Victor Hwang Updates Mater Website with Digital Recycling and Slow Content

Web designer Victor Hwang has completed an extensive update to Mater, a research and publishing platform founded by artist Maddie Rose Hills. The project, first built by Hwang in 2022, was reworked after Hills returned with a 100+ page Google Doc of references and notes from five years of Mater, aiming to make it a "living, public archive." Rather than creating a new URL, the pair chose "digital recycling"—updating the existing site. Hwang compares this to adaptive reuse in architecture, saying throwing away a website destroys an ecosystem built over years. The archive became the site's central backbone, distinguished by a pastel blue wash referencing the Yellow Pages and original hyperlink color. Rolodex-inspired animations on the homepage emulate the tactile, slow loading of 1990s webpages. Environmental adjustments include less JavaScript, reduced server load, and in-house content storage. The design prioritizes "slow content," text and images over video, and Times New Roman. Hwang says the approach is about "doing the boring foundational stuff in a thoughtful way."