deadWeb Lacrymatory delves into dead web archeology, exploring the influence of digital technologies on the evolution of mourning rituals. The vintage CRT monitor merges glitched signals from two media players via a video mixing circuit, creating unpredictable patterns fueled by a glass vial filled with human tears and sea water. The Lacrymatory, born from an internet myth most notably popularized on Tumblr, is said to have historical roots as a vessel for capturing tears in Roman and late Greek tombs, later resurfacing during the Victorian era's mourning resurgence. This enduring myth persists with online platforms still selling these vessels to grieving individuals. On each media player, I present curated GIF animations sourced from archived GeoCities websites of the late 90s and early 2000s. Although now confined to the "DeadWeb," these sites, once integral to the internet's fabric, were preserved by dedicated archivists who salvaged 1 terabyte of the GeoCities catalog before Yahoo terminated access in 2009. As I navigate these relics, echoes of 19th-century mourning sewing samplers resonate, emphasizing the romanticized grief expressions often associated with women in Western culture. Immersing myself in the design ethos of these websites, each a labor of love by the bereaved dedicated to their departed loved ones, I observe a folk-art aesthetic that stands in stark contrast to the minimalist/corporate internet landscape we now inhabit. The personalized and curated nature of these memorials serves as a poignant reminder of the profound expressions of grief embedded in the bygone era of the internet.
