Back in March, Rhizome relaunched its Microgrant program, inviting proposals for Browser-based projects and pitches for articles about works of born-digital art in the Rhizome ArtBase. Proposals were evaluated based on conceptual strength and relevance to the proposal category, and ITP students Zichen Yuan and Jo Suk were awarded for their browser-based project and article pitch, respectively.
"Local Wind"
Zichen Yuan, Local Wind
“Inspired by the ever present wind both as a natural phenomena and a cultural analogy, Local Wind introduces the unstableness and flux of the physicality of moving air into a browser. The project engages with wind in two ways: cursor and live stream.
Cursor represents the viewer in the browser space. On a computer without touch screen, it is arguably the only connection between the real and the virtual. Local Wind reverses the permanence and stableness of the cursor by adding weather-like effect to the cursor.
Live Stream is the second fold that I am currently working as the content for this website.”
Jo Suk
“Presentation software has become an emblem of white-collar industry, where it has transcended its synoptic function and is now a standalone commodity. My work will analyze presentation software as an apparatus for a neoliberal managerial ideology that trains workers to parrot the needs, desires, and beliefs of corporations. I will reference existing critiques of slide software and Artbase works that remix the medium’s intended purposes, such as “ppt.xxx”, “ikebananana2”, and RTMark’s powerpoint. The work will expose readers of Rhizome—presumably cultural workers reliant on such digital collaboration tools themselves—to a critical perspective of their crafts, while also validating the use of low-entry software for creative work.”
Learn more about the Rhizome 2023 Microgrant Program here.
