Using Archived Content in Digital Art, Games, and Storytelling
When a website disappears, we usually think in terms of loss. But for artists, game developers, and writers, that missing site can also be a starting point. The web of the past is full of strange charm and raw material, and archive.org has become an unexpected tool for creative reuse.
This is how archived web content finds new life in storytelling, visual media, and interactive art - and how to use it without losing the original spirit.
Web Nostalgia Is a Creative Resource
There’s something emotionally powerful about old websites. We remember the broken layouts, animated GIFs, text shadows, guestbooks, and MIDI soundtracks. These aren’t just relics - they’re textures, moods, and time capsules.
Artists today are pulling assets directly from Wayback Machine snapshots to:
Reconstruct old digital spaces
Build mood boards and aesthetics for retro games
Create visual poetry using ancient HTML fragments
Reuse real content in fictional timelines
Remix glitchy screenshots into digital canvases
The web isn’t just data, it’s a medium with layers of memory built into the code.
How Creators Use the Wayback Machine
Many artists and writers now treat archive.org as part of their research toolkit. Here’s how they typically approach it:
Finding old pages with unique designs, language, or imagery
Sampling headlines, menus, or interface chunks for use in zines or installations
Reconstructing community forums or blog posts to build fictional timelines
Recovering lost works that were part of their own digital history
Using real archived websites as scenes in games, films, or graphic novels
The key is to use these elements thoughtfully, and in many cases, to preserve the brokenness instead of cleaning it up.
If you’re trying to locate all archived pieces of a domain for inspiration, the Wayback Domain Scanner is one of the easiest ways to do it.
When Old Web Elements Become Storytelling Devices
In digital fiction or indie games, old web content often serves as narrative infrastructure:
A fake GeoCities fan page for a fictional band
A character’s backstory told through their abandoned blog
Dialogue hidden inside the HTML comments of a 2001 shopping site
An alternate timeline told through archived news pages
These stories gain strength because they feel real. Readers and players can sense the authenticity - because the design, language, and formatting come from real web history.
Our article on how to export content from archive.org into WordPress or Publii includes some ideas for using those systems to rebuild archival-based creative sites.
Visual Elements from Web Past Lives
Archived content is also a source of graphic material. Designers pull:
Old logos
Favicons
Sidebar ads
Banner templates
CSS styles from the late 90s and early 2000s
Some use these to create print pieces, some turn them into textures for 3D environments, and others embed them in interactive galleries or browser-based installations.
To extract the content cleanly from an archived page, use the Smartial Text Extractor, especially for large block quotes, sidebars, or layouts you want to isolate for reformatting.
Ethics of Using Archived Material in Art
There’s no blanket answer to “is this okay to use?” - but here are some general rules of thumb:
If it was public and impersonal, like a homepage or banner ad, it's generally fair to quote or repurpose
If it’s personal, like a blog post or forum confession, you need to treat it with care
Consider whether the original author is alive, active, or might be hurt by resurfacing the material
Treat real people and communities with respect, especially if they didn’t expect to be remembered
Remember, the point isn’t to mine history - it’s to honor, reflect, or remix it meaningfully.
For broader context on how the web forgets and why some materials vanish, see our look at digital impermanence.
Creating Web Museum Pieces and Interactive Artifacts
Some of the most ambitious uses of archived content are now turning into public exhibits - online museums that recreate entire eras, complete with real links and restored pages.
Others are built as part of fictional worlds. A horror game might feature an old support forum you can read in full. A webcomic might link out to a preserved MySpace page of one of its characters.
We explored this idea further in how to turn archived websites into web museum exhibits, with tools and tips for bringing archived content to life again - without faking the past.
Archive.org as a Creative Stage
You don’t need permission to imagine new things using the past. The Wayback Machine isn’t just a reference point. It’s a library of abandoned rooms, full of stories waiting to be uncovered, repurposed, and reimagined.
For artists, game makers, and storytellers, it’s not just a backup - it’s a stage.