Author: Lillian Milano

For my beta release, I picked Hack #2: Critical Play and decided to reimagine my game “Put the Bullet Through the CEO”. This time I pulled ideas from Hack #4 and decided to touch on some of the up-and-coming conspiracy theories people are having regarding AI image generation and how that will potentially affect the legal system. As of December 3, 2024, the FBI has recognized this as an ongoing problem in certain sectors and issued a PSA (FBI) informing the public of ways criminals are using AI to deceive people. My game imagines a not-so-distant future where AI is used not only to deceive the public, but to accuse people of crimes. 

My game “Spot the Artifact” aims to evoke a similar feeling to “Spot the Difference” – a children’s game where the goal is to find the differences between two similar images – but instead of differences, your goal is to spot artifacts the AI left behind when generating the image. The player is presented with two images, one real and one AI-generated, and instructed to pick the image showing the “real” suspect. This task is surprisingly difficult, considering real CCTV footage is oftentimes low quality and confusing, making it shockingly similar to the AI-generated images. I wanted to put the player in the shoes of an imagined future detective or lawyer who would need to be able to distinguish between what evidence is real and fake. The mistakes made by the player are meant to incite distrust in their own sense of judgment and make them explore the potential future where false convictions could be made off of fabricated evidence generated by AI. AI has been rapidly improving over the past few years, so as time goes on it will become increasingly difficult to determine which images and videos are real. 

While my alpha version of Hack #2 focuses on the public’s reaction to some criminals and how that is potentially harmful, my beta version takes a more conspiratorial angle and explores a future where false accusations become more believable and commonplace. The overarching theme of crime and how it’s treated is the strongest tie between the two versions, though I think they also have a similar feel. In both projects I aimed to unsettle the player and make their actions in the game the main point of evoking critical thinking. Similar to the alpha version, “Spot the Artifact” is also a reskin of a nostalgic children’s game. I also tried to use some elements of wicked play in how the game is designed. There are no points or real consequences to getting anything wrong, the only feedback the player gets is the screen changing color, and there is no reliable solution on how to tell the images apart. I think detecting AI-generated images is a wicked problem in itself, as there are very few reliable ways to identify them, and the landscape is changing so quickly that these solutions often lag behind the most modern generators. 

Overall, I think my reimagining is fairly removed from the alpha version, though they are in the same conversation. Bringing it back to my alpha version, I would like you to consider a world where the assassination of Brian Thompson happened a few years in the future. Luigi Mangione was caught simply because a McDonald’s employee recognized him from the CCTV images that investigators had released. What happens when AI image generation becomes so advanced that all it takes is one bad actor fabricating data to falsely accuse someone of murder?

Sources Cited

FBI, “Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud” (2024)

Miguel Sicart, “The Design of Ethical Gameplay” from Beyond Choices (2013)

Media Sources

AI image generator: https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/text2img 

Real CCTV images (in no particular order): 

• https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-63135677
• https://weartv.com/news/local/ecso-home-invasion-suspects-caught-on-camera 
• https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/suspect-wanted-captured-on-cctv-shooting-victim-multiple-times
• https://ktxs.com/news/texas/suspect-caught-on-camera-taking-tobacco-products-from-walmart?photo=2
• https://wjla.com/news/local/armed-robbery-multiple-suspects-mpd-southeast-dc-gun-violence-crime
• https://wach.com/news/local/caught-on-camera-suspects-sought-in-string-of-burglaries-at-sporting-goods-store-shoes-sneakers-nike-richland-county-champs-town-center-place-crimestoppers
• https://observer.ug/news/nagirinya-murder-police-releases-cctv-footage-of-suspects/ 
• https://www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-manchester/news/news/2024/april/detectives-are-appealing-for-witnesses-and-victims-following-investigation-into-theft-of-mobile-phones/
• https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2024/july/cctv-images-released-following-assault-in-glassford-street-glasgow/ 
• https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2024/10/11/police-arrest-four-teen-suspects-connected-to-nearly-80-violent-crimes/
• https://bellevuebeatblog.com/2024/01/26/officers-investigating-overnight-car-prowls/
• https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/february/cctv-issued-after-man-steals-money-from-shop/ 
• https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/news-appeals/cctv-appeal-robbery-leeds-city-centre 
• https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/06/20/cctv-image-released-of-east-london-sex-assault-suspect/ 
• https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/environmental/caught-on-camera?fbclid=IwAR11XUheu5ppGYiAW1bsno5FCacb7156VDzQJrrIMaCYAiEVghNvok40pwM 
• https://cbs4local.com/news/local/two-men-seen-in-surveillance-video-burglarizing-housing-authority-of-el-paso-office-maratin-luther-king-butternut-street-crime-stoppers?src=link 
• https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/st-paul-pd-releases-bodycam-footage-showing-officers-shoot-homicide-suspect 
• https://hutchpost.com/posts/8b43111a-bf71-4a6f-8264-4c50bf4d757a
• https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=46455
• https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2023/11/20/cctv-of-bike-and-scooter-theft-suspects-released/ 
• https://www.westsiderag.com/2015/12/12/video-shows-suspects-in-central-park-robberies-police 
• https://dpdbeat.com/2017/12/06/safe-burglars-caught-on-camera-2/ 
• https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/police-release-cctv-image-after-8867576 
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-60395082 
• https://turnto10.com/news/local/barrington-police-warn-residents-of-vehicle-break-in-suspect-and-ask-for-video-footage-april-16-2025

