Ursula Endlicher: Light and Dark Networks

Light and Dark Networks consists of two daily online “data performances” inspired by natural networks and affected by the weather and environment. At sunrise visitors encounter depictions of a spider’s web and at sunset a mushroom’s mycelium, a network of hidden branching filaments that absorb nutrients in order for mushrooms to grow. Virtual creatures—a spider and mushrooms impersonated by the artist—enact “data dances” according to changes in their habitat, which is defined by the weather and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in New York at that moment. The spider web drifts to different locations on the Museum’s website according to wind direction and speed, and the number of mosquitoes buzzing around the web is determined by the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Stretched across whitney.org, the mycelium changes size based on temperature and “grows” more mushroom videos in response to humidity, while the scale of the mushroom caps and the number of spores are driven by CO2 levels. Endlicher’s project explores natural and technological networks as living organisms. Investigating the networked nature of both data and the physical environment, as well as their deeper structures, the work playfully examines how both our physical and virtual existence are embedded in networks.