Computer is Your Friend
Ashleigh Ronning
Melbourne, Australia (2023)
Publishing Info:
A6 Riso printed zine
Saddle stiched
Description:
Small zine that uses humour and narrative in the form of a daily diary that shows the interactions of the narrator with their ‘helpful’ computer. The computer known as ‘Compu-Pal’ is trying to be useful but inadvertently stresses the user by overriding their decisions, thus infantilising the author. Interestingly this zine uses hand drawn versions of operating system windows, loading bars and alerts, making us aware of the human behind the story. The typography parodies ‘Chicago’, Susan Kare’s font designed for Apple, in use from 1984, the square shapes displayed on an early screen are a ubiquitous visual code for ‘computer’.
In Ronning’s zine the computer helpfully creates art to free up the narrator’s time and there’s a parody of a fitness watch that tells the user to “Please relax! Enjoy your leisure time!” amidst a flurry of pop-up windows alerting the user to data collection and privacy risks. The humour comes from the absurdity of the computer ‘helper’ which ironically doesn’t help at all.
Link to Instagram: @ashleyronning
