Decaying Data is an interactive installation exploring the ecological cost and permanence of digital data. Visitors are invited to have a conversation with an old, neglected computer who is in a downsizing journey.
Visitor mid-way through their conversation.
As their conversation comes to an end, they are asked to give away a small piece of personal data: a word, a thought, a memory, a lie... Their message is temporarily stored and displayed, as would happen in a computer server, but only as enough energy is available.
Photo by Roel Backaert for the master Non-Linear Narrative.
The installation is controlled by a series of mud-based microbial fuel cells – electricity derived from bacteria in the soil – which power an electronic switch. When the mud cells reach a certain charge, the switch activates, allowing new data to be processed. As the mud cells recharge, the displayed data decays until it has been erased from the server and screen. After this slow, organic erasure, the cycle can begin again.
Photo by Roel Backaert for the master Non-Linear Narrative.
Photo by Roel Backaert for the master Non-Linear Narrative.
Decaying Data proposes that increases in energy efficiency, including 'green growth' narratives, will only matter if coupled with extensive cutbacks in consumption. As such, a meaningful ecological transition requires a substantial behavioural change, shifting us away from the growing demand for energy-intensive and environmentally-damaging technologies. The installation offers a physical alternative to the myth of the immaterial 'cloud', inviting digital degrowth and the radical act of deletion.
Last question before the visitor can send their message.
The microbial fuel cells and energy-harvesting electronics draw on Sunjoo Lee’s research developed during her project Electric Garden. Decaying Data was exhibited in the 2025 KABK Graduation Show and builds on the theoretical framework formulated in my masters thesis Fungal Tech.