Stefan Skripak
“The Nature of Internet” is a critical object which highlights the self-destructive environmental consequences of internet usage.
Description
Most daily internet users do not realize the full environmental impact of their browsing and streaming. In addition to the energy used to power our devices, the bandwidth served over the internet is stored in server farms with massive carbon footprints. In 2016, the IT sector used over 7% of the world's energy (equivalent to the whole aviation industry) and that amount will only continue to increase as services become faster and the reach of the internet broadens. “The Nature of Internet” seeks to illuminate this cost of internet usage and highlight the self-destructive nature of this behavior. As the user browses the internet, the heater inside of my sculpture is activated according to the amount of data they are using, which then increases the speed at which the iceberg inside will melt. As the melted ice collects in the circuitry it will eventually lead to a “short circuit”, shutting off the connected computer and preventing any further usage.
Classes
Critical Objects, Quantified Humanists: Designing Personal Data