Ursula Endlicher: Light and Dark Networks

Dec 15, 2011–Mar 5, 2013

A red mushroom and its mycelium spread out across whitney.org.
A red mushroom and its mycelium spread out across whitney.org.

Ursula Endlicher, screenshot of Light and Dark Networks at sunset, 2011

Light and Dark Networks consists of two online “data performances”— taking place at sunset and sunrise, respectively—inspired by the structures of natural networks and affected by weather and environmental changes. Visitors encounter depictions of a spider’s web at sunrise and a mushroom’s mycelium—a network of hidden branching filaments that absorb nutrients for the mushrooms to grow—at sunset. Virtual creatures, a spider and mushrooms impersonated by the artist, are activated to perform different “data dances” according to the changes in their habitat, which is defined by current New York City weather and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The spider web is blown into different locations on the Museum’s website according to wind direction and speed in New York City, and the number of mosquitos buzzing around the web is determined by the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. Stretched across the Museum’s website, the mycelium changes its size on the basis of temperature and grows more mushroom videos in response to humidity levels, while the size of mushroom caps and number of spores are driven by CO2 levels. Light and Dark Networks explores networks as living organisms—be they spider webs, mycelium, or the Internet—as they are constantly changed by different artificial or natural parameters. Taking a look at the networked nature of both data and the physical environment, as well as their deeper structures, the work playfully examines how our physical and virtual existence are embedded in networks.

View Ursula Endlicher’s website




Sunrise/Sunset was a series of Internet art projects that marked sunset and sunrise in New York City every day from 2009 to 2024. All were commissioned by the Whitney specifically for whitney.org, each project unfolding over a time frame of ten to thirty seconds.

Indicating the switch from day to night and vice versa in one specific location, Sunrise/Sunset projects played with the perception of time and space, underscoring the physical location of the Whitney Museum and the global accessibility of virtual space. The series was organized by Christiane Paul, Curator of Digital Art at the Whitney Museum of American Art.


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