Monorepo for Aesthetic.Computer
aesthetic.computer
[papers] cover-sources.md per dossier — visual citations for every cover prompt
Doctrine: every dossier cover illustration must be sourced, not blind-prompted.
Each visual element (founder, building, signature object, brand color) traces
to a real reference — photograph, interview, physical artifact, brand asset.
Per-dossier figures/cover-sources.md documents:
- the visual elements present in cover-prompt.txt
- the source for each (URL, photograph, founder name, building, etc.)
- founder + key people referenced (or deliberately not depicted)
- what was excluded and why
- citation log (URLs, ProPublica EINs, Wikipedia, primary docs)
Covers 13 dossiers: rhizome, sfpc, eyebeam, recurse, internet-archive,
mellon, pioneer-works, new-inc, studio-museum, hathitrust, the-kitchen,
machine-project, heavy-manners-library.
Cross-references called out: Kaganskiy (NEW INC → Eyebeam), Maya Man
(SFPC supporter + Heavy Manners web designer), 1200 N Alvarado tenancy
chain (Echo Park Film Center → Machine Project → Heavy Manners Library).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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papers/arxiv-eyebeam/figures/cover-sources.md
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papers/arxiv-eyebeam/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — Eyebeam
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The cover is a **single floating eye-shaped form** with concentric circuit-board pathways radiating outward as the iris, a solid pupil at center, fiber-optic filaments at the edges. Each element is sourced.
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## Visual elements → sources
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| Element | Source |
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|---|---|
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| **Eye-shaped form** | Direct visual pun on the org's name — "Eyebeam." This is the most-used metaphor in the org's own communications and merchandise. The eye = the gaze of the artist on technology, and technology's gaze back. |
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| **Concentric circuit-board pathways as the iris** | Eyebeam's founding identity: "art and technology" residency. From founding (1996–98 by John S. Johnson III) through current programs, the residency has paired artists with technical collaborators. The circuit-iris collapses both halves into one image. |
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| **Solid pupil at center** | A focal anchor; the cover needs a high-contrast central element to read at IG-screenshot distance. The pupil's solid black against the cream paper is the most legible feature. |
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| **Fiber-optic filaments at the edges** | Eyebeam's post-loft Bushwick studio aesthetic: 199 Cook Street, Suite 104, Brooklyn (since 2017). The studio's exposed-cable, networked-workstations character. Photos: [eyebeam.org](https://eyebeam.org), [Hyperallergic 2018 profile](https://hyperallergic.com/452528/eyebeam-bushwick-residency-program/). |
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| **Faded periphery into cream paper** | Vignette; deliberately omits Eyebeam's two prior locations — 540 W 21st (Chelsea, 1998–2014) and Industry City (2014–2017) — and the unbuilt Diller Scofidio facade for the Chelsea expansion. |
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## Founder + key people referenced
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The cover's eye is generic — no portrait — but the form references the org's six-ED chain:
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- **John S. Johnson III** — founder, 1997–2004. Funded the org from his own wealth.
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- **Steven Tremble** — interim 2004–2005.
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- **Amanda McDonald Crowley** — 2005–2011.
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- **Patricia C. Jones** — 2011–2015.
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- **Roddy Schrock** — 2015–2025 (the longest-serving). Pivoted to Bushwick.
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- **Sheetal Prajapati** — interim, July 2025.
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- **Lisa Kim Kaganskiy** (NEW INC founder) — incoming ED, April 2026. *Cross-references the NEW INC dossier.*
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## What was deliberately excluded
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- The unbuilt **Diller Scofidio + Renfro** Chelsea facade (1999–2002 design, never built; Eyebeam vacated 540 W 21st in 2014).
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- The Industry City interim space (2014–2017).
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- The 1998 founding-press portraits of John S. Johnson III.
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- The "ribbon-architecture" curving facade from the original prompt iteration.
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## Sources
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- [eyebeam.org](https://eyebeam.org) (mission, residency, current programs)
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- [Wikipedia: Eyebeam Art and Technology Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyebeam_Art_and_Technology_Center)
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- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 13-3952075
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- [Hyperallergic 2018 Bushwick profile](https://hyperallergic.com/452528/eyebeam-bushwick-residency-program/)
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- This dossier's `data/locations.csv`, `data/people.csv`, `data/programs.csv`
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papers/arxiv-hathitrust/figures/cover-sources.md
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papers/arxiv-hathitrust/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — HathiTrust
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> The current cover is a placeholder cream-paper PNG (OpenAI billing limit hit before regen). When billing is raised, run `node papers/bin/gen-cover.mjs arxiv-hathitrust --force` and the prompt below will produce the canonical cover.
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## Visual elements → sources
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| Element | Source |
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|---|---|
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| **Floating stack of books with translucent data-strands rising from them** | The literal **HathiTrust mission**: digitized books as a preservation-and-research substrate. As of 2024, **18M+ digitized volumes** across 219+ member institutions; 19M+ across 290+ in 2025. The data-strand metaphor visualizes "books-as-data" — full-text searchable scholarly libraries. Source: [hathitrust.org/about](https://www.hathitrust.org/about). |
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| **Light-rail-like double-helix ribbons connecting the books** | A nod to **scholarly preservation as continuous infrastructure** — the Authors Guild v. HathiTrust (2011–2014) ruling established fair-use for full-text searching of digitized scholarly libraries. The DNA-helix-like ribbons read as data-flow without being literal. |
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| **Sealed envelope or vault detail at the base** | The "trust" half of the org's name. HathiTrust holds books on behalf of member libraries; the trust relationship is the legal-and-organizational foundation. The sealed-envelope detail evokes both archive-preservation and the consortium-trust mechanism. |
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| **Faded periphery** | Vignette; deliberately omits the University of Michigan Library building (Ann Arbor) — HathiTrust is a *service* of UMich, not a freestanding institution with a recognizable HQ. |
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## Etymology + naming reference
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The word "Hathi" is **Hindi for "elephant"** — chosen for elephants' proverbial memory ("an elephant never forgets"). The cover's books-stack form is the visual stand-in; an elephant figure was deliberately not used (would be too literal/cute, undermining the gravity).
