I enjoy this different perspective on the digital space. Most people may think of the web as this magical and complicated space when it is possible to create in a slow and more intimate way. When handmaking a website you have a massive amount of control over how you want viewers to interact with this space, just like any other form of art. This reminded me of a time when I was younger on the internet for the first time, scrolling through personal myspace pages and other handmade pages. And then again as a teenager exploring tumblr pages. I was inspired by everyones personal approach to their own website, treating it like their bedroom. Decorated and fun, and most definitely not professional or littered with advertisements.
Laurel Schwulst's My Website is a Shifting House...:
What is a website? What should it do? What can it be? And lists Schwulst's students' worries about websites today. I think her message is that a website is a really open ended term for a creation that is put on the web and many people seem to overlook that. I love the connections she made with websites and other tangible day-to-day things we experience. Website as shelf or room. Website as a plant or garden. A website can be big, flexible, complicated or small, intimate, simple. Website is simply a vessel that can be customized to the needs of one person or every person. It is ~what you make it~.
Taeyoon Choi's Hello World!:
I really like this reading because the content is about very technological things being told through hand painted drawings. I think that is a really nice and personal touch to a topic that can be pretty difficult to understand. Choi also defines "computer" in a really interesting way saying that "The first computers were human". I agree with his stance on things in life seeming binary or opaque until you look deeper as things start to reveal itself and this connection to understanding the technology that we use everyday as well. We are so familiar with the interfaces that we use daily but when it comes to how it works beneath the surface our understanding of it becomes less clear. Which brings us to the benefits of looking deeper.
Mindy Seu's The Poetry of Tools:
This essay is another example of using the web and other technologies as a slow and intimate tool for interpretation and interaction. I love this statement by Mindy that reads "Perhaps we are so fascinated by the progress of digital technology because it brings us closer to understanding ourselves." I really resonated with this because I have learned so much of myself through my experience with the internet. It has allowed me to come across and understand different perspectives of life so easily which is immensly helpful in all aspects. And treating a digital space as a living thing that grows and flows with humans is a great way to use this privilege with more intent.