The inception of computer programming was pioneered by women, a historical narrative often overlooked. From the 1950s to the mid-1980s, women excelling in mathematics dominated the field of computing. However, by 1984, women mysteriously disappeared from the industry, replaced by men. Jane Margolis, in ‘Unlocking the Clubhouse,’ terms this shift as “The Computer in the Boy’s Bedroom,” citing the research about the stark gender divide in computer ownership. A study from the mid-1980s of a Midwestern high school found that every single boy who hung out in the computer lab during lunchtime reported having a computer at home, whereas not a single girl did so. But why? “These early personal computers weren’t much more than toys. You could play pong or simple shooting games, maybe do some word processing. And these toys were marketed almost entirely to men and boys.” Having a personal computer at home would later become the unspoken prerequisite to excelling in computer science in the workplace and college. But half the population was left behind. It might be overarching to say women and girls were victims of misplaced marketing but it’s also not nothing. The Null Collection is an homage to the nobodies, the nothings, and the voids. ⁠