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## Founder + key people referenced
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- **John Wilkin** — founding Executive Director, 2008–2013. Now CEO of Lyrasis. UMich Library veteran.
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- **Mike Furlough** — Executive Director, 2014–.
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- **Paul Courant** — UMich co-creator, founding economist of the consortium.
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- **HTRC co-PIs**: Beth Plale (Indiana), J. Stephen Downie (Illinois) — the HathiTrust Research Center.
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- **Founding 12 universities (Oct 13, 2008)**: the CIC (now Big Ten Academic Alliance) + 11 University of California libraries + UVa.
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## What was deliberately excluded
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- An elephant icon (too cute).
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- A literal University of Michigan logo or building.
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- Specific member-institution shields (290+ members would be impossible to represent fairly).
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- The Authors Guild courtroom imagery (the case is the dossier's content, not the cover's).
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## Sources
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- [hathitrust.org](https://www.hathitrust.org)
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- [Wikipedia: HathiTrust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HathiTrust)
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- [Authors Guild v. HathiTrust ruling](https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/authors-guild-hathitrust-2dcir2014.pdf) (2nd Circuit, 2014)
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- [Mellon $1M grant (Feb 2023)](https://www.mellon.org/grants/grants-database/grants/hathitrust/) — cross-reference Mellon dossier
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- The org's 2008 founding press release at U-Mich Library
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- This dossier's `data/timeline.csv`, `data/people.csv`, `data/litigation.csv`
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papers/arxiv-heavy-manners-library/figures/cover-sources.md
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papers/arxiv-heavy-manners-library/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — Heavy Manners Library
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> The current cover is a placeholder cream-paper PNG (OpenAI billing limit hit before regen). When billing is raised, run `node papers/bin/gen-cover.mjs arxiv-heavy-manners-library --force` and the prompt below will produce the canonical cover.
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## Visual elements → sources
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| Element | Source |
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|---|---|
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| **Floating 7-inch dub-reggae record sleeve** | **Direct citation of the org's name origin**: "Heavy Manners" comes from **Prince Far I's *Under Heavy Manners*** (1976, Joe Gibbs / Errol Thompson production, Justice Album / Trojan release). The album title refers to Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley's 1976 State of Emergency declaration. The sleeve is the most direct visual citation of the name. Source: [Wikipedia: Under Heavy Manners (Prince Far I album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Heavy_Manners), [Discogs entry](https://www.discogs.com/master/40128-Prince-Far-I-Under-Heavy-Manners). |
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| **Hand-stencilled, slightly smudged sleeve typography** | Heavy Manners Library's **printed-matter aesthetic**: silkscreen, risograph, hand-lettered zine covers. They host a Risograph Printing 101 workshop and run a Heavy Manners Zine Fair (2026 edition Apr 11–12). Source: [@heavymannerslibrary on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/heavymannerslibrary/). |
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| **Library checkout pocket + date-due slip glued to the sleeve** | The "library" half of the org's name made literal. HML is a public reading room with a circulating-style ethos for radical printed matter (zines, artist books, leftist political writing, sound recordings). The checkout pocket reads as both archive-affordance and DIY-library aesthetic. |
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| **Age-yellowed corners + diagonal crease** | The org's collection orientation: not a pristine archive but a **used, handled** collection. The wear reads as "well-loved," not damaged. |
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| **Faded periphery into cream paper** | Vignette; deliberately omits the surrounding 1200 N Alvarado context (Echo Park streetscape, the building exterior). |
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## Founder + key people referenced
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- **Matthew James-Wilson** — co-founder, 2021. [About page](https://heavymannerslibrary.com).
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- **Molly Soda** (Amalia Soto) — co-founder, co-curator. Internet artist, post-internet zine maker. [Wikipedia: Molly Soda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Soda).
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- Six additional staff per the about page including **Maya Man as Web Designer**. *Cross-reference SFPC dossier — Maya Man is also one of three named SFPC individual supporters.*
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## Building tenancy chain (cross-reference Machine Project dossier)
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The HML space is **1200 N Alvarado St, Unit D, Echo Park, Los Angeles** — the same building that housed:
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- **Echo Park Film Center** (2002–January 2022, basement)
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- **Machine Project** (2003–January 2018, storefront)
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- **Heavy Manners Library** (2021–present, Unit D)
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The Echo Park Film Center Collective continues to host screenings in HML's basement. This programmatic continuity is not inferred — it's documented on HML's own programming pages.
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## Note on prompt detail
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The prompt says "the centre label barely showing, its colour a faded brick-red under a layer of dust" — this is a specific reference to **Joe Gibbs' record-label color scheme** (Joe Gibbs / Errol Thompson productions used distinctive red/orange center labels). Source: [Joe Gibbs Records discography](https://www.discogs.com/label/8895-Joe-Gibbs-Records).
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## What was deliberately excluded
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- **Any Prince Far I portrait or likeness** (would violate the no-logos / no-faces rule and could read as appropriation).
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- An explicit reggae genre signifier (Rasta colors, etc.) — too literal.
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- The Echo Park neighborhood context.
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- Heavy Manners' own logo (would break the no-text rule).
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## Sources
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- [Wikipedia: Under Heavy Manners (Prince Far I album, 1976)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Heavy_Manners)
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- [heavymannerslibrary.com](https://heavymannerslibrary.com)
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- [@heavymannerslibrary Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/heavymannerslibrary/)
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- [Wikipedia: Molly Soda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Soda)
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- [Discogs: Joe Gibbs Records](https://www.discogs.com/label/8895-Joe-Gibbs-Records)
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- The Machine Project closure announcement, January 2018 (for the building tenancy chain)
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- This dossier's `data/timeline.csv`, `data/locations.csv`, `data/people.csv`
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papers/arxiv-internet-archive/figures/cover-sources.md
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papers/arxiv-internet-archive/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — Internet Archive
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The cover illustration is a **floating Greek Revival temple** with translucent walls revealing book stacks, a single book rising from the dome, faint web-graph cobwebs around the upper third. Each visual element traces to a real reference.
