s3x

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no record · an installation by cyberbirdxx · a case by s3x

dreaming in the ruins of big techsalvaged monitors, poured cyberslime, boards dressed like jewellery · the water got in.

the machines here are not broken. they are wet.

an installation by cyberbirdxx (merel van kesteren). a free standing rig of scaffold pole and mic stands in a raw concrete hall, hung with salvaged flat panels, cyberslime poured over every bezel, bare motherboards dressed in chain and beads. nothing in the room is plugged into anything. every screen runs water.

a dark concrete hall lit violet and magenta. salvaged flat screen monitors are clamped at different heights and angles to a free standing rig of black poles and mic stands. pale cyberslime drips hang over the top edge of most screens. cables loop across the raw concrete wall behind. a small magenta lamp glows at upper right.
plate ithe rig standing free on the floor · black pole, mic stands, clamps, nothing dropped from the ceilingcyberbirdxx
workdreaming in the ruins of big tech
mediuminstallation · salvaged monitors · cyberslime · circuit boards · cable · light
on the screenswater, none of the panels together
where & whenno record
artistcyberbirdxx · merel van kesteren

i the boards

i kept the boards because nobody wanted them

a motherboard is the most complicated object most people will ever throw away, and none of us can read it.

so i dressed them. gold chain across the traces, a plastic strawberry, white shell beads, a green charm on lime string, small photographs of faces glued in between the capacitors. it is the same thing i do to someone before a show. chain, beads, something plastic and cheap at the throat.

a dell monitor mounted on a black pole against a violet wall. the screen shows large concentric rings in glowing pale green on dark blue, a water ripple pattern doubled and torn open. a decorated circuit board with a green plastic charm on lime string hangs at the lower left.
plate iia ripple rosette, doubled and torn open · below it a board on a lime green stringcyberbirdxx

ii what the cyberslime is for

cyberslime stops a thing and keeps a thing at the same time

poured hot over the top edge of every panel and over the bar it hangs from, set where it stopped falling. that is why it is over the rig as well as over the screens. whatever got in here got the rack too.

close up of thick pale cyberslime poured over a black bar and the corner of a monitor, hardened into hanging drips with rounded tips. a lit screen glows out of focus behind.
plate iiipoured cyberslime, set · the same material over the bar and over the screen cornercyberbirdxx

iii water in a room with no windows

on the screens there is only water

a drop lands and the rings open. a white bloom turns over in green. a lit column stands up through pondweed. no two panels on the same second, there is nothing left in here to sync them to.

i have made water out of light before. this is the first time it got in.

a dell monitor filling the frame. pale cyberslime drips hang over its top bezel. the screen shows a bright vertical column of light rising through dark water, with pale specks and stems around it, pink above and green below.
plate ivdell, logo unmasked · a lit column standing up through pondweedcyberbirdxx
the rig against the concrete wall, the monitors lit. one shows white marbled reflections, another a pale wash, another a bright white panel, another a concentric ripple rosette. a magenta lamp on a stand at right and a small white lamp on the floor light the wall. a warm amber wash falls behind the cables.
plate vthe same rig, other water · white glare on one panel, the rosette on anothercyberbirdxx
the same rig seen from further right. a person in a dark coat walks past in the foreground, hair caught in motion blur. the monitors show blurred water surfaces and one shows a glowing knotwork spiral. other figures stand in shadow at the right.
plate visomeone crosses in front · no two panels playing the same watercyberbirdxx

iv the cables and the heart

power got in and signal did not

nothing in this room is plugged into anything. the cables run their arcs and end in the dust with their plugs open, and on the way they all pass through a pink plastic heart hanging a hand above the floor.

it circulates nothing. it is the only organ in the building and it came from a gift shop. the panels still light.

