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CARI Project History

2013

2013-09-30 Evan Collins shares a post on Tumblr, beginning ideation on a 'futuristic aesthetic around the turn of the millennium'.

Image of a sleek furniture ad from Dwell in 2000 combined with a noted portion of the song BT - Mad Skillz-Mic Chekka to demonstrate some idea of the futuristic milieu around that time.

References

  1. https://evan-collins90.tumblr.com/post/62779474899/bt-mad-skillz-mic-chekka-remix-000-044

Archive

    2014

    2014-03-03 Evan Collins shares 3 posts investigating what would later become the "Y2K Aesthetic".

    "Combining some terms with an image of the album cover for 'Poetica' by iio. Also included a few additional posts from that same day as investigation into this style increased."

    References

    1. https://evan-collins90.tumblr.com/post/78523498207/early-2000s-euro-sophistication-shiny-condo
    2. https://evan-collins90.tumblr.com/post/78523834537/millennium-era-aesthetic-optimistic-view
    3. https://evan-collins90.tumblr.com/post/78524328992/millenium-aesthetic-minimalist-with

    Archive

      2014-08-15 Terrell Davis hosts fellow artist & musician DV-i for the third entry in his TenSquared Gallery project (at the time known as the "100% Net Gallery"), a series of in-person and virtual art gallery events.

      This would mark the first gallery collaboration between Terrell and DV-i. DV-i would later collaborate with fellow Y2K Aesthetic Institute & Arte et Labore member Arixant to produce the visuals of Porter Robinson's "Virtual Self" project, one of the first mainstream acts in the Neo-Y2K revival aesthetic. Full roster of featured artists: Clift N. Anthony, DV-i, Scott Gelber, Keenan Maher (CVILLOU), Jennifer Mehigan, Matt White, Michael Willis, Mix: DV-i

      References

      1. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=833890019957386&set=a.761467351911427

      Archive

        2014-09-26 Evan Collins shares a post on r/Vaporwave with a media collage image he made earlier in August, identifying a specific trend of futuristic design from the early 00s.

        From "A Chat With The Founder Of The Institute For Y2K Aesthetics" published on PAPER on 05/22/16: "Back in August 2014, I was watching a pretty cheesy music video for 'Out of Your Mind' by Victoria Beckham, and thinking about how prevalent that 'futuristic' look was back them. I decided to make this quick photoshop collage to get a sense of the 'millennium/y2k aesthetic'."

        References

        1. https://imgur.com/OJKn2GR
        2. https://web.archive.org/web/20160524034946/http://www.papermag.com/the-institute-of-y2k-aesthetics-1814307641.html
        3. https://www.reddit.com/r/Vaporwave/comments/2hklo6/been_very_interested_in_that_early_00s_futuristic/

        Archive

          2014-10-24 Evan Collins creates an Imgur album titled "Y2K Aesthetic - An investigation into the aesthetic of the period approx. 1996-03." to gather examples of media that documented this style. (Originally titled "y2k futurism")

          From "A Chat With The Founder Of The Institute For Y2K Aesthetics" published on PAPER on 05/22/16: "After I posted it to the vaporwave subreddit, people seemed interested and wanted to see more examples, so I started to search further. I became a bit obsessive, collecting the ~900 examples seen in this imgur album in October 2014 (I realize now that some of them aren't spot on, though). From that point on, I just kept collecting more and more examples from every field (architecture, art, fashion, industrial design, cars, music, etc.). I guess what keeps me invested in the period is the search for every little lost/obscure item, and the desire to develop a complete understanding of the era. So much material from that time is just lost due to lack of archiving, low-resolution uploads, and now-incompatible media formats, it becomes an exciting challenge just to find something intact. I also find it fascinating how ephemeral the aesthetic was, and how completely forgotten it seems now."