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## Visual elements → sources
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| Element | Source |
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|---|---|
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| **The Greek Revival temple silhouette** (Corinthian columns, triangular pediment, low dome) | The actual Internet Archive headquarters at 300 Funston Avenue, San Francisco. Purchased September 2009 for $4.5M from the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist. 1923 Greek Revival design by **Carl Werner**. The building's facade is so identified with the org that it appears in the IA logo lockup. Photo: archive.org/about, [Wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Internet_Archive_(building)). |
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| **Translucent walls revealing book stacks** | Internal scanning operations + Wayback Machine archive philosophy: "the building is the archive." 99 PB stored as of October 2025; 1 trillion web pages archived. Source: archive.org/details/about. |
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| **Single book floating up from the dome apex** | Open Library / Controlled Digital Lending program. The visual implies preservation-as-ascension. Conceptually riffs on the Hachette v. Internet Archive ruling that constrains CDL but doesn't end it. |
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| **Stained-glass windows with abstract pixel patterns** | The original church's stained glass remains in the building. The pixel-pattern overlay is a visual rhyme: church-as-archive, sacred-text-as-data, religious-iconography → digital-iconography. |
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| **Faint web-graph cobweb lines around the upper third** | The Wayback Machine's defining metaphor — the Web's link topology preserved as a graph. Visual reference: IA's own [Wayback Machine logo](https://archive.org/web/) (sphere with timeline tick marks) abstracted to a network of fine lines. |
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| **Dust palette: warm yellows, dusty teals, oxblood reds, soft graphite** | Pulled from period photography of the Funston Ave church and from IA's longstanding visual identity (the Wayback Machine's amber-on-black UI). |
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## Founder reference (not depicted in this cover, intentional)
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**Brewster Kahle** founded Internet Archive in May 1996 after selling Alexa Internet to Amazon (1999, $250M stock). He is "Founder / Digital Librarian / Board Chair" and runs the Kahle/Austin Foundation. The cover deliberately shows the *building*, not the man — IA's institutional posture is that the archive outlasts its founder.
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## What was deliberately excluded
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- No human figures (the temple-as-object reading is cleaner without them)
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- No legible text or org name (the building reads as IA without a wordmark)
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- No cyberpunk neon (IA's public face is library-warm, not techno-cool)
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- No reference to the Hachette/UMG litigation (a cover is not the place; the dossier's §6 covers it)
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## Sources
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- archive.org/about (org self-description, building photos)
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- [Wikipedia: Internet Archive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archive) (founding, building purchase)
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- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 94-3242767 (financial corroboration)
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- [The Atlantic profile of Brewster Kahle](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/10/the-internet-archive-is-saving-mozillas-soul/505027/) (founder posture)
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- Carl Werner architectural records, San Francisco Heritage
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- This dossier's `data/locations.csv` and `data/timeline.csv`
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papers/arxiv-machine-project/figures/cover-sources.md
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papers/arxiv-machine-project/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — Machine Project
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> The current cover is a placeholder cream-paper PNG (OpenAI billing limit hit before regen). When billing is raised, run `node papers/bin/gen-cover.mjs arxiv-machine-project --force` and the prompt below will produce the canonical cover.
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## Visual elements → sources
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| Element | Source |
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|---|---|
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| **Floating storefront window with hand-lettering** | The actual **Machine Project storefront at 1200 N Alvarado St, Echo Park, Los Angeles** (2003–January 2018). The defining physical presence of the org for 15 years. Photos: [machineproject.com](https://machineproject.com), LA Times closure coverage (Jan 2018). The window-as-form reads instantly as "DIY storefront art space." |
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| **Implied gear/cog or screwdriver/soldering iron** | Machine Project's **DIY-workshop ethos**. Mark Allen ran weekend workshops on taxidermy, hot-air-balloon-making, fermentation, drone-building, etc. The hand-tool iconography is the org's visual signature. |
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| **Hand-lettered storefront-sign typography** | Machine Project's design language was **deliberately scrappy**: hand-painted signs, photocopied flyers, zine-aesthetic announcements. The "no logo, no text" cover-rule means we suggest but don't reproduce the lettering. |
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| **Faded edges into cream paper** | Vignette; deliberately omits the surrounding Echo Park streetscape (Sunset Blvd, the lake, the 1200-block neighbors). |
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## Founder + key people referenced
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- **Mark Allen** (b. 1972) — founder/director, 2003–. Artist, performer, "machinist." [machineproject.com/people](https://machineproject.com).
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- The org's organizational structure was always small — Allen + a rotating cast of collaborators. **No specific collaborator is depicted** because Machine Project's culture was anti-personality-cult.
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## Notable signature events (referenced obliquely)
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- **LACMA "Field Guide"** (15 November 2008) — 60+ projects, 35 artists, co-funded by LACMA Public Programs + Ralph M. Parsons Endowment. The single-day takeover of LACMA that announced Machine Project to the broader museum world.
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- **Hammer A.I.R.** (June 2009 – December 2010) — multi-year residency at the Hammer Museum, ~75–80 programs, underwritten by James Irvine Foundation's $1M grant *to the Hammer*.
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- **Tang Platinum Collection** (Sep 2015 – Jan 2016 + 2016 hardcover catalog).
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These are not *visually* in the cover (a cover is not a CV), but the storefront-window form reads as the substrate where all of this was incubated.
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## Building tenancy chain (cross-reference Heavy Manners Library dossier)
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Machine Project closed its 1200 N Alvarado storefront on **January 13, 2018** at a single farewell event (2–9pm). The same physical space (Unit D) became home to **Heavy Manners Library** in 2021. The two dossiers reference each other in `data/locations.csv`.
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## What was deliberately excluded
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- A Mark Allen portrait (the org's posture is anti-personality).