Remix link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05-PyL4zfXc&t=41s&ab_channel=LillianMilano

Conspiracy theories have captured the minds of many across human history. Only recently have we begun to study this social phenomenon and assess the potential harms. On the surface there are ties with prejudice, witch hunts, revolutions, and genocides (Douglas), though I have found that they can also help keep discussion alive surrounding more isolated cases. Douglas defines a conspiracy theory as “attempts to explain the ultimate causes of significant social and political events and circumstances with claims of secret plots by two or more powerful actors”. I used this definition to identify conspiracy theories for my remix, and my remix primarily spans across the Bill Clinton, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush eras. 

When I first started gathering materials for my remix, I listed as many US-based conspiracy theories I could think of, and noticed that the majority of them tied in with different presidential administrations. In the spirit of remix I picked the song “Everybody Likes You” by Lemon Demon since this song heavily samples a clip from one of the Care Bears movies, and also because I thought it could be heard both as “everybody likes you” and “everybody lied to you”. To make sure I covered three distinct time periods I ended up focusing on conspiracies surrounding the probable homicide of Kevin Ives and Don Henry (80’s), the assassination of JFK and LBJ’s presidency (60’s), and Abu Ghraib and 9/11 (00’s). There are a few other scandals and conspiracy theories that are included in the remix, like MKUltra and Clinton’s connection to Jeffery Epstein. However, it was difficult to find good imagery for some of the less documented conspiracies. I wanted to focus on both familiar and unfamiliar cases, as one goal of my remix was to expose people to conspiracies they may have never heard of. 

The majority of the literature you see surrounding conspiracy theories discuss their potential harm, and while I don’t deny that this is something that happens, I would also like to argue that there can be good that comes out of keeping a conspiracy theory alive. A 2012 paper by Charles Pidgen argues that we should leave the possibility of investigating conspiracy theories open, and that while conspiracy theories are largely false, it is also true that “when they are sufficiently well-confirmed, they can rise to the dignity of knowledge” (Pigden, 222). I agree that it is unfair to write off a theory simply because it is a “conspiracy theory”, as the investigation of some theories can lead to shocking discoveries. 

For example, the murder of Kevin Ives and Don Henry is something that has been debated for many years. The initial ruling on the case was that it was an accidental death from a marijuana-induced incapacitation that led to them being hit by a train, though when the bodies were exhumed and reexamined it was found that both teens had much less THC in their systems at their time of death than what was initially determined, and that there was evidence of homicide prior to the incident with the train (Encyclopedia of Arkansas). This further investigation was spurred both by the boys’ parents and by conspiracy theorists that thought these killings had ties with the rumored drug smuggling happening in the area. This incident, and the following disappearances and murders of five of the witnesses on this case, has added evidence to a bigger conspiracy theory surrounding the body count of the Clintons and their involvement with Barry Seal, a now assassinated drug smuggler who operated in Mena, Arkansas. I strongly believe that keeping the conspiracy surrounding their deaths alive was the right thing to do, and that this is a case that should be looked into more thoroughly both for the sake of the victims’ families and to potentially expose government corruption. This is an opinion shared by others, as there have been books and documentaries made about this case, like Boys on the Tracks: Death, Denial, and a Mother’s Crusade to Bring Her Son’s Killers to Justice by Mara Leveritt and The Clinton Chronicles by Patrick Matrisciana. 

