internet machine by timo arnall: a look at the web's invisible infrastructures

internet machine by timo arnall: a look at the web’s invisible infrastructures
all images © timo arnall

‘internet machine’ by artist timo arnall is a multi-screen video about the invisible infrastructures of the internet. documenting one of the largest, most secure and ‘fault-tolerant’ data-centers in the world, the film reveals the hidden materiality of information through an investigation of some of the machines through which ‘the cloud’ is transmitted and hosted. ‘in this film I wanted to look beyond the childish myth of ‘the cloud’,’ explains arnall, ‘to investigate what the infrastructures of the internet actually look like. it felt important to be able to see and hear the energy that goes into powering these machines, and the associated systems for securing, cooling and maintaining them.’ an exhibition of the works can be seen at BIG BANG DATA until october 26, 2014.

‘what we find, after being led through layers of identification and security far higher than any airport, are deafeningly noisy rooms cocooning racks of servers and routers. in these spaces you are buffered by hot and cold air that blusters through everything.’

server rooms are kept cool through quiet, airy ‘plenary’ corridors that divide the overall space

inside the internet

cables in the labyrinthine corridors connect to the internet

the facade features enormous stainless steel water tanks, containing thousands of liters of cool water

fiber optic connections are routed through multiple, redundant, paths across the building