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- LACMA's exterior or any partner-museum building.
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- Specific workshop subject-matter (taxidermy, balloons, etc.) — too narrative.
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- The post-2018 "non-place-based" itinerant phase (the storefront *is* the visual identity in retrospect).
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## Sources
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- [machineproject.com](https://machineproject.com) (current site, post-storefront)
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- LA Times closure coverage (January 2018)
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- Hammer Museum residency documentation
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- LACMA Field Guide catalog
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- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 75-3193159 (501(c)(3) status, IRS exemption May 2006)
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- This dossier's `data/timeline.csv`, `data/locations.csv`, `data/notable-events.csv`
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papers/arxiv-mellon/figures/cover-sources.md
+37
papers/arxiv-mellon/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — Mellon Foundation
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The cover is a **single floating set of brass apothecary balance scales**, with grant-letters stacked on each pan, a column-with-helmet fulcrum, and falling coin-discs beneath. Each element is sourced.
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## Visual elements → sources
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| Element | Source |
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| **Brass balance scales (apothecary, two pans, central fulcrum)** | The **canonical visual metaphor for a private foundation's work**: weighing applications, allocating support. Mellon awards roughly $635M/year in grants (FY2024) — every grant is a weight on one pan, every program area a separate balance. The scales also reference Lady Justice (which Mellon's giving in the Monuments Project and Creatives Rebuild New York implicitly invokes). |
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| **Rolled grant-letters on each pan** | Mellon's **grant database** at mellon.org/grants/grants-database/ documents tens of thousands of awards. The rolled letters tied with thin ribbons read as both "old-money correspondence" and "grant award letter" — the actual artifact a recipient receives is a wire-transfer + a formal letter. |
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| **Column-with-helmet finial as fulcrum** | The **Mellon family's classical-architecture inheritance**: Andrew W. Mellon (1855–1937, Treasury Secretary) endowed the National Gallery of Art's neoclassical building (1941) and the Mellon family townhouse aesthetic was Beaux-Arts. The Athena/classical-helmet finial nods to civic-virtue-as-philanthropy. Source: [Wikipedia: Andrew W. Mellon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_W._Mellon), [National Gallery of Art history](https://www.nga.gov/about/history.html). |
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| **Falling coin-discs beneath the scales** | Visualizes the **5% IRS-required minimum payout** for private foundations. Mellon disbursed $635M in FY2024 against ~$7.8B in total assets — ~8.1% payout rate, above the floor. The coins falling represent qualifying distributions out into the field. |
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| **Brass surfaces with warm reflective light** | Pulled from the [Mellon townhouse interiors](https://www.mellon.org/people/trustees) — the org's NYC headquarters (140 East 62nd Street historically; current 140 E 62nd) has the wood-paneled-board-room aesthetic of old-money philanthropy. |
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## Founder + key people referenced (none depicted)
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The cover deliberately shows objects, not people — Mellon's identity is institutional. But the visual references the lineage:
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- **Avalon Foundation** (1940, founded by **Ailsa Mellon Bruce**) + **Old Dominion Foundation** (1941, founded by **Paul Mellon**) merged June 30, 1969 to form the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. EIN 13-1879954.
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- Presidents: Hamilton (1969–71) → Pusey (1971–75) → **Sawyer (1975–87)** → **Bowen (1988–2006)** → Randel (2006–13) → Lewis (2013–18) → **Elizabeth Alexander (2018–)**.
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- Alexander's tenure (2018–) brought the 2020 rebrand (Pentagram), the [Monuments Project](https://www.mellon.org/initiatives/monuments-project) ($250M 2020, doubled to $500M 2023), and Creatives Rebuild New York ($115M 2021).
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## What was deliberately excluded
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- **Any portrait of Andrew W. Mellon, Paul Mellon, or Ailsa Mellon Bruce** — politically charged (Mellon family wealth ties to Gulf Oil, Alcoa).
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- The 2020 [Pentagram-designed wordmark rebrand](https://www.pentagram.com/work/mellon-foundation) — a wordmark would break the no-text rule.
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- The Monuments Project's specific funded works (Confederate-monument removals, alternative memorial commissions) — too narrative for a cover.
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- The Avalon + Old Dominion 1969 merger — visualized as a single balance, not two.
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## Sources
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- [Mellon Foundation history](https://www.mellon.org/about/our-history)
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- [Mellon Foundation grants database](https://www.mellon.org/grants/grants-database/)
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- [Pentagram rebrand case study](https://www.pentagram.com/work/mellon-foundation)
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- [Wikipedia: Mellon Foundation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellon_Foundation)
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- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 13-1879954
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- [The Atlantic: "The Most Powerful Force in American Arts" (2023)](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/) — Alexander tenure profile
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- This dossier's `data/people.csv`, `data/financials.csv`, `data/recipient-spotlight.csv`
+38
papers/arxiv-new-inc/figures/cover-sources.md
+38
papers/arxiv-new-inc/figures/cover-sources.md
···
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# Cover-prompt sources — NEW INC
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> The current cover is a placeholder cream-paper PNG (OpenAI billing limit hit before regen). When billing is raised, run `node papers/bin/gen-cover.mjs arxiv-new-inc --force` and the prompt below will produce the canonical cover.