My selection of photos, videos, government documents, and articles in my remix also ties into my argument that conspiracy theories can be worth investigating. I wanted to include a blend of infamous and intriguing imagery to both disturb and captivate the viewer. I aimed to overstimulate the viewer with information that devolves into degeneracy before cutting to a contradictory clip of George W. Bush to naturally induce skepticism. A large part of letting yourself believe in a conspiracy theory is finding contradictions between what the actors in power are saying, and the evidence being presented. In the case of Bush and Abu Ghraib, he claims that “the America I know cares about every individual” and that the troops sent to Iraq are “good, honorable citizens”, curating the belief that this is an isolated incident by a few bad actors. Though this is clearly not the case, and was disputed by the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. Investigative documents show a pattern of abuse in prisons throughout this time period and allege that abuse was part of standard procedure in these facilities (Associated Press, Smeulers). In my remix I aimed to paint Bush as a liar whose primary objective was to control public opinion surrounding the release of information on Abu Ghraib. The only thing I hadn’t considered was the possibility that some of my peers may be unfamiliar with this case. This was a case I had decided on very early on in my remix, as I found it had the most easily recognizable imagery aside from 9/11. I was surprised when some of my classmates seemed unfamiliar with it, but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense since my generation was very young (or possibly not even born) when this information first came out. Regardless, I hope the contradiction presented still sparks curiosity about this case, and possibly even the other incidents alluded to in my remix. This conundrum speaks to the cultural differences between generations, as I am sure that events like 9/11 and the public revelation about what happened in Abu Ghraib is much more important to older generations. 

By the time I had finished my remix I was left with only one rule to break, rule 4: you must break one of the rules. From the beginning I thought it would be ironic to place myself into a hypocritical position by “breaking” this rule, as this rule “break” and the overt manipulation of the viewer’s beliefs puts me in a very similar position that I present the former presidents in. By breaking this rule I am technically in compliance with the ruleset, though it appears to be in bad faith, as I am not actually breaking one of the rules. I think this is in itself a commentary on those in power, as I hold some power over the viewer through my remix, and in this justification I can do what Bush and Clinton have done before me and insist that I am right despite the evidence – my remix – that I am actually in the wrong. 

Sources

Karen M. Douglas, et al., “Understanding Conspiracy Theories” (2019), https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pops.12568 

Charles Pigden, “Conspiracy Theorues and the Conventional Wisdom” (2012), https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/episteme/article/conspiracy-theories-and-the-conventional-wisdom/F493AE4E5065A43AB0420622A9652CCD 

Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Kevin Ives and Don Henry (Murder of)”, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/kevin-ives-and-don-henry-12289/ 

Humans Rights Watch, “The Road to Abu Ghraib” (2004), https://www.hrw.org/report/2004/06/09/road-abu-ghraib

Red Cross and Steven Miles, “Abu Ghraib: its Legacy for Military Medicine” (2004), https://casebook.icrc.org/print/20735 

Amnesty International, “USA: Pattern of brutality and cruelty — war crimes at Abu Ghraib” (2004), https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amr510772004en.pdf 

Association Press, “AP: Intelligence agents encouraged Iraq abuse” (2004), https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5094207

A.L. Smeulers, “Abu Ghraib and the War against Terror – a case against Donald Rumsfeld” (2009), https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/2403096/215948.pdf 

Media Sources In Order of Appearance 

-Song: Everybody Likes You; Lemon Demon/Neil Cicierega; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xElp-lYnyE&ab_channel=NeilCicieregaMusic 

Section 1: Bill Clinton and the Mena Coverup

-Opening clip and picture of Don Henry and Kevin Ives; KATV;  https://katv.com/community/7-on-your-side/boys-on-the-tracks-revisited 

-Picture of Boonie Bearden, Mike Samples, Keith McKaskle, Keith Coney, Jeff Rhodes, Gregory Collins, and newspaper ad posted by Linda Ives; ID Files; https://idfiles.com/investigations/saline-county-grand-jury/ 

-Picture of Linda Ives and newspaper clipping; Arkansas Democrat;  https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/aug/13/judge-dea-satisfy-files-bid/ 

-The Boys on the Tracks cover; CALS; https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/the-boys-on-the-tracks-book-12011/ 

-FBI document release pages 1 and 2; ID Files; https://idfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/section-2.pdf 

-Picture of Bill Clinton; US Armed Forces; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton 

-Picture of James Steed; ID Files; https://idfiles.com/bad-guys/james-steed/ 

-Picture of Fahmy Malak; ID Files; https://idfiles.com/bad-guys/fahmy-malak/ 

-Picture of Dan Harmon in cuffs; ID Files; https://idfiles.com/bad-guys/dan-harmon/ 

-Picture of Barry Seal; Wikipedia – Unknown author; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Seal 

