Nordic Award Winner 2023

Nest of You - Wang & Söderström (Denmark)

Artwork description

We are in complex co-dependent relationships, and data is the glue that binds us. Our homes, belongings, and what we leave behind are no longer bound to the tangible world: we are under surveillance and our virtual lives leave vestiges of ourselves. Without forethought, we entrust these breadcrumbs to a handful of tech giants.

Nest of You is an interactive installation that deploys real-time computer vision and data harvesting to build a cybernest for a speculative digital insectoid that thrives upon information. A section of the nest, akin to a formicarium, is presented on a surface. Visitors leave traces in the shape of movement, body parts, or objects, which are in turn translated into virtual elements. The digital insectoids collect this data by dismantling, categorizing and then carrying them to the cybernest. Through real-time computer vision, the work mediates on the themes of machine learning, data and ownership. The installation aims to highlight the experience of what real-time data mining feels like and give a sense of power structures in our rapidly changing phygital world.

The work draws parallels between the power of tech giants and giant queen ants in society’s routine-based flows, which feed the giants. When a termite queen and king die, the colony continues; a new royal couple emerges. If a queen in an ant colony dies, the colony perishes with it. The biosphere has many examples of ruthless dependencies, posing the question: how would we behave if our tech giants suddenly ceased to exist?

Partners and collaborators

Technical Collaborators:
Manyone is the global strategy-design hybrid. Bringing strategic creativity to the hybrid revolution. As physical and digital experiences intertwine, Manyone’s emerging tech unit puts focus on the strategic intersection between business and emerging technologies such as XR, IoT, AI — and everything that’s next.

Team from Manyone: Justus Hofer (Creative Lead), Mikkel Christiansen and Nikolaj Stausbøl (Creative Development), Kristel Laurits and Horațiu Roman (Concept Design)

Installation photos by: David Stjernholm
Nest Of You was part of Wang & Söderström’s project Royal Chambers that exhibited for the first time at inter.pblc, Copenhagen in November 2022.

Supported by Danish Arts Foundation.

Please visit the project site for full story:

https://wangsoderstrom.com/nest-of-you-in-depth