Unfolding Object

Unfolding Object is a 2002 work of internet art created by John Simon after a commission from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Along with net.flag by Mark Napier, it was among the first pieces of internet art to be collected by a major museum.

Unfolding Object
Artist	John F. Simon Jr.
Year	2002
Collection	Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Website	unfoldingobject.guggenheim.org

Simon has described Unfolding Object as "an endless book that rewrites itself and whose use dictates its content." It begins as a blank square visible on a web page hosted on the museum's website, but responds when clicked by visitors to the site. Gradually the square unfolds, click by click, until it reaches a certain point, after which it begins to close. The "pages" of the design are programmed to respond differently as they receive more clicks; vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines denote different numbers of previous clicks. The colors of the square and of its background are both programmed to change hourly.

References

• Unfolding Object at the Guggenheim website