10 million volts, 2015

Site-specific machine, 1.5x1.5x4.5m
Twigs, straws, rocks, thunder

The public intervention examines contemporary digital infrastructures outside of the modern ritual and dependence on industrialized materials. Branches, stones, and straws perform digital operations in the installation instead of copper, silicon, and plastic. The long-waiting time for a lightning strike, instead of the never-ceasing infrastructure of a power grid.

Looking inside the black boxes of digital technologies, an assembly of different components and materials performs complex calculations in ever shorter times. The site-specific machine awaits for a thunderstorm in order to be activated. Consisting 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.