          References

          1. https://imgur.com/a/NGU9j

          Archive

          1. https://web.archive.org/web/20141202231726/http://imgur.com/a/NGU9j
          2. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313062946/http://imgur.com/a/NGU9j
          3. https://web.archive.org/web/20160524034946/http://www.papermag.com/the-institute-of-y2k-aesthetics-1814307641.html
            2014-12-11 Evan Collins creates the Y2K Aesthetic Institute Facebook group and shares initial posts on Dec 11th, 2014.

            Proof that we started & manage the group:

            References

            1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/y2kaesthetic/

            Archive

              2015

              2015-07-05 Sofi Xian begins her project KIN＊WÄV, a Post-Internet art project that explored the aesthetic Austurbane through the hauntological logic of Vaporwave.

              This project would involve Sofi creating a lifestyle for herself by deliberately turning her home into a laboratory for a consumer aesthetic. This involved redoing the interior design of her home to match the aesthetic target she was aiming for, and photographing it to share on Instagram and Tumblr. This study was where her archive of Frutiger Aero and Supermatte references began (through supplemental examples of "all-white homes depicted in Japanese appliance ads and IKEA catalogues, circa 2003").

              References

              1. https://kinwav.tumblr.com/

              Archive

                2015-08-27 Sofi Xian enlists Dee "@bimbohypno" Fleck for help finding examples of tech with specific personalized colorways online. Titled "Colorcore" at the time, this research would eventually become known as "Four Colors," a crucial Named Motif of Frutiger Aero and Superflat-Pop.

                Early names for the style were "Supermatte," "Colorcore," and "POBG" (acronym for pink, orange, blue, green). Previously Sofi had been researching the style's appearance in everyday objects and spaces around Seattle's Eastside suburbs: "it started with tech and then went more into stationary and other spaces. but the key point was that everything collapsed into these four colours, whether it was the colours of buildings, signs at malls, interiors of restaurants, toy stores, etc... the pinterest board was mostly a collection of images from image search. i also documented appearances outside of that."

                References

                1. https://www.pinterest.com/lofisofi/pogb/
                2. https://x.com/sincerelysofi/status/1730312607477719324
                3. https://x.com/sincerelysofi/status/1730327770327134711

                Archive

                  2015-09-09 Sofi Xian shares a first draft of her proposal for "SUPERMATTE: For Home and Office Use," an installation that explored the Four Colors motif, and begins to describe the humanist elements of Frutiger Aero.

                  "Summary: SUPERMATTE: For Home and Office Use is an installation that appropriates the design language of mid-2000s “humanist” consumer design in the vein of pop art. Key features of this design style include: a limited palette consisting of White, Deep Sky Blue, Lime Green, Tangerine, Cerise and Dim Grey, Frutiger-inspired typefacing, hard text shadows, rounded shapes and a personality centered on living “vividly” or “colorfully”. Music commonly associated with it would be indie pop music featuring ukulele, glockenspiel and other playful instruments. The installation features a living and working space, which visitors can explore and engage with in the manner of a store display, that restricts its components to just this palette and style of design. The purpose of this is to highlight the superficiality and absurdity of design—created by focus groups to create a human and empathetic visual language—that is ultimately soulless and artificial. Each piece will be priced with incredible markup. Sources: This is such a prevalent style that pieces can be sourced virtually anywhere. Thrift stores are riddled with SUPERMATTE-appropriate furniture and home goods while stores such as Target, IKEA, Daiso, The Container Store, Office Depot, Staples can provide the rest. Thanks: Abby Dougherty · Sæm Fēnd · Dan O’Connor · Joseph Lambert · Christian J Petersen · Dee G Fleck · Kelton Sears"

                  Archive

                    2015-12-04 Evan Collins creates the Y2K Aesthetic Institute Tumblr, and shares the first post on Dec 4th, 2015.

                    Proof that we started & manage the account:

                    References

                    1. https://y2kaestheticinstitute.tumblr.com/post/134531728509

                    Archive

                      2016

                      2016-02-05 Mike Debisco creates the original CARI Group Chat on Facebook Messenger, and adds Terrell Davis and Evan Collins.

