Experimental Graphic Designer Almost Mistaken for Rising Net Art Star

Experimental Finnish graphic designer Sakke Soini was almost mistaken by members of the Rhizome.org staff for a new, up-and-coming net art star. Sources say that when an anonymous Rhizome staff member first discovered Soini's work at http://www.behance.net/SakkeSoini , she thought she recognized the makings of the newest member of the Net Art 2.0 'drat pack.' She was just about to reblog Soini's colorful piece from his "Retro-Futurism" series entitled "Master Pyramid" ( http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/74351/projects/96557/743511212394756.jpg ) to the rhizome front page, when she noticed a footnote to the image that said "client: personal." Upon further examination of the piece, she observed that the "artist" in question had actual software skills, that the image lacked tell-tale signs of gif animation, and that the piece had not been previously reblogged by Damon Zucconi. "I knew at that point that this wasn't an artist at all, but simply a mere graphic designer," the unknown staff member revealed to sources. "And to think, he even had an appropriately campy mySpace page ( http://www.myspace.com/sakkesoini )! It just goes to show, you can't be too careful these days."

The staff member went on to clarify, "Of course I should have recognized it from the beginning. The piece was a bit too 'Xanadu' and not quite 'Tron' enough, if you know what I mean." When asked what these merely visual aesthetic criteria had to do with contemporary art, the staff member revealed, "Look, off the record, I know this new work is supposed to be about social networks and all that, but it's really just about a fetishistic disposition to certain forms of purely aesthetic visual kitsch. Soini's work is just a little too slick. It looks too much like an actual mid-'80s soft rock album cover rather than art *inspired* by a mid-'80s soft rock album cover. We're looking for work that's more shitty and amateurish – wacked-out funk like this kind of shiznit: http://out-4-pizza.livejournal.com/ ."

When asked to justify the difference, a Rhizome intern interjected, "Believe me, they know it when they see it." Another staff member expressed relief that the graphic design work had not been reblogged. "Just think, it might have eventually made it into a group show at the New Museum, and then where would we be? Now the best it can hope for is a short run at Maxalot ( http://maxalot.com )." When asked what was wrong with experimental graphic design, one staff member quickly responded, "Nothing at all. Some of my best friends used to be graphic designers. Heck, Warhol used to be a graphic designer!" Regarding what adverse effect this story might have on the curatorial merits of the current Rhizome staff, another staff member replied, "As long as it only appears on RAW and we don't reblog it, it never happened."