In May 2019, the New Museum’s affiliate Rhizome presented a one-day bespoke retail environment of recent and classic products from Arcangel Surfware as part of the exhibition “The Art Happens Here: Net Art’s Archival Poetics.” Founded in 2014 by Cory Arcangel, Arcangel Surfware is a “multinational software & merchandise publisher” based in Brooklyn, NY, and Stavanger, Norway. Existing in parallel with Arcangel’s artistic practice, the brand––which produces wearables and publishes texts, software, and artists’ projects––posits retail as an alternative way to circulate art and engage with audiences. Previously based online, Arcangel Surfware was only available IRL—at pop-up events and at its brick-and-mortar flagship in Stavanger, Norway, which opened in 2018.

At this event, Arcangel joined Ed Halter, critic, curator, and recipient of the Thoma Foundation’s 2017 Arts Writing Award in Digital Art, for a conversation presented by Electronic Arts Intermix. The conversation accompanied the live uploading of a TXT file containing a new essay on Arcangel’s work, produced with the support of the Thoma Foundation.