Shadow Library

2021, AT, 4K Video, colour, stereo, 7 min

Trailer
Credits
Screenings

In a near future, data is no longer stored in data centres but in the DNA of plants. During a presentation of the data garden of Cyan, an Austrian mobile phone manufacturer, this film accidentally leads us astray to a second, invisible "library" - the Shadow Library, which is stored on some of the plants.

In this way, this video addresses how the effects of globally unequal production relations inscribe themselves in plants, migrate with the plants and thus anchor themselves in collective memory.

The text in the second part of the video is based on poems by the Chinese poet Zheng Xiaoqiong, who addresses the living and working conditions of Chinese migrant workers in her work. The soundtrack of the film (‘Fern’ by Mileece) is based on the sonification of electric currents in plants.