Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Data in the Cloud seems to be disembodied. But in reality, it does have a physical manifestation, albeit a small one, on the hard drives on internet servers. To cool the servers requires massive amounts of energy, so the data is stored in huge centres that look like factories, complete with chimneys releasing large clouds of vapour into the atmosphere. One of the largest data centres in the world with close to 300 000 servers is in St. Ghislain, Belgium, where Google Inc. uses a code name, Crystal Computing. Ivar Veermäe was not granted permission to visit the centre, so he filmed it from a distance. The distance makes the physical location of the data take on a magical quality, like an unattainable paradise, but with unfavourable auspices.

Ivar Veermäe is visual artist concentrating on issues of public space, mediation processes, new technology and networks. His projects are based on long term artistic research, which goal is to analyze the notions connected to information, networks, materiality, locality and also representation. He has had several solo exhibitions in Berlin and Estonia. His work has been exhibited in group exhibitions at transmediale Festival in HKW, the Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistic, Forum Factory and Kleine Humboldt Gallery in Berlin, the Art Museum of Estonia, Art Hall of Tallinn, the Estonian Contemporary Art Museum, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank in Holland, the Kulturhuset Bronden in Denmark, the Mamara University in Istanbul. He has participated with perfomances in Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin and in Month of Performance Art Berlin in ACUD Theater. His videos are being screened in various screenings at the AND Festival in Manchester, EMAF in Osnabrück, Crosstalk festival in Budapest, Carneval of eCreativity in India, and in Virtual Memorial, Cambodia. Ivar Veermäe currently lives and works in both Tallinn and Berlin, Germany. He received a BA in photography from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2009 and a MA in 2014 at Spatial Strategies department in Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin. www.ivarveermae.com