Art Installation

About the Project

The artist's site-specific installation spreads across the research and work areas of the scientists on the ground floor and first floor of the MC building on the campus of the Ruhr University Bochum. The work transforms the building into a large distributed computer and screen: Bits and bytes flow through the building, swarms of characters and numbers move through corridors and rooms.

The Network

The main part of the installation is placed in the Open Space on the ground floor, consisting of 94 interconnected nodes arranged in a two dimensional grid, displaying the activities of the research community working and studying in the building. Another 22 nodes are distributed throughout the rest of the house, on the walls of the corridors and in the common spaces. They respond to passing visitors with messages that comment on the topic of surveillance and privacy in a humorous way. At the same time, the messages are sent throughout the building and eventually displayed on the main installation in the Open Space.

Exploring the Artwork

Those who would like to experience and explore the extraordinary work of art for themselves have the following opportunity to do so: A leaflet on display in the Open Space not only provides background information on the project, but also helps with orientation in the building.

Ralf Baecker (*1977 Düsseldorf, Germany) is an artist working at the intersection of art, science and technology. Through installations, autonomous machines, and performances, he explores the underlying mechanisms of new media and technologies. He has been awarded numerous prizes and grants for his artistic work, including the Grand Prize of the 2017 Japan Media Art Festival, an honorable mention at the 2012 and 2014 Prix Ars Electronica, and second prize at the VIDA 14.0 Art & Artificial Life Award in Madrid. His work has been presented at international festivals and exhibitions, including the International Triennial of New Media Art 2014 in Beijing, Künstlerhaus Wien, ZKM | Center for Art and New Media in Karlsruhe, Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, WINZAVOD Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow.

To the Website of the Artist

Further contributors to the creation of the artwork:

• Hardware/PCB development: Felix Fisgus
• Product design and enclosure development: Joris Wegner
• Production: Timo Johannes, Luca Izzolino and Antje Weller
• Assistance: Timo Johannes
• Software development support: Julian Hespenheide