Bits of Earth
Bits of Earth, 2016
Site-Specific Live Performance
Duration: 30 minutes
Bits of Earth is a durational performance that calls attention to the material foundations of digital life—reminding us that our devices are not immaterial, but deeply embedded in the Earth. Inspired by media theorist Jussi Parikka’s concept of “geology of media,” the work explores how planetary deep time is crystallized inside our machines—through rare earth minerals, labor histories, and ecological disruption.
Performers move slowly through public space, each holding a different mineral used in the production of smartphones.
With an unwavering gaze on the object in their hands, they appear almost entranced—evoking both mindfulness and the addictive loop of digital attention. The performance becomes a meditation on extractivism, commodified distraction, and our entanglement with ecological time.
By bringing slowness into public space, Bits of Earth offers a ritual of reckoning: a way to witness the material residues of our technological lives, held not in code, but in stone.
