Inspired by the online aesthetic of the early 2000s, ‘MA1 K1TcH3n bL0G’ is an interactive website made for 12 year olds, by a 12 year old. I wanted to create a space that embodied RANDOM XD and “cringey” elements of the internet that, I feel, we desperately need back. I wanted a space that audiences could participate in for as long or as little as they liked; although prompted, some aspects of the site can only be reached through investing time into it. Early 2000s ARGs and personal blogs (Tumblr, MySpace) inspired my work, both only meant for small social groups but some eventually catapulting into viral sensations and communities. I wanted to capture the desire to be noticed, in creating something to put on the internet, but also the lack of knowledge (and potential danger that gets overshadowed) in something so new and exciting.

Nostalgia and my yearning to go back to a time when the internet was young was the driving force of creating this project. I used a very restrictive and professional web-based program, Google Sites, to make something that people used to make with their own scarce knowledge of the web and programming - using Google Sites enforces the fact that we will never be able to truly go back to a time or space we are nostalgic to. The site was also optimised to be viewed on a phone, again deviating from early 2000s source material: computer-based websites.

Internet culture inspired the content of the website, through 1337 speak (leetspeak), GIFs, and the use of low-poly 3d models that drive the interactivity of the site. The 3d models were created and textured in Blender, reminiscent of low-poly graphics from the PlayStation 1 - I wanted the site to showcase the works in a way that was completely different from a white-walled gallery. The site not only shows the modelled food, but an entirely different era in which has diminished over the decades.