Following the seminal TURUX project, re-move.org (1999-2003) represents a deeply personal and conceptually focused evolution in LIA’s early solo practice.
The ten interactive pieces in the series intentionally provide no instructions. Instead, they invite users to discover how unlabeled buttons and playful interactions can directly manipulate the underlying generative code, echoing the artist’s own process of intuitive experimentation. This focus on an organic, unguided experience with software was embodied in the project’s physical release: a limited edition CD-ROM. Each was presented in a hand-sewn plastic cover, which contained not only fragrant orange blossoms but also a transparent film bearing the project’s title. Both the blossoms and the film were left to float freely between the layers, making every single cover a unique, randomly composed artifact – a direct physical mirror of the generative principles at the heart of the software itself.
As a dedicated act of digital preservation, LIA has now completed the rebuilding of the series from its original format into p5js. This process also reveals the unique, time-specific nature of early software, with some works containing ephemeral glitches that are, by their very nature, unreproducible. The pieces are presented in their classic 800×600 pixel resolution, a format originally developed for CD-ROM distribution in the late 1990s, to maintain the integrity and aesthetic of this pioneering era.
Selected Works
A Note on Preservation: The Case of re-move 09
The ninth piece in the re-move series was created using a specific, inherent glitch in the now-defunct software Macromedia Director. This “glitch” was not an error, but was embraced as a core part of the artwork’s generative process and aesthetic.
Because this software environment no longer exists, a perfect 1-to-1 recreation in modern code is impossible. The original work remains a unique digital artifact, tied forever to the specific technological moment of its creation. Below is video documentation of the original 2002 piece in action.
Project Details
Experience the work: re-move.org
Year Created: 1999-2003; Rebuilt 2023-2025
Medium: Interactive Generative Art (p5js, formerly Director)
Original Format: Web & Limited Edition Artist CD-ROM
Awards & Major Exhibitions
Award of Distinction, Prix Ars Electronica (2003)
MAXXI, National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome (2007)
Biennale de Montréal (CIAC) (2002)
LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijón (2007)
Recognized in Rhizome’s Net Art Anthology
