Immersion cooling is an emerging technology increasingly used in data centers. All the computers are submerged in a special oil, a supposedly more efficient cooling solution than “traditional” air conditioning and ventilation. Since oil lacks the corrosive effects of oxygen, it is in a sense a more suitable environment for electrical and mechanical components.

This begs the question: if the data centers of the future are going to be submerged in oil, possibly in more and more compact ways, would this eventually prevent humans from direct physical access to the machines? Will maintenance jobs be relegated to robotic fish, crabs or trilobites? Pre-historic species re-emerging in a “post-historical” world? On the other side, will hackers devise a saboteur counterpart - e.g. bionic eels that could insert a usb-stick somewhere, or mechanical lobsters that cut wires here and there? It could become a sort of ecosystem of artificial sea-creatures, autonomous and remotely controlled, living and reproducing in oil.

In an early exploration of this new environment, Igor will present larval-state robot creatures in the process of becoming.

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Join us at Constant’s office for the opening of this installation on Thursday 27 February 2025 from 18:00 on!
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Igor Bobeldijk experiments with robot prototypes, physical interfaces, and code. His works highlight the science fiction condition of today, often referencing the absurd. Submarine cables, data centers immersed in oil, and robot warehouses are examples of the real infrastructure of this moment. Igor uses discarded electronics and basic materials in an attempt to get a head start on the future while mimicking these inaccessible high-tech forms.

This installation is part of Constant_V, a series of small exhibitions in the window of our office.