a translucent pink heart shaped object hangs at the end of a bundle of cables just above a dusty concrete floor. a blue ethernet cable passes through the flat disc at its top. loose unplugged connectors lie on the floor nearby. at right, a circuit board hung on the wall carries a gold chain, white beads, a red strawberry charm and small printed photographs.
plate viithe pink heart at the end of the cables · a blue ethernet through its collar, loose plugs in the dustcyberbirdxx

v the walk

one gesture done twice

then the room fills and someone walks the lit strip down the middle of it, the audience seated either side in the dust. the boards get chain and beads. she gets chain and beads. the only difference is that one of them is warm.

the hall seen down its length in low light. a raised runway with lit edges runs into the room, with a pool of magenta light across it. an audience sits either side. pale yellow translucent screens stand at the far end.
plate viiithe hall down its length · the runway lit magenta, the room seated either side, pale scrims at the far endcyberbirdxx

vi the showing

the same dressing, out at a show

the cyberslime does not stay the same colour twice. pale over one rig, acid green and magenta over another, jewellery pressed straight into it while it was still soft. and then a room fills, and people look up, and someone takes a screen home on their phone.

close up of a small panel entirely coated in bumpy purple and green cyberslime, a hot pink beaded chain crossed over it in an x, a tiny padlock charm and star beads pressed into the surface.
plate ixcyberslime with jewellery pressed straight in · a padlock, star beads, a beaded xcyberbirdxx
a raspberry pi board almost buried in bright green and magenta cyberslime, drips hanging off every edge, a red status light glowing through the coating.
plate xa board gone under · cyberslime standing in for chain and beads this timecyberbirdxx
pale lilac cyberslime dripping over the top edge of a monitor, the screen beneath showing a white and blue swirl like smoke caught underwater.
plate xithe same drip, paler · a swirl standing in for the watercyberbirdxx
a small screen bordered in dripping magenta and green cyberslime and wrapped in steel chain, showing a glitched password dialog with ok and cancel buttons glowing on it.
plate xiichained shut · a password box nobody can answercyberbirdxx
a symmetrical kaleidoscope of glowing violet rings and spokes, with an ornate tribal pattern bordering both sides.
plate xiiione of the screens, full frame · the same rosette, turned into an eyecyberbirdxx
a wider view of the rig in a dark room, several monitors with cyberslime dripping over their bezels showing pink and violet visuals, a moulded white hand mounted on the wall at left holding a spray gun.
plate xivthe rig, further back · a moulded hand on the wall, still holding its toolcyberbirdxx
two visitors in a dim room look up at small screens mounted overhead, house plants hanging between the poles, a window showing trees outside.
plate xvlooking up, not across · the rig reaches for the ceiling herecyberbirdxx
a visitor photographs a small screen on her phone, the screen bordered in dripping magenta and green cyberslime and hung on steel chain, showing a tangled blue and pink circuit-like drawing.
plate xvicyber symbiosis · portals of transcendence to liquified realitycyberbirdxx
an exhibition wall label beside a doorway into a dark room with two lit screens, printed with the piece's title and cyberbirdxx's name.
plate xviithe wall label at the door · the piece under another name, another nightcyberbirdxx

vii the making

how it is built

salvaged flat panels, mostly dell, clamped by their own necks onto black scaffold pole, mic stands and super clamps. the rig stands on its base plates and leans on nothing. cyberslime poured hot over each top bezel and over the bar, left to set where it stopped.

motherboards drilled, hung, then dressed by hand: chain, shell beads, a strawberry, faces cut out and glued between the capacitors. cables run in arcs across the wall and end where they end, plugs left open in the dust. a moulded pink heart takes the bundle in and lets it out again. nothing taped down, nothing covered.

the equipment got left behind. the water came in after. the chain and the strawberry came last, with no dust on them, and those are mine.

viii the maker

who

dreaming in the ruins of big tech, by cyberbirdxx (merel van kesteren). more of her work at cyberbirdxx and on @cyberbirdxx.

Want a room turned into a work? Start a project → or mail [email protected].