                      Initially named "INSTITUTE FOR Y2K AESTHETICS" since the project's scope was only Y2K. Mike Debisco also designed the project's logo at the time, seen below. The original group chat roster is incomplete, but at minimum included: Mike Debisco, Valerie "DV-i" Caputo, Zovi McEntee, Julian "Sheep" Targus, Evan Collins, Sloane Angel Hilton, Adam Frazier, Ty Underwood, Andrew Noel, Kate Wagner, Terrell Davis, Froyo Tam, Don Gray, Karl Kraft, Cindy Hernandez, Jada Paige, Taj Vaughn, Sofi Xian, and "Mint Tea".

                      References

                      1. https://www.mikedebisco.com/#/logos/

                      Archive

                        2016-04-26 Evan Collins creates the "Post-Y2K" Facebook Group to facilitate the study of aesthetics that came after Y2K.

                        Originally named 'Post-Y2K,' the group would eventually refocus and begin exclusively tracking McBling. Numerous offshoot groups in a similar vein would be made by other members, such as

                        References

                        1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1770963079856555/about

                        Archive

                          2016-06-06 Evan Collins is interviewed by magazine I-D to discuss his research on Y2K, and Terrell Davis is commissioned to create the article's banner artwork.

                          Terrell's artwork for the article was designed to help illustrate the core ethos of the Y2K Aesthetic, but in turn also crystalised the style of the modern revival of the Y2K aesthetic as well, which we describe as "Neo-Y2K" in CARI.

                          References

                          1. https://i-d.co/article/the-a-z-of-y2k/
                          2. https://www.behance.net/gallery/38156363/The-A-Z-of-Y2K-for-i-D

                          Archive

                            2016-08-18 Terrell Davis hosts the ninth and final Tensquared Gallery event as an official collaboration with Y2K Aesthetics Institute (Evan Collins), DV-i, and other artists.

                            The event's Press Release document promotes the event with the "Six Elements of the Y2K Aesthetic," an extremely early attempt at defining the Prevalent Motifs of Y2K. According to Evan's recollection, he wrote a long list of Element words, which Terrell selected and designed icons to represent. Event description: "Tensquared is back w/ Y2K, a showcase of work that focuses on themes of futurism, the internet, and how it coincides with the art world. Featuring work from artists Gergo Kovacs (HUN), Andrew Noel (AUS), DV-i (US), VALERIS Media (BEL), Faiyaz Jafri (CHN), SH333P (US), and Unity Nexus (US). Also, DV-i's acclaimed "Aurora Memoria" will be available to play. DV-i and Images will be DJing throughout the night. This show was organized in collaboration with the Institute for Y2K Aesthetics."

                            References

                            1. https://www.facebook.com/events/782673425209177/
                            2. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1276318809047836&set=a.761467351911427

                            Archive

                              2016-09-30 Sofi Xian begins collecting images from Chinese stock image site TooOpen, which heavily features designed graphics that recombine Asadal Studio's stock assets.

                              This research was the first imagery deliberately archived for the proposal of Frutiger Aero.

                              Archive

                                2016-11-14 Inspired by fellow researcher Harry Thornton's initial work, Elliott Peebles creates the Hipness Purgatory Facebook Group.

                                Announcement post in the McBling/"Post-Y2K" Facebook Group by Elliott Peebles the next day on November 15th, 2016: "Made a place for post post y2k aesthetics and music. I'll be pretty lenient with what can be posted here. But finally there is a place where you can post stuff from 2006-2012."

                                References

                                1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/227869807643811/

                                Archive

                                  2016-12-01 Froyo presents her art installation for professor Brad Bartlett's class at the ArtCenter College of Design, "GTRA-303-01: Type 5: Transmedia." (Approximate Date)

                                  The installation explored Y2K motifs such as Blobjects through projected 3D fonts and physical objects like pillows. She also designed an unused website prototype for the Y2K Aesthetic Institute. "Froyo Tam's Fall 2016 Type 5: Transmedia project, showcasing the Y2K Aesthetic Institute at ArtCenter College of Design!" Prototype Website for the Y2K Aesthetic Institute. Design/Animation: Froyo Tam, Class: Type 5: Transmedia, Instructor: Brad Bartlett.

