The Archive Of Patchy Studies
Description
Archive of Patchy Studies is a living, diagrammatic platform by Noam Youngrak Son that maps knowledge through a rhizomatic, non-extractive interface. Designed as a motherboard of interconnected nodes-ranging from essays and images to links and notes-it visualizes conceptual, aesthetic, and affective relations without relying on rigid taxonomy. The archive grows organically, shaped by conversation, intuition, and resistance to capitalist tempo.
Rather than simply storing information, it proposes an alternative infrastructure: one where artistic labor circulates relationally and ethically, inviting slower, situated forms of engagement and meaning-making over time. Some content remains open; other nodes are accessible via subscription.
Reflection
Diagrams, especially interactive, rhizomatic ones like Son's 'rhizomatic motherboard', challenge traditional data visualisation norms by turning static charts into dynamic, interconnected maps. Unlike dashboards or classification-driven graphs, these diagrams emphasise emergence, fuzziness and mutual causality. Treating the connecting nodes as active elements rather than fixed data points emphasises the importance of non-hierarchical, networked representations, and illustrates how diagrams can become lively and inclusive infrastructures.
Quote
"Over time, I hope this platform becomes not just an accumulation of information, but a transformative infrastructure: a space where artistic labor is not extracted, but comes to obtain other forms of value mutually."
External references
Added on
09.07.25