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## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **Hexagonal incubator pod / honeycomb cell** | The **incubator** metaphor made literal. NEW INC was founded in 2014 as the New Museum's "cultural incubator" — the first museum-led incubator program. The hexagonal-cell form reads instantly as "incubator pod" while staying abstract enough to be a logo-mark. Hexagonal-honeycomb is also a [recurring NEW INC visual motif](https://www.newinc.org) on their own site. |
10
+
| **Translucent walls, faintly luminous** | The cohort-centric NEW INC posture: members work *inside* the museum (231 Bowery), and the relationship is intentionally semi-transparent — neither fully embedded staff nor fully outside tenants. |
11
+
| **Soldering iron + paintbrush + folded code-tape inside the pod** | The five current tracks (Year 12, 2025–26): **Art & Code** (with Rhizome), **Creative Science** (Simons), **Extended Realities** (EY + Onassis ONX), **Social Architecture** (Lewis Foundation), **Cooperative Studies**. The three tools collapse the multi-disciplinary track lineup into one image: soldering-iron = hardware, paintbrush = visual art, code-tape = software. |
12
+
| **Single small figure inside the pod** | A nod to the **~74 new members per year** who pass through NEW INC. Generic, no specific likeness. |
13
+
| **Faded periphery** | Vignette; deliberately omits the 231 Bowery building exterior (which belongs visually to the New Museum proper, not NEW INC). |
14
+
15
+
## Founder + key people referenced
16
+
17
+
- **Lisa Phillips** — New Museum Director (1999–April 2026); co-founded NEW INC in 2014. *Retiring April 2026.*
18
+
- **Karen Wong** — co-founded NEW INC, 2014.
19
+
- **Lisa Kim Kaganskiy** (sometimes "Julia Kaganskiy") — founding director, 2014–April 2018. Now ED at Eyebeam (April 2026). *Cross-references the Eyebeam dossier.*
20
+
- **Stephanie Pereira** — director July 2018–May 2021 (ex-Kickstarter).
21
+
- **Salome Asega** — director July 2021–. Ex-Ford Foundation, prior NEW INC member 2016–17. [Cultured Magazine 2024 profile](https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2024/02/13/salome-asega-new-inc-young-artists-2024).
22
+
23
+
## What was deliberately excluded
24
+
25
+
- **Any portrait of Phillips, Wong, Kaganskiy, Pereira, or Asega** — leadership transitions are rapid.
26
+
- **The New Museum's iconic boxy-stack facade** (SANAA, 2007) — that's the parent org's visual identity, not NEW INC's.
27
+
- The 2026 OMA $82M expansion that gives NEW INC its first dedicated permanent space — too forward-looking; the building isn't built.
28
+
- Any specific cohort member's project.
29
+
30
+
## Sources
31
+
32
+
- [newinc.org](https://www.newinc.org/about) (current programs, leadership)
33
+
- [newmuseum.org](https://www.newmuseum.org) (parent org)
34
+
- [Mellon $1.5M New Director Vision grant (Dec 2022)](https://www.mellon.org/grant-details/new-director-vision-20452850)
35
+
- [Knight Foundation Museum Tech Track (Apr 2017)](https://knightfoundation.org/press/releases/new-inc-the-new-museum-s-cultural-incubator-expands-inviting-applications-from-museum-professionals-focused-on-using-tech-to-engage-audiences/)
36
+
- [The Art Newspaper March 2026 OMA expansion](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/03/18/the-new-new-museum-now-with-twice-the-space)
37
+
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 13-2986881 (parent New Museum)
38
+
- This dossier's `data/people.csv`, `data/programs.csv`, `data/cohort-members.csv`
+33
papers/arxiv-pioneer-works/figures/cover-sources.md
+33
papers/arxiv-pioneer-works/figures/cover-sources.md
···
1
+
# Cover-prompt sources — Pioneer Works
2
+
3
+
The cover is a **single floating arched cathedral-window** of the 19th-century iron-works building, with one of Yellin's signature glass-collage forms suspended inside it. Each element is sourced.
4
+
5
+
## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **The tall 19th-century red-brick arched window** | The actual Pioneer Works building at **159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn**. The 1866 Pioneer Iron Works foundry; ~25,000 sq ft, two stories, with massive arched cast-iron-framed windows that are the building's most identifiable architectural feature. Yellin bought it in 2011 for $3.7M. Photos: [pioneerworks.org/about](https://pioneerworks.org/about), [Brownstoner profile](https://www.brownstoner.com/architecture/pioneer-works-red-hook-brooklyn/). |
10
+
| **Suspended glass-collage shards in vertical column** | **Dustin Yellin's signature sculpture practice** — laminated glass slabs with miniature collage figures embedded between layers. See [Wikipedia: Dustin Yellin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Yellin) and the "Triptych" series at the Brooklyn Museum (2013). The visual reference is essential because Yellin is both founder and recurring funder (proceeds from his art sales feed PW operations). |
11
+
| **Cast-iron column outlines flanking the arch** | The building's original 1866 cast-iron structural columns remain on the interior. Documented in the building's adaptive-reuse architectural drawings (Sage Architecture, 2012 renovation). |
12
+
| **Faded periphery dissolving to cream paper** | Vignette aesthetic; deliberately omits the surrounding Red Hook industrial neighborhood (cobblestone streets, harbor, gantries) to keep the cover iconic-not-narrative. |
13
+
14
+
## Founder + key people referenced
15
+
16
+
- **Dustin Yellin** (b. 1975) — founder/president 2012–. The cover's "single iconic form" cipher *is* a Yellin sculpture in implied form, even though no figurative detail is visible. The choice to feature his signature work (rather than a portrait of him) reflects Pioneer Works' fact-of-record: Yellin-as-artist subsidizes Pioneer-Works-as-org.
17
+
- **Janna Levin** — Director of Sciences (2014–). Not visually referenced; the cover prioritizes architecture + sculpture over program lineup.
18
+
- **Gabriel Florenz** — founding artistic director (2012–), ED from March 2025. Yellin's second cousin. Not visually referenced.
19
+
20
+
## What was deliberately excluded
21
+
22
+
- The cathedral-like multi-disciplinary interior (artists at studios + scientists at chalkboards + musicians) — too narrative; original prompt described this and was rewritten as a single-form vignette.
23
+
- The "PIONEER ST" hand-painted street sign (from earlier prompt iterations) — would have introduced text, breaking the no-text rule.
24
+
- A figurative Yellin portrait — the cover shows his work, not him.
