Inanimate Species
By Charlotte Stace
Artist Joana Moll has designed an installation that explores the possible correlation between the ubiquity of microprocessors, the huge increase in their computing power and the rapidly increasing loss of biodiversity.
In 1971 a group of engineers designed the very first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004. A decisive moment in recent history, it was now possible to transfer intelligence to an inanimate object, ushering in a new era of technological development. Curiously, while humanity was rushing to perfect and boost the power of this new artificial intelligence, the planet’s wildlife started to go extinct at a startling rate. There appears to be a correlation between the ubiquity of microprocessors, the huge increase in their computing power and the sharp uptick in extinctions.
Inanimate Species aims to stress the subtle but relentless substitution of the natural order by technological advances, and reflects not only on the cannibalisation of ecologies, but also on the problem of visibly representing climate change.