𰀅 𰀵𰀁𰈠 𰂆N 𰄶𰄣𰁅 𰆆𰁐𰅧A𰀕𰈠𰆐E 𰅀𰁠 𰄂𰂈𰄗𰅂B𰈙𰆆𰁖 A𰁱𰁉. 𰄗𰀆s𰆄 U𰅡𰀵𰀄𰆃𰁁𰀳 𰀆P𰅦𰂐L 27, 2009.
Workshop by Olia Lialina as part of "I miss the Internet"
Net art pioneer Olia Lialina’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 specific technical and cultural conditions of a particular moment in time.
A Day in One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age. Last Updated April 27, 2009.
This workshop 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 Lialina, net artist, vernacular web researcher and 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 a particular collection from the archive: 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 – and resurfacing with even more questions.
Together, participants asked: 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?
The workshop sought to resist abstraction and algorithmic excavation, relying instead on human time and memory, interpretation and serendipity.
A𰀖𰄶𰆓T 𰆆𰂂𰁅 𰀀R𰆅I𰅶T
Olia Lialina
Olia Lialina is among the best-known participants in the 1990s net.art scene – an early-days, network-based art pioneer. Her early work had a great impact on recognizing the Internet as a medium for artistic expression and storytelling. This century her continuous and close attention to user culture, “net.language” and vernacular web expression has made her an important voice in new media and post-digital studies. She is cofounder and keeper of One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age archive, author of Digital Folklore (2009) and Turing Complete User (2021), professor at Merz Akademie in Stuttgart, Germany; and an animated GIF model.
About the Event
“I miss the Internet”, was a day of workshops, talks and performances that explored how internet memory, nostalgia and platform power shape our understanding of the web’s past, present and future. Presented in collaboration with Sam Mercer and The Photographers' Gallery in London on Thursday, September 17, 2026.