Internet as Archive
Name(s) of graduate(s):Laura Braun
2026
Webseite
Description
Internet as Archive examines the internet from the perspective of the archive and asks which mechanisms collect, organize, and make knowledge accessible online. Based on the analysis of archival systems, the work shows that search engines, platforms, and algorithmic curation organize access to information, but their underlying structures remain largely invisible. As a result, knowledge often appears as a list of results or a single answer, while dependencies and contexts are lost.
As an alternative concept to these linear knowledge orders, a digital archive was created in which an interactive network graph serves as the primary knowledge order. It makes terms, contexts, and relationships tangible as a coherent system and enables exploratory navigation that opens up individual paths through knowledge without reducing complex relationships to simplified answers.
internet-as-archive.netlify.app
Link to Video
Credits Video: Laura Braun
Laura Braun
2026
Description
Internet as Archive examines the internet from the perspective of the archive and asks which mechanisms collect, organize, and make knowledge accessible online. Based on the analysis of archival systems, the work shows that search engines, platforms, and algorithmic curation organize access to information, but their underlying structures remain largely invisible. As a result, knowledge often appears as a list of results or a single answer, while dependencies and contexts are lost.
As an alternative concept to these linear knowledge orders, a digital archive was created in which an interactive network graph serves as the primary knowledge order. It makes terms, contexts, and relationships tangible as a coherent system and enables exploratory navigation that opens up individual paths through knowledge without reducing complex relationships to simplified answers.
internet-as-archive.netlify.app
Link to Video