The title “EDEN 404: Paradise not found” references HTTP 404, an error which occurs when a computer server is unable to find a requested webpage. It also references John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost,” written in 1667, which tells the story of Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden of Eden after eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

In the 90s, the Internet was not yet a vital part of everyday life. The digital world and the real world were still separate, and the simple, flat graphics of computer screens of the time reflected that contrast. The works in this show combine icons and games from computers of the 90s with images of flowers and clouds to create a digital Eden. In Digital Eden, early computer games such as minesweeper and solitaire serve as innocent pastimes, and the Internet contains the forbidden knowledge that will lead to the fall of man.

Profile
Katy Layman is an American artist born in 1996. She has been living and working in Japan since 2018, and participating in gallery exhibitions since 2021. Her recent work is strongly influenced by her childhood memories, which are a mixture of summer days playing outside under a blue sky, playing video and computer games in her childhood home, and attending Catholic mass every week with her family.