Research

'off-technology R&D 2: Cloud Island' is ongoing artistic research by Mina since early 2020. It began as a part of the artistic research program RE:Discovery by NP3 & Minerva Art Academy, supported by Noordenaars, We The North and Mondriaan Fonds from the Netherlands.

Intro

I have been interested in what's left behind when digital technology develops. In this research, I focus on digital infrastructure-intensive areas in the northern Netherlands to examine the infrastructure needed to build a 'cloud society.' Also, I try to investigate and the impact its ecosystem has on the natural environment.

There exist digital infrastructures behind the accelerating digital society - such as data centers, power plants, power transmission towers, electronic waste disposal sites, and underwater cables. And the demand for this infra is keep growing as we are making society more digital.
The digital world, which seems non-material and cloud-like, actually is very material and demands a vast infrastructure that affects the environment with heat, trash, energy consumption, and Co2.
The northern Dutch region is located in a remote area from the heartland. It is a unique place where submarine cables, power plants, and data centers are concentrated. Therefore, I got interested in this area and wanted to discover more about it.

During several months, theoretical research has been done: Anthropocene and Technosphere discourse; prior studies about subsea cables, data centers, and their impact on the environment; artworks about digital infrastructure.
Also, as practical research, a field trip to the Eemshaven area in the northern Netherlands has done in August.

In the development part, the observed clustered digital infrastructures are reinterpreted as a virtual model called 'Cloud Island,' and it is being developed into a 3D model.
Although (actually) existing physically, it creates a virtual and non-material network world, so the Cloud Island seems floating around in between the virtual and the real world.

It has not yet been investigated enough about the impact of Cloud Island on the natural environment at the current stage. So it will be further explored in future research stages.

Getting Started

I researched on electronic waste in my first 'off-technology R&D.' Focusing on the material side of e-waste, I transformed it into a musical instrument to create a playful value from dead electronics. After this project, I wanted to further my research in the next phase.

The new project is an artistic research and development(R&D) which deals with Technosphere, the hybrid sphere transformed by human-induced technological impact over the global ecosystem, especially related to digital debris that I call 'off-technology.' I want to investigate the current aspect of air, water, soil, and organism affected by off- technologies in terms of four features of Technosphere: atmosphere(air), hydrosphere(water), lithosphere(earth), and biosphere(living organisms). Then I aim to create a new strategy for human actors to survive and be in harmony in the future Technosphere.

There are two parts - research and development - in this project. In the research part, I plan a field trip where digital technology infrastructures have a strong relationship with the geological environment. I found three appropriate spaces in the north Netherlands: Virol e-waste recycling center in Groningen, Google data center area, and the area where submarine cables were buried in Eemshaven. The field trip in those spaces is the main activity of my research, which will be used as resources in the development stage.