Listen to Big Data (2020) creates an experience of listening for audiences to meditate on the materiality of big data and how the infrastructures of information communication technology (ICT) impact our environment. I did field recording in a data center in downtown Richmond, VA and eight spots around the center. Then, I digitally mixed these recordings to create mixtures of sounds of the natural, the urban, and the digital. Today, big data, cloud computing, and other ideas of ICT seem to be wireless magics for the public. However, they rely significantly on materials and infrastructures, such as data center, optical fiber, among others. Listen to Big Data reveals the materials and infrastructures of ICT which are invisible to the public but significantly impact the environment since they generate artificial and isolated ecologies with 24/7 running servers, air conditions, humidity controllers, and securities to provide reliable technologies.
Sound engineer: Ruiqi Zhang
