Taavi Suisalu
Whilst the world locked down, we discovered a world without others. Virtual meetings and experiences became the norm as networks trespassed the borders of newly formed isolated islands. In this digital abundance, we also became nodes in the networks and the subtleties of remote and physical touches, actual and virtual spaces became contrastingly apparent.
The series Subocean Botlights departs from the fact that most of intercontinental communication relies heavily on the submarine fiber optic cables. This network carries threads of light as thin as tenth of human hair while being as existential to technological societies as the sun is for the plants. We are hanging by a thread while the artificial sun rays plunge through the oceans and light up our faces via bright screens.
Touch of the Network can be seen as a lighthouse and also as an island in the network between things – the Internet. Objects in this field also function as baits, being open to communication from automated processes, from bots, to communication between machines that is inevitable upon entering the network. Motives of these acts of communication are mostly non-transparent and therefore unknown. Each request from a robot, a touch of the network, triggers the searchlight on surveyors tripod to orient itself and reflect back light towards the physical location where it is being targeted from over the networks.
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Taavi Suisalu’s work in the exhibition A World Without Us from 2018
