Problem Statement:

Often, we are not aware of the footprint of our digital world. Can we measure the environmental cost of data centres, streaming platforms, posting and scrolling as well as digital art or our everyday digital life?  Are there any other solutions?

Challenge description:

The challenge is to innovate in the realm of digital data storage. This project seeks to address the significant environmental impact of traditional data centres, which consume vast amounts of energy and contribute to electronic waste. How can we convert the binary code to minimise carbon footprint and support ecological preservation? Is DNA data storage possible? Is it a solution? The aim of the project is to highlight the urgent need to address climate change and promote sustainability in digital practices.

This challenge aligns with Studiotopia II by merging art and science to create sustainable solutions, embodying the Symbiocene era’s goals of inclusivity, resilience, and critical narratives about our world’s future.

Residency characteristics:

Hexagone Scène Nationale is a multidisciplinary theatre that has developed a research activity that led to fifty residencies combining art and science.

The research of invited scientist Sarah Vanuxem lies at the crossroads of property law and environmental law, with forays into environmental philosophy, anthropology of nature and legal history. In this residency, she questions our right to move and to travel always linked to the rights of nature.

The artist will meet the scientist to define their common interests and a calendar of encounters in Grenoble and/or Nice where the scientist is based. The artist will have access to the stage of the theatre and/or venues dedicated to the creation in order to produce or prototype an artwork or a performance. The artist outcome will be shown at the next edition of EXPERIMENTA the Biennale (dates to be confirmed), organized by the theatre.