SPECTRAL ROOTS

Spectral Roots is an interactive installation that gives shape to invisible wireless signals, linking 19th-century colonial extraction with contemporary digital infrastructure. Central to the piece is a projected tree that morphs into cables and mineral crystals. This transformation references Palaquium gutta, a nearly extinct tree harvested under colonial rule to insulate the first submarine telegraph cables, alongside the modern extraction of rare earth minerals required for today's devices.

​

The installation senses signals emitted by visitors’ devices, altering the visuals in real-time, and invites us to imagine, if the signals around us had bodies, what would they look like? By giving data flows a body, Spectral Roots materializes the digital ether, revealing that our modern, "weightless" networks remain deeply anchored to matter extracted from the earth.