Emission-Tracking Online Activities

A new, breathtaking, and also alarming installation that is designed to track Internet emissions—that is, the emissions that are associated with our everyday online activity—was recently launched by Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker. The piece is titled MB>CO2.

There are two parts that compromise the installation. On the right-hand side, one may see a spherical terrarium. On the left-hand side, three computers show different computer windows, opened on various well-known and well-used apps and platforms. Internet emissions is a broad term and it includes anything from trading NFTs to video chats and even emails. Thijs Biersteker's digital windows show a Zoom call, a Spotify playlist, and a video. The computers are connected to the sphere via a mini-computer which calculates the emissions associated with each action through an algorithmic process. It puffs the corresponding amount of carbon dioxide gas into the terrarium. The creation shows the impact of Internet emissions on our planet.

Image Credit: Thijs Biersteker