On April 28, 2025, a major blackout in Spain halted all electric and digital activity for nearly 12 hours. Such events occur regularly across the globe, sometimes confined to a single city, other times encompassing an entire region or country. The vulnerability of digital networks and electrical systems has become a central concern in our technologically-driven society.
Grove is a generative sculpture that responds to these phenomena in real time. The work is connected to the IODA webpage, an organization that monitors Internet connectivity disruptions as they happen around the globe. The artwork is composed of thin vertical LED screens that feature an abstract animation. Each time a new blackout occurs, a burst of data shoots upward from the base of the sculpture, affecting the animation. The data is then swept away in wind-like gestures, blending with fragments from previous blackouts. Paradoxically, Grove thrives on technological failure, continually replenishing itself with new streams of broken and unstable data.
The work explores the idea of capillarity, both in its visual structure and its connection to the digital network, suggesting digital roots that intertwine the organic and the technological. Inspired by Op-art and kinetic artists, Grove elicits botanical patterns, neural connections and the interconnectivity of thought, reflecting the fragility and dynamism of a world transformed by technology. Merging the natural and the artificial, Grove calls to mind both the resilience of living systems and the interconnectedness of digital culture.
Grove is a generative sculpture that responds to these phenomena in real time. The work is connected to the IODA webpage, an organization that monitors Internet connectivity disruptions as they happen around the globe. The artwork is composed of thin vertical LED screens that feature an abstract animation. Each time a new blackout occurs, a burst of data shoots upward from the base of the sculpture, affecting the animation. The data is then swept away in wind-like gestures, blending with fragments from previous blackouts. Paradoxically, Grove thrives on technological failure, continually replenishing itself with new streams of broken and unstable data.
The work explores the idea of capillarity, both in its visual structure and its connection to the digital network, suggesting digital roots that intertwine the organic and the technological. Inspired by Op-art and kinetic artists, Grove elicits botanical patterns, neural connections and the interconnectivity of thought, reflecting the fragility and dynamism of a world transformed by technology. Merging the natural and the artificial, Grove calls to mind both the resilience of living systems and the interconnectedness of digital culture.
Medium: Sculptural led screens, aluminium structure, computer, generative custom software, internet connection.
Dimensions: 295 cm × 115 cm × 135 cm