Recap (3/3) Last month, net art pioneer @GIFmodel 's workshop at The Photographers' Gallery in London explored how we might engage with the early web without reducing it to an object of nostalgia, by engaging with archived websites up close and learning to read the material through the technical and cultural conditions of a particular moment in time.

The event took place as part of 🌐​​​​​​​I Miss the Internet, a day of workshops, talks and performances exploring how internet memory, nostalgia and platform power shape our understanding of the web’s past, present and future.

The workshop "A Day in One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age. Last Updated April 27, 2009." offered participants the opportunity to explore the early web through the interface of the GeoCities Research Institute, an ongoing digital art and archiving project that explores, preserves and showcases early web vernacular culture using a massive dataset of rescued GeoCities websites, under the guidance of Olia, keeper of the archive.

The day began with a short introduction to web history, methodologies for web history research and, in particular, the notions of “Small, Weak and Stupid” as a productive and respectful approach to the digital vernacular.

Participants were then invited to investigate thousands of webpages mistakenly dated “Last Updated April 27, 2009” during the archiving process. Rather than relying on distant reading or algorithmic analysis, participants immersed themselves in the material, reconstructing the histories of these pages through close observation, memory, and interpretation, asking: How do we recognise the age of a website? What makes something feel “old” online? And what kinds of knowledge emerge when we slow down and read the web on its own terms?

Thank you to everybody who participated ❤️

View the documentation on our website: https://error417.expectation.fail/406/netstalgia-not-acceptable/i-miss-the-internet-workshop