25
+
26
+
## Sources
27
+
28
+
- [pioneerworks.org/about](https://pioneerworks.org/about) (mission, building history)
29
+
- [Wikipedia: Pioneer Works](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Works) (founding, location)
30
+
- [Wikipedia: Dustin Yellin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Yellin) (signature sculpture practice)
31
+
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 46-1097738 (financial corroboration)
32
+
- Sage Architecture documentation of the 2012 building renovation
33
+
- This dossier's `data/locations.csv`, `data/timeline.csv`, `data/people.csv`
+37
papers/arxiv-recurse/figures/cover-sources.md
+37
papers/arxiv-recurse/figures/cover-sources.md
···
1
+
# Cover-prompt sources — Recurse Center
2
+
3
+
The cover is a **single floating laptop with a recursive nested-square pattern** emerging from the screen, with sticky notes drifting around the edges as quiet satellites. Each element is sourced.
4
+
5
+
## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **Floating laptop, lid open at ~120°** | The org's primary working object. Recurse Center batches are programmer-residencies; everyone arrives with a laptop and works on personal/learning projects. The 120° angle reflects an "actively in use" pose, not idle. |
10
+
| **Recursive nested-square pattern emerging from the screen** | **Direct visual pun on the org's name** — "Recurse Center" (renamed March 25, 2015 from "Hacker School"). Recursion is the canonical CS-pedagogy concept; nested squares (Mandelbrot-style) are its most-recognized visual. The form reads instantly to programmers and is opaque-but-suggestive to non-programmers. |
11
+
| **Sticky notes drifting around the laptop as quiet satellites** | The famous **"social rules" pinned to the wall** — Recurse Center's culture document includes four rules ("no well-actually's," "no feigned surprise," "no backseat driving," "no subtle -isms"). These are usually printed and posted. The drifting sticky-notes nod to the rules without making them legible. Source: [recurse.com/manual](https://www.recurse.com/manual). |
12
+
| **Soft fade at edges** | Vignette; deliberately omits the physical Recurse Center space (a small Manhattan office; the org doesn't lead with its real-estate). |
13
+
14
+
## Founder + key people referenced
15
+
16
+
The cover's "single programmer working" implication points to:
17
+
- **Sonali Sridhar** — co-founder, 2011. Co-founder/CEO. [LinkedIn / Recurse blog](https://www.recurse.com/blog).
18
+
- **Dave Albert** — co-founder, 2011. Co-founder Emeritus since March 2023.
19
+
- **Nick Bergson-Shilcock** — co-founder, 2011.
20
+
21
+
The original "Hacker School" name was retired in 2015 because the term "hacker" was being misread; the rename announcement is canonical Recurse-Center text and the cover deliberately uses the recursion-spiral (post-rename identity) rather than any "hacker" iconography. Source: [Recurse Center "Why Hacker School Is Now Recurse Center"](https://www.recurse.com/blog/77-hacker-school-is-now-the-recurse-center).
22
+
23
+
## What was deliberately excluded
24
+
25
+
- Specific founder portraits (the org leads with collective culture, not personality).
26
+
- The "hacker school" original name's visual residue.
27
+
- Any specific code or programming language (would imply favoritism).
28
+
- The hiring-partner companies (Stripe, Etsy, etc. — these are how Recurse is funded but they're not the cover's subject).
29
+
- Specific batch types (12-week vs mini-batch vs RC Together).
30
+
31
+
## Sources
32
+
33
+
- [recurse.com](https://www.recurse.com) (current programs, social rules)
34
+
- [recurse.com/manual](https://www.recurse.com/manual) — the user's manual, with social rules + self-directives
35
+
- [Hacker School → Recurse Center rename announcement (March 2015)](https://www.recurse.com/blog/77-hacker-school-is-now-the-recurse-center)
36
+
- [Wikipedia: Recurse Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurse_Center)
37
+
- This dossier's `data/people.csv`, `data/timeline.csv`, `data/hiring-partners.csv`
+36
papers/arxiv-rhizome/figures/cover-sources.md
+36
papers/arxiv-rhizome/figures/cover-sources.md
···
1
+
# Cover-prompt sources — Rhizome.org
2
+
3
+
The cover is a **single floating tangle of underground rhizome runners** with a small CRT-monitor glyph nested in the center. Each element traces to a real reference.
4
+
5
+
## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **Tangled rhizome-root form** | The org's name. **Mark Tribe** founded the Rhizome email list in Berlin, 1996, naming it after Deleuze & Guattari's "rhizome" figure (the introduction to *A Thousand Plateaus*, 1980). The visual literalizes the figure — sinuous root tendrils crisscrossing each other in a sculptural cluster. Source: [A Thousand Plateaus](https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/a-thousand-plateaus), Plant's *Zeros and Ones* (1997), Galloway's *Protocol* (2004). |
10
+
| **Network-cable diagram echo in the runner pattern** | Galloway's [*Protocol*](https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262072472/protocol/) (MIT Press, 2004) explicitly distinguishes the Deleuzian rhizome from TCP/IP topology. The cover threads both readings: the runners look botanical AND like a network graph, refusing to resolve. |
11
+
| **CRT monitor glyph nested in the dense center** | Net-art era visual language. Rhizome's ArtBase (launched 1999) preserves born-digital works that originally ran on CRT-era hardware. The CRT is the period-marker that says "preservation" without saying it. |
12
+
| **Floppy-disk shapes drifting near the edge** | Same period-marker logic. ArtBase's earliest acquisitions (e.g., JODI's *OSS/****/wwwwwwww.jodi.org*, 1995-) were distributed on floppy. |
13
+
| **Faded periphery dissolving into cream** | Vignette aesthetic; the rhizome is the iconic form, the periphery is uncited (intentional). |
14
+
15
+
## Founder + key people referenced
16
+
17
+
- **Mark Tribe** (b. 1966) — founder, 1996. Not visually depicted (cover prioritizes the figure over the man). [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Tribe).
18
+
- **Lauren Cornell** — director 2006–2012. Co-edited *Mass Effect* (MIT Press, 2015), the org's theoretical statement of the post-internet moment.
19
+
- **Heather Corcoran** — director 2012–2016.
