States of Entanglement
Data In The Irish Landscape
Edited by ANNEX (ACTAR) 2021
States of Entanglement: Data In the Irish Landscape draws attention to some of the extraordinary transformations and profound contradictions being brought about by information technologies, decoded from the lens of Ireland’s significant role in telecommunications. The building blocks of contemporary digital communication began when the first commercial transatlantic cable landed at Valentia Island in 1866 and, today, Dublin is a leader in data centre development worldwide.
Situated in the Irish context, this publication draws together researchers in the fields of media theory, art, and geography, as well as architecture and design, to interrogate some of the cultural, material, and environmental states of data infrastructure as told by Entanglement, the Irish Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale (2021), curated by ANNEX. Together, these argue that ‘the cloud’ is not an ethereal and abstract space but has distinct material and environmental footprints that compel us to re-evaluate the utopian fantasy of digital communication and to reflect on how we live together through data infrastructure, today and into the future.
With contributions by ANNEX as well as Patrick Bresnihan, Patrick Brodie, Catherine Ince, Merlo Kelly, Chris Morash, Paul O’Neill, and Nicole Starosielski.
Publication produced with funding from the OVCR, University of Illinois at Chicago and the Arts Council, Ireland. Copy Editing by Michael K.Hayes. Graphic Design by Alex Synge, The First 47.
ANNEX is a collaboration of artists, architects and urban researchers who came togther to curate the Irish Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021. Members include Sven Anderson, Alan Butler, David Capener, Donal Lally, Clare Lyster and Fional Mc.Dermott.
https://entanglement.annex.ie/
Purchase the Book:
https://www.amazon.com/Entanglement-Architecture-Materiality-Data-Infrastructure/dp/1948765594
Reviews:
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https://strelkamag.com/en/article/states-of-entanglement-data-in-the-irish-landscape
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https://circaartmagazine.net/book-review-states-of-entanglement/