Het Nieuwe Instituut Online #3
During the temporary closure of Het Nieuwe Instituut a weekly newsletter provides an update of online programming and a selection of our online content. This web page is based on Newsletter #3 - 9 April 2020
9 April 2020
Data Matter
As the Covid-19 pandemic forces millions of people around the world to radically reorganise their lives -- from practising "social distancing," to self-isolating, quarantining, working remotely, or shifting education to virtual spaces -- data production, consumption and aggregation are growing exponentially. What are the implications of this data explosion, and why does it matter for humans and non-humans, even under the current dire circumstances?
ADS8: Data Matter: Digital Networks, Data Centres & Posthuman Institutions A new form of architecture for data and machines -- almost liberated from human intervention and entirely shaped by technological rationales -- data centres are the testing ground for alternative models of posthuman institutions. This long-term project on the architecture of data centres is a collaboration between Ippolito Pestellini, Kamil Dalkir, the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London and Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Data Centres Industries
Research Project The Netherlands is the second largest data hub in Europe, with a quarter of its GDP dependent on the data centre industry. Through the analysis of a selection of present-day case studies in the Netherlands, this research project addresses different manifestations of the emerging typology in both urban and rural environments.
What is the environmental cost of archiving and digitizing?
Digital and Environmental Heritage In addition to questioning what should be collected and preserved today, archivists and curators are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of current collecting models, including the preservation of historical and cultural artefacts and physical and digital documents. Please reach out to us if you are interested in sharing your ideas and projects concerning an environmentally conscious heritage practice.
Essay Marten Kuipers en Ludo Groen
Automated Landscapes and the Dream of Relentlessness Robots and artificial intelligence are used to interact with sick patients, disinfect rooms, deliver supplies and medications and scale up internet traffic, as well as to control and surveil populations. What are the implications and repercussions of automation for the built environment, and for the human and non-human bodies that inhabit it?
Alternative Data Infrastructures How have designers and artists been addressing issues of constant connectivity, data ownership, storage and energy consumption? For example, LOW<-TECH MAGAZINE is a solar-powered website, which means it sometimes goes offline. Meanwhile, Grow Your Own Cloud is a new biotech company storing data nature's way, in the DNA of plants.