20
+
- **Zachary Kaplan** — ED 2016–2024.
21
+
- **Michael Connor** — current ED.
22
+
23
+
## What was deliberately excluded
24
+
25
+
- The 235 Bowery building (Rhizome is co-located with the New Museum; the building belongs visually to the New Museum / NEW INC dossier, not Rhizome).
26
+
- Webrecorder UI / specific software screenshots.
27
+
- Any ArtBase-piece imagery (would imply curatorial endorsement of one work over another).
28
+
29
+
## Sources
30
+
31
+
- [Wikipedia: Rhizome (organization)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome_(organization))
32
+
- [rhizome.org/about](https://rhizome.org/about)
33
+
- *A Thousand Plateaus* (Deleuze & Guattari, English ed. 1987)
34
+
- *Mass Effect* (Cornell + Halter, eds., MIT Press 2015) — the org's own theoretical document
35
+
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 13-3995725
36
+
- This dossier's `data/timeline.csv`, `data/people.csv`
+34
papers/arxiv-sfpc/figures/cover-sources.md
+34
papers/arxiv-sfpc/figures/cover-sources.md
···
1
+
# Cover-prompt sources — School for Poetic Computation
2
+
3
+
The cover is a **single floating book opened to a 90-degree spread**, half circuit-board, half handwritten cursive, with a breadboard + LED below. Each element traces to a real reference.
4
+
5
+
## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **The half-circuit-board, half-handwritten book** | The SFPC posture made visual. Phrase: *"To Radical Openness and Generosity"* — the title of the school's public github finance repo and the founding mission. Co-founders Taeyoon Choi (Korean-American artist), Zach Lieberman (openFrameworks), Jen Lowe, and Amit Pitaru framed the school as a *poetic* engagement with code. The book = the curriculum; circuit + handwriting = the synthesis. Source: [sfpc.io/faq](https://sfpc.io/faq), [github.com/SFPC/finance-and-administration](https://github.com/SFPC/finance-and-administration). |
10
+
| **The breadboard + LED beneath the book** | The school's signature workshop object. SFPC's hardware-and-electronics curriculum strand (e.g., *Unconventional Computing*, *Code Societies*) puts breadboards in front of every student. Photos: SFPC's own session-archive pages at sfpc.io/[session-tag]. |
11
+
| **Glowing strands crossing between circuit and handwriting at the spine** | Visualizes "code as poetry" — the school's defining slogan. SFPC's instructional materials repeatedly cross-pollinate between technical and poetic registers; the strands are the metaphor made visible. |
12
+
| **Cream-paper edges fading to nothing** | Vignette; deliberately omits the **155 Bank Street, Westbeth** courtyard surroundings to keep the cover iconic-not-narrative. |
13
+
14
+
## Founder + key people referenced
15
+
16
+
The cover's "single book" is meant as a stand-in for the four co-founders' joint project, not any one of them:
17
+
- **Taeyoon Choi** — co-founder, ongoing director-figure through ~2020. [Personal site](https://taeyoonchoi.com).
18
+
- **Zach Lieberman** — co-founder; originator of openFrameworks; LLC partner until publicly stepping down in 2020. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Lieberman).
19
+
- **Jen Lowe** — co-founder, teacher.
20
+
- **Amit Pitaru** — co-founder, teacher.
21
+
- Current Co-Directors **Todd Anderson + Neta Bomani** (2024–) take the school forward in the post-2020 governance structure but are not visually depicted.
22
+
23
+
## What was deliberately excluded
24
+
25
+
- The cohort-around-a-table scene (used in the original prompt iteration; rewritten as a single-form vignette).
26
+
- Specific student or faculty likenesses (would single out individuals; the school is collective).
27
+
- Westbeth Artists Housing facade (Westbeth is a building, not the school).
28
+
29
+
## Sources
30
+
31
+
- [sfpc.io/faq](https://sfpc.io/faq) (mission statement, fiscal-sponsor structure)
32
+
- [github.com/SFPC/finance-and-administration](https://github.com/SFPC/finance-and-administration) (the *Radical Openness* repo)
33
+
- [Wikipedia: School for Poetic Computation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_for_Poetic_Computation)
34
+
- This dossier's `data/people.csv`, `data/programs.csv`
+39
papers/arxiv-studio-museum/figures/cover-sources.md
+39
papers/arxiv-studio-museum/figures/cover-sources.md
···
1
+
# Cover-prompt sources — Studio Museum in Harlem
2
+
3
+
> The current cover is a placeholder cream-paper PNG (OpenAI billing limit hit before regen). When billing is raised, run `node papers/bin/gen-cover.mjs arxiv-studio-museum --force` and the prompt below will produce the canonical cover.
4
+
5
+
## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **Floating studio-easel with paint-spattered stool** | The **canonical Studio Museum object**: the institution is built around the [Artist-in-Residence program](https://www.studiomuseum.org/artist-in-residence-program), which has hosted hundreds of Black artists since 1968 (Tom Lloyd was the first 1969 resident). The easel-and-stool reads instantly as "where a working artist works." |
10
+
| **Adjaye Associates facade silhouette** | The **new Studio Museum building at 144 W 125th St**, designed by **Sir David Adjaye** (Adjaye Associates), opened 15 November 2025 after a 2018 closure for rebuild. Adjaye's signature dark-bronze ribbed facade and recessed entry are the building's identity. (Note: Adjaye separated from the project in July 2023; **Pascale Sablan** continued the build-out.) Source: [studiomuseum.org/new-building](https://www.studiomuseum.org), [Architectural Record coverage](https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/16367-studio-museum-in-harlem). |
11
+
| **Single bold figurative silhouette referencing the AIR program lineage** | A nod to the program's alumni — but deliberately abstract, not any specific artist. The AIR "F-shows" (*Freestyle* 2001, *Fictions* 2017, etc., curated by Thelma Golden) are the program's defining periodic group shows. |
12
+
| **Faded periphery** | Vignette; deliberately omits 125th Street streetscape, Harlem context, MTA signage. |
13
+
14
+
## Founder + key people referenced
15
+
16
+
The cover does not depict a person, but it references the lineage:
17
+
- **Six founders (1968)**: Charles Inniss, Carter Burden, Campbell Wylly, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Betty Blayton-Taylor, Harriet Donnelly.
