User:Youjung/T2 Assessment

Why XPUB?

First day at XPUB!

Before XPUB, I worked as a brand and visual designer for premium grocery delivery platform. It was one of the domains that I wanted to work for because I loved browsing through the curated feed of delicious foods. And the service was undeniably convenient. If you order before 23:00, you get your product at 6:00.

However, working there made me realise what sustains convenience and abundant content. Behind the seamless interface, deliverers were being worn down and multiple teams were constantly producing content without much intention. We were constantly required for optimisation and efficiency. One example was building company's CMS to make/manage online content more efficiently. I felt powerless using this tool. I was making a lot of things public but most of them felt meaningless. So I started learning code to break free from this form.

I wanted to create something interactive and playful, not only in its outcome, but also in the way it is made. Tools shape how we think and make and I believe deliberate choice of tools is important. XPUB felt like the right place to explore this idea, while also developing a critical perspective on techno-solutionism and the commercialised platform industry.

After 7 months at XPUB, I believe this is the right place for me, although I have some doubts, I am happier than ever.

What did you make?

Overview

Type	Count	Name
Website	3	Cooking Spam e-mails, A mazing machines, Our Digital Home, SI29 Intro Website
Interactive Installation	2	A story in a story in a story, Poetry Generater at CCU
Zine	3	A mazing machines, Tangled Thoughts, Practice and Scalability
Workshop	1	Our Digital Home
Radio Show	2	Radio Ghost, Cyber Feminism

October 2025
Python Poetry

Poetry Generator

Extending from Fermenting the Earth workshop at iMAL, part of the participants gathered to make a growing poetry run by the electricity derived from the mud batteries we made. People interacting with the generator chooses different actions: WAIT, FERMENT, GAZE, HEAR or SNIFF and based on this action a different python script is executed. The input texts are conversations and texts we read during the workshop and the script transforms them into phrases of poems.

Notes: I got the initial idea from text adventure games and Eliza. I liked the fact that the audience can explore beyond the screen, engaging with tangible entities such as plants and printers. However, using actual electricity from these mud batteries would take a lot of time. This became an entry point into permacomputing, leading me to rethink notions of time, electricity, avoiding human centered approaches.

October 2025
Python, Website

Cooking Spam Emails

During our first radio show, I read a strange e-mail from ABN AMRO. I created a Python script that splits each phrase from the email and randomly recombines them into different contexts. An editor working at ABN AMRO must have spent considerable time crafting each sentence. Rather moving it to trash, I chopped the sentences into phrases and repurposed it, like cooking. After the radio show, I built a website that displays these randomly generated e-mails.

Notes: Inspired by Nick Montfort's computational poetry and Uncreative Writing, this project extends the approach I took in the Poetry Generator. It uses code to break down and recombine language, creating new meanings from existing material. What fascinates me was how each reader can interpret the same results differently. During development, I discovered that running Python directly in a browser isn't easy, so I converted into Javascript.

November 2025
Python, Game, Pen Plotter

A story in a story in a story

This project is an interactive narrative that lets you explore, gather and plot using a pen plotter. Wander around in the virtual environment, pick up what you resonate with and that is what you take with you at the end of the day and becomes a tiny part of you. This game was inspired by The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin, in which the main action is not combat but gathering.

Notes: Instead of seamless experience, the game embraces constraints(limited terminal command, slow loading time to plot) and this reflects on intentional gathering. Rather than having a linear narrative or statement, it focuses on the journey and act of gathering. During the development, I worried about the lack a concreate message, as I was mainly driven by playing around with the pen plotter. Marloes's feedback, asking why it is fun and taking fun seriously, helped me move past this doubt. During the event, it was fascinating to see how audiences reacted to the pen plotter and how delighted they were to take home the printed output. This project was meaningful, as it was my first time creating an interactive and tangible experience.

[Work in Progress]

[Event at UBIK]

November 2025
Website, Zine

SI28: A mazing machines Website & Zine

Landing page design and development for Special Issue 29 website. I used LeaderLine to make interactive diagram.

Notes: This was my first time coding collectively. We encountered merge conflicts multiple times and needed time to figure out how to work together. Also rather than relying on LLM to code, I tried to write and understand each line of code by myself. Searching for solution and debugging helped me realize that writing understanding the structure leads to more solid outcomes.

March 2025
Zine, Illustration

Tangled Thoughts

During the winter break, I spent time drawing. Drawing is a way for me to vent my thoughts and escape from overthinking. I collected some of the drawings and compiled them into a zine using paged.js. This project was presented during the Xtraterrestrial fair.

Notes: This project was an attempt to merge my drawing practice with what I’ve been learning at XPUB. I included the CSS code on the back of the zine; this created an interesting contrast between analog and digital methods. I’m still exploring how to integrate drawing and coding. I think they do share a crafty approach in common, but I haven't yet found a clear way to connect them.

March 2025
Python, Website, Workshop

Our Digital Home

About: Collective workshop on the materiality of the cloud. We used ftp file systemns and jinja & python to generate html pages. My role was to develop the website and graphics using ascii art.

Reflection: Making a dynamic website! And learning about social practice.

What did you learn?

During the two tri-mester, I learned...

How to work together
Both special issues were very collaborative. I normally prefer working alone, but throughout the special issue I learned listen and reflect on each other's opinion. Finding solution together is much more fun than alone. Especially during SI28, making decisions together was exhausting but we managed to organize a cool event and print a zine before the semester which was rewarding.

How to make things without overthinking
Thanks to our communal server Sergio, it was much easier for me to make and test prototypes on Sergio. Also the text we read during methods class stop making something perfect but to focus on testing out things.

Take fun seriously, daydreaming is important.

How to be critical
Why do we need to make things scalable? What can we experience from friction and clunky processes? Not everything has to be seamless. And what is good for us, and why this industry is moving this way?

What is your practice?

websites, graphic design, installation? idk

What is your research interests?

These are my future research interests...

Platforms and Digital Culture

I like the dopamine these apps give me.

Interesting to read Californian ideology how these services derived from hippie culture. South Korea has the most e-commerce services and unique app environment. What kind of ideology is behind these scenes?

Communal Servers & Collective Making

I want to make things together, have a sense of togetherness rather than doing things alone. Google drive vs sergio

hierarchy strict protocols i dont like, collective making i like!

Drawing + Computation

why with computation... the contrast is fun and live coding

Any doubts?

• Is it a crime to use AI?
• How am I make a living?
• How to spread XPUB bubble...
• Being powerless