented. “As the Internet continually drifts towards centralisation and monitisation; and, more significantly, since the revelations made public by Edward Snowden, the Internet hasn't felt the same to me.”

Voices over the Horizon draws on hacker culture, and delves into the world of the internet by appropriating one method (ghost hunting) and using it for another means. The process involved Roth using instruments – like transcommunication devices, a ghost box, a ghost-hunting video camera and a laser-based video broadcasting/receiving system – in order to explore: “a world seemingly invisible yet swarming all around us".

“Misuse can often be an effective communication technique as it breaks us from our routines and preconceived ideas about how things are supposed to work,” explains Roth. In the case of this show, Roth uses ghost-hunting devices to, as he puts it: “find another form of disembodied human energy trapped in the network".

Roth is an artist with a rich history of challenging the make-up of the internet. Back in 2007 he co-founded the Free Art and Technology Lab(FAT Lab) with James Powderly, exploring ways of re-engaging the democratic function of the web and make it more open-access through projects like Ideas Worth Spreading, a work which encouraged users to deliver, document, edit and upload their own pirate TED talk.

Deconstructing technology both literally and on a more theoretical level is becoming an increasingly popular means of individual empowerment. Whether Roth reached such heights, can be discovered at Carroll / Fletcher gallery, in London from 6 March till 11 April.