Welcome

Why this site moved

Hi! This is where Althea Rao documents her artistic research. Previously this site was hosted by Adobe Portfolio. It is now hosted by GitHub Pages at altheamrao.github.io.

The internet was originally conceived as a public service. Today, domain names operate as rentable property, controlled and monetized by corporations.

Internet addresses are not abstract. They rely on physical infrastructures—data centers, power grids, fiber-optic cables—and they are governed through geopolitical systems. The .io domain, now widely used by tech companies, is a country-code top-level domain originally assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a colonial entity created by the United Kingdom in the 1960s after forcibly displacing the Chagossian people to make way for a U.S. military base on Diego Garcia.

Although the UK has announced plans to relinquish control of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, .io remains active because it persists in the ISO 3166 country code standard maintained through international institutions such as the United Nations and ICANN. The domain continues to generate significant profit, while the displaced Chagossians have no control over its governance or revenue.

Previously, this site lived on Adobe Portfolio. Now it lives on GitHub Pages. In both cases, I chose not to purchase a personalized domain under my artist name, as I reject the idea that companies or states have a legitimate right to own and rent internet territory.

Migrating to GitHub means accepting a default .io address. I want to acknowledge this as a politically and historically loaded compromise, not a neutral technical choice.

Soft Trigger

Soft Trigger 2025
Commit to Memory, Know It Will Perish

Commit to Memory, Know It Will Perish 2025
Feeling Cloudy

Feeling Cloudy 2025
Teach The Machine Something About Cloud

Teach The Machine Something About Cloud 2024
Ground Ensemble

Ground Ensemble 2024
Life Scope

Life Scope 2023
Poor Body: Memory Berry

Poor Body: Memory Berry 2023
The Lost Genital Department: An Opera

The Lost Genital Department: An Opera 2023
Chestful of Whispers

Chestful of Whispers 2023
Moon Tapestry

Moon Tapestry 2023
I Was Once Here, I Might Still Be

I Was Once Here, I Might Still Be 2022
Born to Unwilling Parents

Born to Unwilling Parents 2022
Eat This Cake If It Makes You Happy

Eat This Cake If It Makes You Happy 2022
Vagina Chorus

Vagina Chorus 2021
The View

The View 2020
Pillar of Salt

Pillar of Salt 2019
Touch: the Dance

Touch: the Dance 2017
Blindfold

Blindfold 2017
Three Seasons

Three Seasons 2017
White Mushroom, Black Earth

White Mushroom, Black Earth 2015
Facebook/Body Talks

Facebook/Body Talks 2015
Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp 2015
Andante: Kizuna

Andante: Kizuna 2013