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Falling between At first the software resembles many free
online services. Indeed, the main function of this
site for many will be its ability to produce files
of a particular type ("favicon.ico" Windows ICO files -- see documentation).
Styled after Photoshop and promoted as "ICO LAB", the initial interface invites confidence
and goal-directed behavior. In its conventional service capacity it works well enough.
And it's free.
Whereas it may be appropriate for tools to maintain a predictable form,
poetics thrives on hybridization, metamorphosis, and surprise.
Like the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll's Alice, the sensible
façade of the tool gives way to a curious labyrinth
of images that were left behind by the site's previous visitors.
Confronted with these unanticipated corridors,
disorientation ensues. This harmless entrapment calls for
aesthetic interpretations that are typically absent from encounters
with software.
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