                                  References

                                  1. https://x.com/y2k_aesthetic/status/1069898232640102401
                                  2. https://youtu.be/W95rbKWepHU

                                  Archive

                                    2016-12-07 Sofi Xian meets Evan Collins for the first time and adds him on Facebook to join in on aesthetic research projects.

                                    A few days later she proposes a rough outline of a Post-Y2K "eco-aesthetic" based on "humanist design," which would be the foundational research for Frutiger Aero.

                                    Archive

                                      2017

                                      2017-01-05 Froyo Tam coins the term "McBling," in a Facebook poll run by Evan Collins. The Post-Y2K Facebook Group is then renamed and refocused to specifically track McBling.

                                      While other name entries scored more votes than McBling, Evan vetoed them on the grounds that they sounded too meme-like.

                                      Archive

                                        2017-02-19 Evan Collins creates the Global Village Coffeehouse group on Facebook to track a collaborative research project between himself, Phoebe Miller, and Theo CT.

                                        Originally named 'Millennium Global Village' and 'Millennium-Era Urbane-Sophistication World Vibes Aesthetic'.

                                        References

                                        1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/288047698281354/about

                                        Archive

                                          2017-02-20 Inspired by a post by Karl Kraft the day before in the Global Village Coffeehouse group, Suze Huldt coins the term "Utopian Scholastic" and founds a Facebook Group to discuss this aesthetic.

                                          Group officially named "utopian scholastic designs from a pre-9/11 world." Quote by Suze on founding post: "this group spins off from Global Village Coffeehouse and has obvious crossovers there as well as with Y2K Aesthetic ~~ be generous and cross-post relevant educational ~aesthetics to those groups."

                                          References

                                          1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/410769822590075/about

                                          Archive

                                            2017-02-21 Sloane Angel Hilton creates the Gen X Young/Adult Contemporary and Soft Club Facebook Group. Froyo Tam, Karl Kraft, and Evan Collins are added as Admins.

                                            Original name was shortened to "Gen-X Soft Club" at the proposal of CARI community member inbtwn in 2020. About Page Intro: "Its rise and fall between the years 1996-2002 - a movement in pop culture that is spawned from the research of The Y2K Aesthetic Institute. A notable shift in the visual mood of pop culture happened during the turn of the millennium, but it wasn’t Y2K Aesthetic. One thing I have found is that it was en vogue to be between 25-35, the prime age of Gen X at this time..."

                                            References

                                            1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/418594138476027/about

                                            Archive

                                              2017-08-08 Sofi Xian approaches Froyo Tam about collaborating on her research into for "colorful tech," an analysis of 2000s tech products that utilized the Four Colors motif.

                                              This research was the next stage into what we now know as "Frutiger Aero."

                                              Archive

                                                2017-11-27 Froyo Tam creates CARI's Discord server. Jada Paige is our first member.

                                                Known then as the Y2K Aesthetic Institute. Link inactive while we perform project maintenance.

                                                Archive

                                                  2018

                                                  2018-01-18 After collaborating for a few months with Sofi Xian, Froyo Tam creates the original Frutiger Aero Facebook Group to make their project public for the first time.

                                                  Sofi proposed the name "Frutiger Colorful," then Froyo added "Aero" to the end for the final name of "Frutiger Aero." As a result, they share credit for coining the term together.

                                                  References

                                                  1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/174737579950119

                                                  Archive

                                                    2018-10-31 Inspired by the research on Millennial Hipster aesthetics happening in the Hipness Purgatory Facebook Group, Dalia Barillaro coins the term "Indie Sleaze" and creates the foundational Facebook Page for researching it.

                                                    Originally titled "Indie-uber-sleaze," it was later shortened to just "Indie Sleaze" for simplicity by our Admin team in 2021. The second image is an announcement post Dalia Barillaro shared in the Hipness Purgatory Facebook Group, inviting them to discuss and study Indie Sleaze.

