DIRECTORS: SOPHIA HEPPENSTALL, PANIZ VEDAVARZ, JULES LEE, ZOE PORT
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: ARISIA QARRI, CRYSTAL ZHU, JENNA MACINNES, KAYLA MACINNES, NOOR GHILZAI, SOPHIA GRAVEL
Editor’s Letter
Article Talk
.EXE was conceived during a summer filled with nostalgia for the 'old internet.' From the resurgence of indie sleaze to the rise of the digi cam, amidst all the uncertainties of the future, there was a deep yearning for a time when the digital world felt untamed and full of possibility. The internet felt not only like a place of escape but also a place of genuine connection. It was an era defined by discovery where chat rooms and online spaces opened portals to creativity and connection. For many of us, that era was like an online playroom where we could be anything. We created avatars that played with gender expression, curated playlists on 8tracks and SoundCloud filled with angst, and shared secrets with strangers across the globe. Instagram was still filled with authenticity, and on Tumblr, we curated aesthetics, blending writing, photography, and art into digital mood boards. These platforms were extensions of ourselves—raw, expressive, and deeply personal.
Work by Carrie K
Graphic Designers
Arisia Qarri
Clair Yu
Crystal Zhu
Jenna MacInnes
Kayla Macinnes
Noor Ghilzai
Sophia Gravel
Events Team Avery Bridges
Beth Spitzig
Cat Walke
Admin Assistant Jesse Vanderveeken
Social Media Assistant Phoebe JewellMacGregor
We asked people to submit work that explored their own relationship with the internet both past and present. Just as we create art to validate our experiences—as proof that we existed we post on the internet to capture fleeting moments, driven by a desire to hold onto them and show that they mattered. The goal was to tap into the deeply personal, often messy experiences of growing up online and reflect them through tangible pieces of art that capture the complexity of digital lives. Submissions ranged from a piece on the fading appreciation for albums as cohesive art forms, a love letter to dress-up games, and explorations of the internet as a space for exploring sexuality.
Volume Fifteen
Type Textual object
Writing Latin script
Symbols S
Culture Childlore
By revisiting the messy, experimental, and deeply personal relationship we had with the internet, we hope this volume will reignite the sense of possibility it once offered. In a world that feels increasingly curated and disconnected, .EXE invites you to remember the joy of discovery, selfexpression, and community.
With love, Jules, Paniz, Sophia and Zoe
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Work by Carrie K
artwork by THERESA HAYES
Computational Time
The past is an illusion. It is happening still.
The colours saturated explosively. You could reach out and touch it. That capsule of all that has been, A ticking bomb of all that will be.
A glowing landscape of unrestricted design. An uncharted world of nonsense 1s and 0s.
Limitless and expansive, It was a terrible thrill to young minds. It was a get-away quick scheme. It was prime real estate to build community, To close the gap of Earthly separation
The exhilarating entrapment of endless information. Soon, excitement calcifies into dependence. It is not what we thought it would be. Yet, we need it like a sick man Who still picks through his pockets for a cigarette. The pixels we thought would bridge connection are themselves Boxed in and closed for crossing.
The pixels in the box will not lead you Back to that time, Of simple childhood. They are a false idol, Whom we have enslaved our yearning to. You cannot bring the past forward.
Unchanging, locked in its frames: It will never be more than it was.
written by NICOLLETTE
Jabberweb
written by LINA DRUMMOND
Wander labyrinths of surrealist wonder, nd the rabbit hole, transcending as we plunder. as a March Hare’s frenzied laughter, rse this wildscape, a haven hereafter.
ugh glass screens, delirious grins glow, dism reigned as we relinquished our woe. ned personas, audacious personalities, ng installed idiomacies and rational irrationalities.
re the Jabberweb! the shadows warn. ty triumphs in dismissing their scorn.
’ s whimsical wonderment and frumious fun, ievous malarkey where flying fishes run, mming birds chirp, and midnight before sun.
Do we belong here, where connections confound?
Portals ensnare us, forever spellbound.
Caught in the snare of wascally witticisms, Amidst algorithms, indulge in your hedonisms.
Maniac marauders in a fantastical trance, With ferocious fangs, they lead us to dance.
Lurking beasts threaten, fangs lacerate tradition, While curious caterpillars spin tales of perdition.
Awake from the dream! Return to your home! eek intimate connections, back where you roam.
The Jabberweb, a final glance at this ephemeral illusion, ewell to the madness, our minds' great collusion.
written by PALEESA KAPOOR
artwork by ISABELLE FOX
written by TAYLOR M. BRANCO
My eyes reflected things they weren’t supposed to see, Too young and blinded by the infinitude of the internet to care.
A blue hue lit up my face as I sat too close to the screen And my legs, too short to reach the floor, floated back and forth While my head whipped toward the door at the slightest Raise in volume of my father’s voice from down the hall. A buzzing noise I forgot about rang through my ears; I only noticed it when I left the room and returned to it later, But it was always there. o the roof of my mouth, f anxiety I ate for lunch, estions on the keyboard he strangeness I sought. nged orderly before me; what I was looking for, uld have stayed hidden. history dressed in blue.
photography by AARUSHI GUPTA
This dated cell phone from our yard sale
Used to be a gift from my lover. The days of youthful ages went stale, Lost in the attic, now discovered. Young lady, take it for free, It no longer serves my needs. I’m scared to face the decree Of what was, what is, what will be. An audio record I found last night Was her sweet little secret unsent. A voice so warm with delight About a now forlorn event.
I won the jackpot, this expired coupon, Of eight summers lost and her love forgone.
written by FIONA (YUAN) GAO
