Max Stadler

Monika Dommann

Hannes Rickli

An investigation into the complex politics of data centers, through photographs and essays Often hidden in plain sight, data centers are the backbone of our internet. They store, communicate and transport the information we produce and access daily along invisible pathways. The industry of data centers comes entwined with an iconography of generic, bland and sterile architectures: placeless, inconspicuous, anonymous structures--buildings, cable ducts, junction boxes and landing sites that could be anywhere, generating virtual infrastructures that are both everywhere and nowhere. Bringing together photography, essays and case studies, Data Centersexplores the entanglements of place, past and digital infrastructure, taking Switzerland as its example. Beyond the official story--Switzerland's favorable alpine climate, relatively low energy costs, the political stability of the area and its strategic positioning in Central Europe--Data Centersuncovers the narratives of techno-nationalist aspirations; of Swiss Chinese interdependence; of deregulation and once-almighty telecommunications enterprises; of cold-war legacies and the multi-billion dollar business of data security.

Edges of a Wired Nation

Data Centers

Hans Hofmann

Gabriele Gramelsberger

Christoph Hoffmann

Philipp Fischer

Hans-jrg Rheinberger

Computer-based technologies for the production and analysis of data have been an integral part of biological research since the 1990s at the latest. This not only applies to genomics and its offshoots but also to less conspicuous subsections such as ecology. But little consideration has been given to how this new technology has changed research practically. How and when do data become questionable? To what extent does necessary infrastructure influence the research process? What status is given to software and algorithms in the production and analysis of data? These questions are discussed by the biologists Philipp Fischer and Hans Hofmann, the philosopher Gabriele Gramelsberger, the historian of science and biology Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, the science theorist Christoph Hoffmann, and the artist Hannes Rickli. The conditions of experimentation in the digital sphere are examined in four chapters--"Data," "Software," "Infrastructure," and "in silico"--in which the different perspectives of the discussion partners complement one another. Rather than confirming any particular point of view, Natures of Data deepens understanding of the contemporary basis of biological research.

A Discussion Between Biologists, Artists and Science Scholars

Natures of Data

Hannes Rickli

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