The First Wonder of the World Wide Web : Venturing Through the Facade of the Internet

in #art7 years ago (edited)

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[This post is updated version of a post from last year. I am re-posting the animation as my first upload to DTube! Click on the thumbnail above to watch.]

The Seven Wonders of the World Wide Web : Concept


Venturing through the facade of the internet, we discover alternate universes hidden within. Public platforms become public spaces, where visitation fosters exploration. We are the settlers of what was once the digital frontier.

Now is the time for placemaking in the digital metropolis.

The First Wonder of the World Wide Web : www.gxoxoxgxlxe.com


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www.gxoxoxgxlxe.com animation still

As we increasingly spend our days staring at our computer screens, I began to wonder what complex worlds were hiding behind the two-dimensional facades of our most-visited internet destinations. When we arrive at Google.com, we are confronted with a straightforward minimalist design with splashes of blue, red, yellow and green. This project is based on one simple idea: what if this simple landing page is just the front view of an entire three-dimensional world waiting to be discovered behind. What would we find if we simply peeked our heads through and looked around?

The above digital animation visualizes this 3D world, which I call "www.gxoxoxgxlxe.com". The below hand drawing takes one frame of the animation and imagines the unexplored terrains we are tapping into within each pixel of the www.gxoxoxgxlxe.com digital domain.

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www.gxoxoxgxlxe.com, pencil and ink on paper, 2012

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[Detail]


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Editioned and signed postcards from www.gxoxoxgxlxe.com


Thanks for reading!
Let me know what you think of this project in the comments below.
All feedback is welcome!

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Hi! Just playing catch-up on your posts. With every post of yours I end up thinking ' oh, THIS is my favourite'. And then you put a new one out!

For now, this is a favourite. It's so true that our Google Chrome homepage is like the door to many different Narnias. Plus you have such beautiful visuals to accompany the idea. I'm noticing that all your of your work have distinct textures that are really really nice. It would be cool to weave a story around these hidden universes and illustrate them. Like sci-fi meets Narnia meets digitization where everyone speaks in binary or code.

Anyhow, love it. (Will you send me a postcard someday, please?!)

Thanks for all your support @manouche! I'm glad this one had a particular effect for you - it's one of the most time-consuming works I've ever made! It's funny you mention weaving in a story around these hidden universes because for the last couple years I've been (slowly) working on a collection of illustrated shorts stories about similarly strange and unexpected worlds.

Haha I'm not sure where the leftover postcards ended up! (This project is from 2012.) They're probably hiding away in my closet somewhere. If I find them someday I'll let you know :)

Beautiful work @erb!

Thanks for all your support @sndbox!

Nice idea and I like the drawing!

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This art is wonderful, @erb! Fantastic textures, beautifully put together. I admire your imagination.

Thanks so much for the kind words @shinyforest! :)

Yeah @erb 👏 dope animation with the extruded shapes 🔥

This is one of those animations you just have to watch again and again...










and again.

Glad to hear it @oyvindsabo! It's super short, so I'm sure that helps haha.

what a creative premise, I love your abstract thinking AND that line work...whew it's amazing

Thanks so much @natureofbeing! :)