-Why Is Mena Off Limits? zoom and Bill Clinton walking clip; Patrick Matrisciana; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433674/?ref_=mv_close (from documentary)

-Clinton with Epstein 1; Wikipedia – Ralph Alswang, White House photographer; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton#/media/File:Maxwell_Epstein_Clinton_1993_2.jpg

-Clinton with Epstein 2; The Times – The Mega Agency; https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/bill-clintons-friendship-with-jeffrey-epstein-still-casts-a-shadow-553nbwt0w 

-Clinton with Epstein 3; The Times; https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/bill-clinton-jeffrey-epstein-and-ghislaine-maxwell-an-uncomfortable-connection-xsbhcxjkq 

-Clinton with Monica Lewinsky; npr – AP; https://www.npr.org/2016/06/12/481718785/clinton-scandals-a-guide-from-whitewater-to-the-clinton-foundation 

Section 2: MKUltra

-Picture of Paul F. Gaynor; Wikipedia – John Evans; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_F._Gaynor

-Picture of Allen Dulles; Wikipedia – US Government; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Dulles 

-Picture of Richard Helms; USA Today – ABC; https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/08/31/cia-helms-fbi-pentagon-papers/89642908/ 

-Picture of William Colby; Wikipedia – Unknown Whitehouse photographer; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Colby 

-Picture of Harris Isbell; Wikipedia – Unknown author; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Isbell

-Picture of Louis Jolyon West; Wikipedia – Unknown author; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Jolyon_West

-Picture of Donald Ewen Cameron; Wikipedia – PubMed Central; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Ewen_Cameron 

-Picture of Herald Alexander Abramson; Find A Grave – rhale1100; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14565614/harold_alexander-abramson 

-Picture of Gerald Ford; Wikipedia – David Hume Kennerly; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford 

Section 3: Assassination of John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War

-Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy; Wikipedia – Abraham Zapruder; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapruder_film 

-Handbill from the day before the assassination accusing JFK of treason, picture of the “umbrella man”, picture of the “Three Tramps” who were suspected to have some involvement in the assassination, Bill and Jean Newman on the ground after allegedly hearing shots from behind them, picture of Lee Harvey Oswald holding a rifle, picture of JFK with Sukarno, picture of secret service agent George Hickey, picture of David Ferrie and Oswald; Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_conspiracy_theories 

-Albert Thomas winking at LBJ shortly after the assassination; National Archives and Records Administration; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AlbertThomasLadyBirdLBJJackieKennedyAirForce1byStoughton.jpg 

-Picture of LBJ being sworn in; Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_conspiracy_theories

-Vietnam War clips; PBS; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j-3Xi5BcKs&ab_channel=PBS 

Section 4: George W. Bush, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Camp Whitehorse, and 9/11

-The Hooded Man image, and picture of Lynndie England holding leashed man “Gus”; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse 

-Lynndie England headshot; US Army; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynndie_England

-Charles Graner punching handcuffed prisoners; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse 

-Charles Graner headshot; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Graner 

-Ivan Frederick sitting on detainee; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse

-Ivan Frederick picture; NBC – David J. Phillip / AP; https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21090172 

-Charles Graner and Sabrina Harman behind human pyramid of prisoners; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse

-Sabrina Harman headshot; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabrina_Harman 

-Sgt. Michael J. Smith and dog barking at prisoner; Wikipedia – U.S. Government copyright; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse

-Sgt. Michael J. Smith headshot; NBC – Matthew S. Gunby / AP; https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna11943182 

-Force feeding restraint chair in Guantanamo, picture of detainees 1; Wikipedia – Shane T. McCoy, Brian Godette; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp

-Picture of detainees 2; Amnesty International – US DoD; https://www.amnesty.org.uk/guantanamo-bay-human-rights 

-Rasul v. Bush case page 1; https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep542/usrep542466/usrep542466.pdf

-Clip of Bush walking and all 9/11 clips; EM Productions; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwRch0-bk5A&ab_channel=EMProductions 

-Interview with George W. Bush about the treatment of Iraqi prisoners; c-span; https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/presidential-interview/128007 

-Article about Clarke Paulus (Marine briefly in charge of Camp Whitehorse) being acquitted after death of prisoner; Associated Press; https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/marine-acquitted-of-major-abuse-charge-in-iraqi-death/ 

-Article about Lynndie England’s 3 year sentence; The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/sep/28/iraq.usa 

(broken image link: https://imgur.com/a/b7xP3Sz)

When I started ideating for my software invasion, I thought a lot about Steven Levy’s Hacker Ethics introduced in chapter two of Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, specifically about the belief that you can create art and beauty on computers. Levy focuses on how the software itself should be seen as an artform and it made me curious about how fairly standard software can be repurposed to create art. Going into this hack I knew I wanted to create an animation, since it requires more technical components than a still drawing and I thought most software would give more resistance to being used that way. I also knew I wanted to use a program geared towards office work, as that provides a natural contrast to animation. I started off experimenting with Google Slides, though I found that it natively has too many functions that are well suited for animation, like the slides themselves, timed transition between slides, and the primitive layer support. After some more experimentation I decided that Google Sheets would provide the most resistance and was likely the least suited for my task.