18
+
- **Edward Spriggs** — first director, 1969–75.
19
+
- **Mary Schmidt Campbell** — director 1977–87.
20
+
- **Kinshasha Holman Conwill** — deputy/acting director through late 80s and 90s.
21
+
- **Lowery Stokes Sims** — director 2000–2004.
22
+
- **Thelma Golden** — Director and Chief Curator 2005–. Curator of the *Freestyle* (2001) Harlem-Studio-Museum F-show that launched the term "post-black art." Her tenure is the longest in the institution's history. [Wikipedia: Thelma Golden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Golden), [Mellon $10M endowment funding her position (2024)](https://www.mellon.org/grants/grants-database/grants/the-studio-museum-in-harlem/).
23
+
24
+
## What was deliberately excluded
25
+
26
+
- A Thelma Golden portrait (the museum is bigger than its director).
27
+
- Specific AIR alumni's signature works — would single out individuals from a 50+ year cohort lineage.
28
+
- The Adjaye-vs-Sablan handover controversy (2023 separation).
29
+
- The capital-campaign donor wall (Eychaner / Mellon / Ford named gifts).
30
+
- 125th Street streetscape.
31
+
32
+
## Sources
33
+
34
+
- [studiomuseum.org](https://www.studiomuseum.org)
35
+
- [Wikipedia: Studio Museum in Harlem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Museum_in_Harlem)
36
+
- [Adjaye Associates project page](https://www.adjaye.com/work/the-studio-museum-in-harlem/)
37
+
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 13-2590805
38
+
- *Freestyle* (2001) and *Fictions* (2017) exhibition catalogs
39
+
- This dossier's `data/people.csv`, `data/timeline.csv`, `data/residents.csv`
+36
papers/arxiv-the-kitchen/figures/cover-sources.md
+36
papers/arxiv-the-kitchen/figures/cover-sources.md
···
1
+
# Cover-prompt sources — The Kitchen
2
+
3
+
The cover is a **single floating Sony Portapak video camera** in three-quarter view, with a coiled umbilical cable braiding into a microphone-and-piano-cord gesture. Each element is sourced.
4
+
5
+
## Visual elements → sources
6
+
7
+
| Element | Source |
8
+
|---|---|
9
+
| **Sony Portapak video camera (half-inch reel-to-reel deck + boxy hand-held camera, umbilical cable)** | The **founding tool of The Kitchen**. **Steina Vasulka and Woody Vasulka** founded The Kitchen in **1971** in the literal disused kitchen of the **Mercer Arts Center**, 240 Mercer Street, NYC. Their primary instrument was the [Sony Portapak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portapak) (CV-2400 or similar; the half-inch consumer-grade portable video deck released 1967). Steina was a violinist; Woody was a filmmaker; together they pioneered video art with this exact tool. Source: [The Kitchen's About page](https://thekitchen.org/about/), [Wikipedia: Vasulkas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steina_and_Woody_Vasulka). |
10
+
| **Reel of magnetic tape spinning in the recorder housing** | The Portapak's defining mechanism. Captures the analog-video moment that The Kitchen institutionalized. |
11
+
| **Umbilical cable braiding into microphone + piano cord** | The Kitchen's **multi-disciplinary lineage**: video → music → dance → theater. The cable's braid evokes signal chain (audio + video) and the literal "kitchen drawer's worth of utensils" reading on the org's name. Music programming under directors Rhys Chatham, Garrett List, George Lewis, Paul DeMarinis, Arto Lindsay made The Kitchen a defining downtown New Music venue. |
12
+
| **Hint of off-screen smoke or stage-light curtain** | Period nod to The Kitchen's no-wave / experimental-music programming of the late 1970s and early 1980s — Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth's early performances, etc. The barely-there gesture keeps the cover from becoming overtly musical. |
13
+
| **Faded cream periphery** | Vignette; deliberately omits the **484 W 19th St** Westbeth-area building (in renovation 2022–2026 by **Rice+Lipka Architects**). |
14
+
15
+
## Founder + key people referenced
16
+
17
+
- **Steina Vasulka** (b. 1940, Iceland) — co-founder, 1971. Violinist-turned-video-artist. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steina_Vasulka).
18
+
- **Woody Vasulka** (1937–2019, Czech-American) — co-founder, 1971. Filmmaker-turned-electronic-image-pioneer. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Vasulka).
19
+
- Founding board (1973 incorporation as **Haleakala, Inc.**): **Robert Stearns** (first ED), **Paula Cooper** (gallery), **Caroline Stone**, **Philip Glass**.
20
+
- Recent leadership: **Tim Griffin** (ED 2011–2024), current Russell.
21
+
22
+
## What was deliberately excluded
23
+
24
+
- The Vasulka portraits (canonical [1971 Portapak photo](https://www.vasulka.org/) shows them with the camera) — too biographical for the cover.
25
+
- 484 W 19th St building exterior (currently in renovation, doesn't read as the canonical Kitchen building).
26
+
- No-wave-era performer likenesses (would single out individuals).
27
+
- The Mercer Arts Center building (collapsed August 1973, no longer extant).
28
+
29
+
## Sources
30
+
31
+
- [thekitchen.org/about](https://thekitchen.org/about/)
32
+
- [Wikipedia: The Kitchen (art institution)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kitchen_(art_institution))
33
+
- [vasulka.org](https://www.vasulka.org/) — Steina & Woody Vasulka archive
34
+
- [Wikipedia: Portapak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portapak)
35
+
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer EIN 13-2829756 (legal name **Haleakala, Inc.** DBA The Kitchen)
36
+
- This dossier's `data/timeline.csv`, `data/people.csv`, `data/locations.csv`