What is a website? At first glance, this question may seem naive or even trivial. However, approaching the definition of a website from this perspective can reveal more about its nature. This project explores the essence of a website through its relationship with the browser, exposing hidden architectures in a series of browser extensions.

 

Over the last decades, our relationship with the internet has changed in several ways. The internet has shifted from being the exciting new medium to becoming ubiquitous, almost invisible to many. The way we browse the internet has also changed – old metaphors like “surfing” no longer make sense. Serendipitous navigation is nearly extinct, with platform-bound, curated bubbles of interest owning and shaping relationship with the web.

This project aims to contribute in its own way to the internet’s “back to the land” movement, re-negotiating the individual’s role on the internet by considering fundamental notions of the web and exposing some of its *wires*.

While the majority of browser extensions are aimed at productivity-related optimizations, such as ad blocking, grammar checking, and password management, they can also be used to explore how a webpage can be hijacked and transformed.

As a practical counterpart to the theoretical explorations on the nature of websites, four little sharp tools – browser extensions – were developed. Companion tools helping to explore the hidden architectures of a webpage, further contributing to a better understanding of what a website is. These extensions utilize various DOM manipulation techniques to reflect on certain aspects of a website.