10 Million volts

Specifications

Year: 2015
Format: site-specific machine (1.5x1.5x2.5m)
Materials: twigs, straws, rocks, thunder

Short Description

The machine examines contemporary digital infrastructures outside of their dependence on modern industrialized materials. Branches, stones, and straws perform digital operations in the installation instead of copper, silicon, and plastic. Lightning strikes and trees function as infrastructures instead of alternating current and power grids. Looking into the black boxes of digital technologies, an assembly of different components and materials performs complex calculations in ever shorter times. Could the wiring of natural resources perform operations as fast and complex as digital black boxes?

It consists of a theoretical ADC (analog-to-digital converter) with an input sampling rate of 10 to 100 million volts and an output resolution of 6 bits. Located in the wilderness, the device is attached to the tallest tree in a given area to attract lightning during thunderstorms. Evenly distributed electrodes are placed around the tree with specific crescent gaps to induce high-voltage sparks, producing binary signals that are activated according to the lightning voltage. The machine outputs 6 binary values that are visualized by the burning of flammable materials placed between the electrodes.

Acknowledgments

Created together with designer Mariana Basso as part of the MA program in Digital Media at the HfK Bremen, supervised by Prof. Ralf Baecker.