                                                    References

                                                    1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/302024740648250/posts/302037270646997/

                                                    Archive

                                                      2019

                                                      2019-06-01 The Y2K Aesthetic Institute's official Twitter page is founded in Dec 2018, and makes its first post on June 1st, 2019.

                                                      Run by Evan Collins and Froyo Tam. Logo and banner graphics by Froyo Tam.

                                                      References

                                                      1. https://twitter.com/y2k_aesthetic

                                                      Archive

                                                        2019-07-26 Froyo Tam designs the cover art for Himera and Jel (Jada Paige)'s Neo-Y2K trance single "Whisper."

                                                        New single, with @jelluvsuxoxox, Out now everywhere via @aurawire, Artwork by Froyo Tam, Mastered by @Drainpuppet

                                                        References

                                                        1. https://soundcloud.com/heyhimera/whisper
                                                        2. https://youtu.be/KCtkI-Yfx98

                                                        Archive

                                                          2019-08-27 Evan Collins delivers the first presentation on CARI's research at the Seattle Design Festival 2019

                                                          "This is the first CARI presentation I gave, back in August 2019. It's rough, and the categories have changed/merged/evolved in some cases. I think it does help to give some background to what we do, the purpose of CARI, and some general outlines of certain aesthetics." - Evan Collins Poster Design by Froyo Tam

                                                          References

                                                          1. https://nwfilmforum.org/events/consumer-aesthetic-research-institute-unearthing-forgotten-design-history-recent-past/
                                                          2. https://y2kaestheticinstitute.tumblr.com/post/186732771559/proud-to-announce-we-will-have-a-talk-at-the
                                                          3. https://youtu.be/DWIvHh6qSxA

                                                          Archive

                                                            2019-11-05 Froyo Tam collaborates with Terrell Davis for the packaging of Cards Against Humanity's Y2K themed expansion.

                                                            Cards Against Humanity – 2000s Nostalgia Pack (2019), Design: Froyo Tam @FroyoTam 3D render: Terrell Davis @terrellllllll

                                                            References

                                                            1. https://x.com/y2k_aesthetic/status/1191779079214682113?s=46

                                                            Archive

                                                              2020

                                                              2020-05-05 Terrell Davis collaborates with musician and fellow Neo-Y2K pioneer Doss for the visuals to her Second Sky DJ set, "THE SKY UPSIDE DOWN MIX".

                                                              Official Soundcloud tracklist note: VISUALS BY DOSS x TERRELL DAVIS

                                                              References

                                                              1. https://soundcloud.com/doss/doss-the-sky-upside-down-secret-sky-mix
                                                              2. https://youtu.be/KSvjGiXZg8w?list=RDKSvjGiXZg8w

                                                              Archive

                                                                2020-12-30 Terrell Joseph Davis, a foundational artist of the Neo-Y2K movement and an admin on both the Y2K Facebook group and CARI's Discord, tragically passed away.

                                                                Rest in Power.

                                                                References

                                                                1. https://twitter.com/y2k_aesthetic/status/1345484595102289920
                                                                2. https://web.archive.org/web/20161001141607/http://www.papermag.com/artist-terrell-davis-on-pop-culture-as-healing-and-bling-as-a-politica-2024843825.html
                                                                3. https://www.behance.net/terrelldavis
                                                                4. https://www.gofundme.com/f/terrell-davis-medical-expense-and-relief-fund
                                                                5. https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_AJkAjnUE/
                                                                6. https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/terrell-davis-digital-graphic-design-190820

                                                                Archive

                                                                  2021

                                                                  2021-07-01 CARI's official public website goes live.

                                                                  Thank you to our webmaster, Chad Miller!

                                                                  References

                                                                  1. https://cari.institute/
                                                                  2. https://twitter.com/y2k_aesthetic/status/1410812645511294977

                                                                  Archive

                                                                    2021-07-23 Linsang, Chord Shore, and Articution begin collaboration on the CARI Attribution Effort.

