Building the AUX cord to the internet

An interview with ICV Creative Resident Mike Bodge

Hi, hello, and welcome to a quick peek into what’s going on in our Creative Residency at IDEO CoLab Ventures! For the uninitiated, this is the corner of our studio where things can get a little weird. Over the course of three months, we provide brainstorming buddies, creative support, and a stipend to some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs, designers, and engineers to see what they do with it. During the residency, their work will push the boundaries of art, technology, and human interests to discover something that will (hopefully!) change how we think about the world we’re collectively building.

Today, one of those residents is Mike Bodge. An artist and engineer, Mike is constantly creating. We sat down (remotely, asynchronously, cyberspatially) to ask him a few questions about his work, process, and what he’s working on during his residency with IDEO CoLab Ventures. Here’s what he had to say.

Hi! Who are you and what do you do?

Oh, hi! I’m Mike and I make art and products about internet culture.

What are you currently working on as part of the residency?

As of this moment, it’s a crypto-incentivized social app called Megaphone.

What is Megaphone?

I think of it as being handed the AUX cord for the internet. What would you share if everyone on the planet was listening?

So, what would you share if everyone on the planet was listening?

I’m an internet dinosaur so I’d likely bring up some fossilized remains from the internet archive. Bring me back to weird vbulletin sites, FFFFound, and Zombo Com.

Where did the inspiration for Megaphone come from?

The algorithmic feed critique is not new, but right now there are no viable alternatives for creatives. I’m inspired to build social apps that are new and participatory rather than doom scrolling consumption. I had the idea for Megaphone back in 2016 and I kinda just left it simmering in the back of my brain because I couldn’t figure out how it’d work. Crypto actually unlocked a reason for it to exist, rather than just using crypto for the sake of using crypto.

Where do you hope this project will lead? What do you want people to do with it?

We’re all online together but async, and we don’t actually do anything at the same exact time outside of chat rooms. I’m thinking of social games and experiences that feel more real time and participatory. Hopefully this app inspires more of that for other builders.

What kinds of collaborators or resources are you looking for to bring your project to life?

I’m used to working solo on stuff so the residency is a great chance to bring other voices into my work and not live in my echo chamber. There are a few moving parts and big brain things on this project like marketplace design and tokenomics I need some input on so I’m really excited to jam with everyone at IDEO.

You’ve worked as a creative technologist but have also translated that work into releasing products. What inspired that journey? What have you learned in making that jump?

I think for many years it was exciting to build stuff for big brands like Nike, Apple, and Google but usually that work is only up for a short while. Client work can be rewarding but I’ve been moving towards making work with longevity and stuff that I can fully own.

What drives your artistic practice?

I can’t turn my brain off, so either I make the idea or I go crazy.

Do you see your work as being in conversation with, or reaction to, anything?

I think a throughline is that my work is usually in conversation with emergent behaviors on the web. I think I’m pretty sensitive to the internet’s nervous system and I love learning new technologies and creating work that exploits it.

Who and what are you inspired by these days?

Being offline, bonsai trees, my kiddo.

Let’s talk about your process. How do you approach a new idea? How do you derisk or test concepts you’re not sure about?

My process is usually just, you know, make the thing. I can work pretty quickly so getting an MVP of an idea out the door is pretty quick and easy. However, in the last year or so I’ve been focusing on slowing things down and enjoying a more intentional process of making work. Actually thinking things through, which might seem obvious but to me sometimes it’s not. Also, derisk? I work in crypto, I’ve unfortunately been completely desensitized to risk.

Let’s talk about tools. What’s in your stack?

I pretty much build everything with React so NextJS, React Native, and a lot of 3D programming with React Three Fiber. I design in code so I don’t really use anything else unless I need to generate SVGs in Figma or Photoshop a weird picture. Oh and I’ve recently made an AI app (coming soon!) that organizes my ideas and references that I’m excited about sharing with other creatives.

Can you give us a brief tour of your work station?

https://tenor.com/view/money-computer-pc-make-it-rain-gif-11410437

How have tools like ChatGPT and generative AI changed your creative process?

I use Cursor as my code editor and that has all sorts of AI goodies like code completion built in. I think the “AI MAKES YOU A 10X ENGINEER!!!!” narrative is a bit overblown (especially if you have no idea what you’re doing in the first place) but it does take care of a lot of tasks I don’t feel like doing. Photoshop’s generative AI fill is nice for, again, doing stuff quickly that is really boring to do by hand. I’m not afraid of AI taking my job, I’m actually pretty keen on how it takes over some of the grit work and keeps me more organized.

What do you find most exciting about crypto? What do you find most worrying?

• Most exciting: Destabilizing literally everything.
• Most worrying: Every bad thing said about crypto people and the industry is undeniably true.

Any trends you’re following, in particular?

I love ephemeral social ideas, hiding the gross crypto ux stuff, and flirting with questioning Ethereum’s hegemony.

Any words of advice for other creators like yourself?

Don’t think about it too much, just yeet your idea out into the world and there’s probably some people that will mess with it.

Stay tuned for more news from Mike as he finishes out his residency.

Interested in becoming our next creative resident? Apply here.