This book you are holding is a junkyard…
An adaptation of Jussi Parikka’s essay, “Malware as Operational Art: On the If/Then of Geopolitics and Tricksters” from Het Nieuwe Instituut’s 2019 exhibition, Malware: Symptoms of Viral Infection.
The structure of this book references the skeletal syntax of the web and the layered, nested anatomy of HTML. Smaller moves—the unravelling typography and cut paper revealing a computer-generated texture on the inner folds—seek to reinforce this theme of perceived danger, offering an uneasy, anti-reader friendly experience.
The use of San Francisco (Apple) references the visual language of Apple products, whereas Apple Chancery by Kris Holmes embodies the sprawl of weeds and hints at contagion. A condensed Authentic Sans (by Christina Janus and Desmond Wong) ties this all together, both highlighting important questions and inviting the reader to reconsider what a book can be—as seen in the front cover, which seeks to act as a billboard.