                                                                    Many examples on the CARI website were missing proper attribution when the site went live, so this initiative aimed to create new, fully sourced galleries with at least 15 examples per aesthetic. We now adhere to the practices set forward in our Attribution Guidelines:

                                                                    References

                                                                    1. https://cari.institute/attribution-guidelines
                                                                      2021-09-25 Chord Shore and Allyssa De La Torre collaborate on a series of presentations explaining Consumer Aesthetics for a small collective of game developers known as Game Garden.

                                                                      The slideshow and presentation content attempted to explain Consumer Aesthetics such as Frutiger Aero and Vaporwave in an intuitive way to an audience of artists and developers. This eventually becomes the intial entries made towards writing CARI's Analysis Framework, and also guided aspects of the then-ongoing Maintenance Effort.

                                                                      Archive

                                                                        2021-12-28 Linsang, Chord Shore, and Articution acheive the minimum target for the CARI Attribution Effort, which then evolves into the long-term Maintenance Effort over the next 3 years.

                                                                        The goal of the Maintenance Effort began as a way to rewite the channel descriptions in our Discord Server to help them better describe the aesthetics being discussed. As this effort grew however, it became apparent that the descriptions being written and other important metadata we gathered would require a framework to properly organize them. This eventually expanded the scope to the information we present on our website as well. The CARI Discord community goes semi-private in the process to reduce our moderation workload while we focus on the Discord and website improvement efforts.

                                                                        Archive

                                                                          2024

                                                                          2024-02-01 Chord Shore, Chad Miller, and Evan Collins collaborate on self-documenting CARI's founding through the new Project History page.

                                                                          The page you're reading right now!

                                                                          References

                                                                          1. https://cari.institute/history

                                                                          Archive

                                                                            2024-02-13 Chord Shore & Linsang establish contact with the moderators of Aesthetics Wiki (CoffeeTheHermit & Graviphantalia), and collaborate with them on projects to dispel misinformation.

                                                                            These collaborations result in an analysis of plagiarism and astroturfing by certain editors on the Wiki, and adding proper credits for any overlapping aesthetics we cover.

                                                                            Archive

                                                                              2024-10-12 Chord Shore, Linsang, and a handful of researchers from the CARI Discord community conclude the Maintenance Effort.

                                                                              58 out of 92 aesthetics we track received improved internal descriptions. Special thank you to community members Svrge, Vladim, JeriChi, Spencer KR, and Starbright Cobweb who helped contribute to this effort!

                                                                              Archive

                                                                                2025

                                                                                2025-01-10 Chord Shore, Chad Miller, and Evan Collins collaborate on updating our pages to include Founding Researcher and Name attribution for several aesthetics.

                                                                                Aesthetics Wiki's moderation team are informed of this development as well and synchronize the credits on their pages. While in hindsight this information seemed trivial to include, deciding who should receive credit for the foundation of an aesthetic was not an intuitive process, and took revision to ensure that the correct significance was given to early contributions. The resulting framework for deciding this can be found under the "Aesthetic Credit" section of our Attribution Guidelines:

                                                                                References

                                                                                1. https://cari.institute/attribution-guidelines
                                                                                  2025-02-01 Over the course of the year, Chord Shore, Linsang, and Chad Miller collaborate on the revised Aesthetic Page Guide. (Approximate Date)

                                                                                  This effort produced a template to formalize the insights gained from the Maintenance Effort on a single document, and standardized the basic metadata we track about each aesthetic.

                                                                                    2026

                                                                                    2026-01-13 Chord Shore and Sofi Xian begin collaboration on the ongoing Frutiger Aero Page Overhaul, as well as codifying the successor aesthetics that Frutiger Aero evolved into.

                                                                                    Sofi adds major contributions to the Aesthetic Page Guide, such as the concept of Discourses within Zeitgeists, and defining how Motifs interact with Discourses to relate aesthetics to each other over time.