Web Residencies »Tools for Citation«

In reviewing the 445 submissions to the open call for »Tools for Citation,« we were impressed, surprised, and challenged by the re-imaginations of citation. Far from a solely theoretical or functional approach, the proposals introduced citations as a relational practice in video, sound, performance, and interactive formats. We’re inspired to expand our definitions of the words »tools« and »citation« through the applications we received and reviewed.

Tools for knowledge production, in part, shape how knowledge is produced. If the tools we use to create and consume knowledge shape how we think, then everyone should be able to create them. The invention of hypertext helped push the importance of the citation into more common and casual knowledge production, emphasizing relationality, exposing average internet users to the joy of associative rabbit holes. And so the jury gravitated toward six projects that presented alternatives to the traditional use of citations. They are interwoven in familial narratives within sociopolitical histories and suggest the embodied nature of attribution in forms such as video essays, 3D visualizations, textual research, and tools for performance.

It’s now late January, and we are announcing our results a few weeks later than originally planned. The slight delay was due to the overwhelming number of applications we received – not only emphasizing the growing demand for artist support, but also underscoring the topic’s timely relevance. We’ve been reflecting on citations for some time, and it’s inspiring to see that this resonates within a larger global conversation, highlighting the significance of tools for citation in knowledge production and exchange in a post-digital age.

^{Charles Broskoski, Mindy Seu, Sarah Donderer (for Digital Solitude), Nataša Vukajlović (Curator, Alumni, Digital Solitude)}

Sally’s Helpers – a distributed lament by Anisha Baid interrogates the history of feminized computer labor, drawing on the story of Sally, a 1970s secretary and the first human »model user« of the desktop interface developed at Xerox PARC. The project will create a collaborative online compositional space for a »distributed lament,« a score for characters like Sally who are lost in the footnotes of interface history. Using typing gestures, sound, and visual feedback, the project will build a living archive that explores the interplay of text, labor, and technology.

Meme Rabbit Holes: Mapping Visual Citation in Conspiracy Theories by Anne Braune combines artistic and academic approaches, drawing upon research into evidential photography and conspiracy culture on Telegram. The project examines how conspiracy memes function as tools of citation, tracing the appropriation and remixing of visuals and narratives tied to larger ideologies. Through an interactive »rabbit hole« format, it navigates the layered networks of citation, uncovering how conspiracy theories spread and examining digital media’s impact in shaping truth, evidence, and belief systems.

Vanish Pointer by Hyunseo Cho reimagines digital content by reconstructing its visual hierarchy in three-dimensional space, applying different systems of perspective. Her web project highlights often-overlooked citation elements including sources, authors, dates, and internal references, allowing users to invert hierarchies, arrange content multidimensionally, reveal hidden relationships, and explore endlessly expanding connections through dynamic, distorted views.

Sharp Rotation: IYKYK by Devin Kenny expands the notion of citation by exploring ciphers and ciphering as they exist in hip-hop culture, religion, mathematics, and information security. Their web project asks whether the video essay format could be approached piecemeal like a poetry chapbook, or watched like a cooking show on a kitchen TV. By including accessible meta material, the essay film could be an active experience – one you can get on and off the ride at will, flavor to taste, or save bits for later.

Ubos sa Dagat: The Under Sea by Khokhoi (mary alinney villacastin) is rooted in archival and embodied research of Indigenous ecosystems, cultures, histories, and knowledges from the archipelago now known as the Philippines. The web project explores the re-Indigenization of the colonial archive by experimenting with spiraling »fin-notes« – an association to traditional embodied knowledge through freediving.

Hyperessays: Whimsical Research Tools That Approach Connection-Making as an Act of Authorship by Shaheer Tarar explores prototypes for writing and research tools that uncover lateral connections between public-domain texts and images, while dynamically visualizing research paths. The web project tests visual interfaces that »cycle« or »spiral« information, acting as both poetic research tools and chance operation engines. These encourage users to navigate connections and discover new meanings in unexpected ways.