Some Notes on “New Expressions”

2014

Editor's note: I really enjoyed the NewHive platform and made artwork for it, including an online exhibit of computer startup sounds, as a virtual exhibit. I was sad when the platform died. Although I had lived through this previously with Geocities, I think because I was older and making artwork to share, I was bummed this time to lose my work and the community and the tool. I learned an early lesson about the brittleness of online infrastructure and platforms.

Jacob Ciocci’s online commission for NewHive is a how-to guide for creating “animated paintings”.

Hosted at Internet Archive

“New Expressions,” Jacob Ciocci’s eight-page online commission for NewHive, describes a how-to guide for creating animated paintings. This collection explores the ways in which creativity has been commodified for the masses, as a result of DIY culture, arts and crafts stores, and lifestyle specialists like Martha Stewart. While he embraces a paint-by-numbers-style approach to art-making, Ciocci remains aware of how these recipes, or the digital interfaces that integrate them, influence the creative process. “New Expressions” is viewable on NewHive here, and below is an extended artist statement. –curator Lindsay Howard