Josh On
Josh On (born 1975) is an artist and web designer from New Zealand making political commentary through net-based, interactive Adobe Flash-based applications and digital media.
Education and Career
Josh On earned a BA in Sociology, as well as a master's degree in Computer Related Design from the Royal College of Art in London.[1] He is best known for his work during his residency with the Futurefarmers artist collective; he has made numerous web based Flash games and programs critiquing the George W. Bush administration and the culture of Capitalism within a Post-9/11 America, most of which were created in collaboration with Futurefarmers founder Amy Franceschini.[2] In 2005, On presented these works as a guest exhibition at the Influencers 2005 Festival, showing alongside the likes of The Yes Men, Adbusters, and Cesky Sen.[3] Recurring themes of his work include Marxism, web-based interactivity, and the implications of post-capitalism. On is currently a freelance designer based in San Francisco.[4]
Notable Works
They Rule
Aimed at exposing the network of relationships between the American business elite, They Rule (2001) is a virtual environment that indexes and charts the connections between the nation’s most powerful companies and the individuals who make them up. Upgrades to the program in 2004 and again in 2011 allow users to search for maps of the top 1000 US companies, find connections between any two listed companies, and access Wikipedia searches of any individual, company, or institution directly from the user interface. Josh On credits the data used to create the program to LittleSis.org, a collective of data-miners who specialize in finding information on the ruling class.[5]
AntiWarGame
The AntiWarGame (2001) is a project done in collaboration with fellow Futurefarmers Amy Franceschini and Amy Balkin.[6] Players assume the role of President of the United States during a simulated representation of the post-9/11 era, navigating a war overseas while maintaining popularity in domestic polls. The gameplay is made up of balancing the nation’s spending, deploying military abroad, managing the National Guard, and appeasing both the media and the “business” class.[7] There is no clear endgame; the only goal is to maintain a balance between domestic and foreign interests and therefore avoiding assassination, revolution, and nuclear annihilation.
Texan Drawl
Another Amy Franceschini collaboration, Texan Drawl (2001) allowed players to digitally draw over a photograph of George W. Bush, with the invitation to “Deface the President – Alter His Ego”.[8] The program also archives each defacement and allows online users to vote on submissions to go on a “Popular Defacements” page. The flash game is hosted on the Futurefarmers website.
See Also
- Karl Marx
- Amy Franceschini
- Futurefarmers
- Matthew Skomarovsky
- https://LittleSis.org
References
- ↑ "Scroll".
- ↑ "Futurefarmers".
- ↑ "The Influencers".
- ↑ "Josh on". 2013-05-28.
- ↑ "About | theyrule.net".
- ↑ "MoMA | Talk to Me | ANTIWARGAME".
- ↑ "Antiwargame".
- ↑ "Bush".
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