Google Sheets started off as a program called XL2Web, which as the name implies is just a web application of Excel. Both Sheets and Excel are designed for organizing data, creating charts, and performing calculations. The software itself is quite complex and it has gained a large following over the years with events like the Microsoft Excel World Championship (video), though I found that even this gamified version of Excel still has the competitors performing similar tasks to what you would do in a workplace environment. 

While Sheets does have functions that go beyond the realm of typical office applications, like inserting images and a ‘draw’ tool which can create simple vector art, the majority of the application is themed around data manipulation. The readily available options in the toolbar are things like currency formatting, tools for adjusting decimal places, chart creation, filter options, text formatting, and mathematical functions, all with simple, clean icons to match its office theme. All of these tools are not particularly helpful for most forms of art creation, though you could possibly use them for some form of ASCII art. For my animation I wanted to stick to the natural form and function of Sheets, so I used the cells and ‘fill color’ tool to create a pixel animation, instead of using the draw tool or arranging images. I used the individual sheets as my frames, and switched between them quickly using the built-in shortcut (‘alt’ + ‘pg down’ on Windows). 

Pixel art as we know it today largely originates from arcade games and 8-bit consoles in the late 70’s and 80’s (Rouse). While some see it as simply a product of the memory limitations placed on early video games, the style actually has roots in many other artforms, like tile mosaics, pointillism, cross stitch, and tapestries, which use either a grid format or congruent shapes of color to create the image. I drew inspiration from these sources when deciding what I was going to draw and chose a peaceful scene in late twilight. I also referenced some background paintings from Studio Ghibli movies for the color palette. I thought this natural scene provided a nice contrast to the rigid nature of office work, as well as to the frame of Sheets itself. The sources of inspiration I chose also stemmed from places of leisure and pleasure, which are not commonly associated with data manipulation and office work. I also didn’t want my animation to have a strong association with video games, since I felt like I could pull the piece away from technology as a whole with something more painterly.

Throughout the process of making my animation I ran into some very odd problems that you wouldn’t normally notice about Sheets. One of my most interesting issues was the frame itself and how it affected how I perceived the colors. The majority of art programs have a gray background and UI around the canvas (and artists often will color the canvas a similar gray before beginning a drawing), this is done for numerous reasons, though it is primarily to help with eyestrain and to provide a reference to ambient light and neutral saturation. For example, if you were to draw on a canvas with a white background it would be harder to achieve bright highlights than it would be on a gray background. Since I started off my pixel drawing in an art program I faced a lot of confusion when translating the drawing into Sheets. It felt like all the colors I had originally chosen were now far too dark since a lot of our vision is dependent on contrast (Spring), and Sheets has a primarily white UI on desktop. This issue alongside the color calibration difference between the monitors I had been switching between left me wondering if I should change the palette altogether to match the white background, though ultimately I left it the same since color selection is difficult in Sheets and I already had the hexadecimal codes for the current color palette. 

(broken image link: https://imgur.com/a/kghjnyy)

This color issue really reinforced how bad Sheets is as an art program. The white UI on its own is somewhat problematic even in a workplace environment, as it can lead to eyestrain, though it is clear that Google wants to maintain a ‘clean’ aesthetic with its software, as they all use this primarily white palette. Another really funny thing I ran into was how the piece can be displayed with inverted colors on mobile. At first I thought it had just loaded incorrectly (since it took forever to load in the app), though I realized the colors were inverted because my phone was in dark mode. This honestly took me by surprise, since even in a data manipulation project the colors may be important for finding things quickly or representing information. This further reinforces that Google Sheets isn’t built with art and color in mind.

(broken image link: https://imgur.com/a/0nVLq97)

Works Cited

Steven Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1984)

Margaret Rouse, Pixel Art (2015)

Aimi Atikah Roslan et. al., The Psychology of Grey in Painting Backgrounds (2022) (not directly referenced, but related)

Kenneth R. Spring et. al., Human Vision and Color Perception