Why Is This Computer Submerged In Oil?

Exploring the idea that the internet is little more than a cloud of information, Vincent Evrard wanted to create a tangible representation of this notion. How? A sculpture called Aphrogenea featuring a computer submerged in oil, naturally. An audacious act, to be sure, but not one of vandalism as you might imagine. Although the computer is taking an oil bath, it still functions and displays a virtual bubble (representing the cloud or internet). This bubble then rises from the bottom of the screen to the top, disappearing from the top of the screen and transforming into a real, physical bubble located in the oil, which then floats to the surface where it is released into the air. The bubble being a form from the internet (the cloud), the sculpture is an analogy of how information journeys from the internet, through our computers, and out into the physical world.

Here’s what Vincent Evrard says about the installation:

This object is composed of a base, a glass box filled with a transparent liquid, and a computer. The liquid is a dielectric mineral oil whose main property is to be an excellent electrical insulating. The computer screen is immersed in oil. A digital bubble is displayed, she grows and reaches the side of the screen, then she turns into a real bubble going up to the oil surface.

And here’s a making of video below if you want to see someone drown a computer in liquid without it exploding.

[via We Make Money Not Art]