For those who don't know who Ryder Ripps is, here is a brief introduction- Ryder gained recognition for creating websites like Internet Archaeology (a site that salvages and presents old content such as images, flash files, and gifs from Geocities- a site that is now shut down). Ryder also created Dump.fm (alongside with Tim Baker and Scott Ostler)- a site in which users (for the most part artists) chat in real time using images and animated gifs that they either find on the net or create themselves. Aside from those sites, Ryder has created websites for artist/musician M.I.A and punk/art band Ssion.

Much of Ryder's artworks are digital files, or websites, and he makes a lot of his physical work about using the Internet. It's hard to define exactly what he does because each thing he does is so different from the last and they are all special or peculiar. For example- Ryder has a site called "Where's The Pixel" in which there is a single pixel on the screen and your goal is to try and find it, or his site "Luckyplop" which is a site that you drag an image to the background and the image remains repeated until the next person comes along and changes it the same way you did.

I discovered Ryder's work because I moved in with some kids who were using Dump. They would often show me some of the images from the site and I was really impressed by what I'd seen.

Fast forward about a year and a half later (I moved to New York from Wisconsin)- I think Ryder would be a great subject for a studio visit. He said he was up for it, and on the following Sunday I went to his Manhattan apartment to visit him. My roommate gave me some Bud Lite "Lime-a-Ritas" so I brought those with me. When I got there, Ryder had Orangina and vodka or something similar and offered me some. Check out the Soundclouds in this interview to hear Ryder discuss his work, and the other stuff that we talked about. Otherwise, I'm just going to describe his studio.

Ryder's home doubles as his studio, although he also has a separate music studio in Park Slope. He had his floor painted with the same paint they use to paint the floors of aircraft hangers- this weird, shiny gray color. When I got there he was decked out in internet related garb- a Tumblr mug, Windows 95 hat and an iced-out Facebook chain he picked up from Chinatown. His studio had a very strange medical/hospitalish/sterile/futuristic feel to it, I think because of the lighting and the shiny gray floor... and the 409 and hand sanitizer on his glass table. He has a cat named Sally. Ryder would go back and forth from going on Dump.fm to dancing and rapping along with Riff Raff. It was one part studio visit/ one part fashion show/ and one part dance party. We got hungry and went for Thai food and talked about making a rap group about the Midwest. Eventually we went back to Ryder's house, and I bought some Roca Wear shoes from him. We kicked it for a while, which you can hear here- and then we went to a 711 and bought a ton of junk food, including hot dog flavored chips.

Eventually it got to be pretty late, so I had to turn in for the night and head home. Thank you Ryder for the visit.

You can see more of Ryder's work at www.ryder-ripps.com. Don't forget to also check out Dump.fm and Internet Archaeology.