My Current Ecosystem of Internet Artifacts
How I found and why I chose this compilation of books, zines, films and more from public archives.
I’ve always shared the media I casually consume throughout my week and where I find them, however, I’ve never fully shared how I find them, but most importantly, why I chose them. I have an entire foundational ecosystem that lies beneath the surface, which is greatly built through a growing collection of digital artifacts—unique pieces that live outside my daily digital garden, meant to be sought rather than served.
Through nothing but a seed of curiosity and a screen, you can discover an entire universe of artifacts—not just articles, podcasts and videos—without spending a dime. Accessibility is something I hold close; I never want what I share or how I share it to feel out of reach. By navigating free archives, databases, and unfamiliar corners of the internet, I've become the gardener that cultivates my creative process—the ongoing self-creation of my taste and identity—because if you don't know who you are, how would you know what you want to discover?
These are all elements that interact with my values, beliefs, experiences, and my growing archive of knowledge—all interconnected to build a path of growth and expansion into the unknown. This is easier said than done though, which is why I wanted to guide you through where I am in my path, giving you a glimpse into my creative process so that maybe you can fork off into your own. I hope these pieces serve as seeds that will emerge into something entirely yours <3
In the spirit of creative inspiration, check out the last installment of Things To Do Instead of Doomscrolling over on Perfectly Imperfect. This one is titled Creative Rebirth, and in celebration of my birthday, I share a few seeds of inspiration that have guided my creative growth over this past year of life. The intro goes more in depth about the importance behind it but I’m really proud of this one <3
The seed that emerged into this path was a short story written Jorge Luis Borges—one of my absolute favorite authors—titled The Garden of Forking Paths or, in its original language, El jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan. With this context you will now probably be able to tell where all of this language of paths, seeds, and gardens is coming from—which by the way, is sticking around. Without spoiling much, this story is essentially about a temporal labyrinth, and I knew as I read it for the first time, that something inside of my complex little brain made somehow more and less sense of reality simultaneously.
Mazes and Labyrinths by W. H. Matthews (1922) — book
Where: The Public Domain Review
Why: At this point, I was deep down my rabbit hole of labyrinths, since I’ve been working on a personal framework around it, and a piece I’ll be sharing soon. My exploration so far had mostly been through more of Borges’ work, and my own conceptual interpretations of his labyrinthine tales. This made me want to know more about their history, but most importantly, how they actually looked—because the one in my head was far too abstract to express in any sort of way.
How: I know the PDR has a nicely curated archive, with many images tied to an essay or article, which could provide both visuals and context—so if I were to find something, I’d have the full picture. I did find an article and images, but I didn’t expect to also find an entire book of illustrations with an extensive history on them, though luckily, I did.
Imagining Feminist Interfaces by tendernet (2019) — zine
Where: are.na
Why: Being able to visualize the labyrinths inspired me to build this concept further for the brand identity of my thesis—a community based platform that guides the consumption to creation pipeline through human curation, connection, and digital tools—given that it’s closely related to the whole philosophy I’ve been developing. The interconnectedness that parallels the human, the natural world, and the digital one is constantly mirroring itself, so it made sense to look for different visualizations and diagrams of systems. This research made me stumble upon this zine on feminist interfaces which will for sure inform my thesis both visually and in its execution.
How: Every time I need to do serious visual research I go to Are.na. It’s not too easy to understand at first, but it functions as a social database where everything is connected through channels and blocks. You can start in one place and end up somewhere completely different as you go through layers and layers of channels, leading you down often unexpected roads—case in point.
This piece is a new format I wanted to experiment with. Beyond sharing what I consume, I want to start sharing how I think, in hopes that by letting you into my process, you can start building your own. If you've enjoyed this so far, consider becoming a paid subscriber—it's what allows me to keep building this community, keep writing, and keep sharing what’s to come <3
If you have any feedback, questions, or anything you’d like to share, don’t hesitate to send me a message or reply directly to this email!
