RemOs1: Beginning Data Work in the Arctic Sea

Published in conjunction with the exhibition "Nixe. Homage to Ludwig Salvator in Science, Research, and Art," October 8 to 10, 2015, ORF musikprotokoll 2015, Steierischer Herbst, Graz (commissioned work). In June 2012, RemOs1 was placed at the West Coast of Spitsbergen at a remotely controllable depth between two and twelve meters and connected with the mainland station through steady power and glass fiber lines. After an experimental phase, the observatory was revised and on September 15, 2012, lowered in the coastal waters. Since that date, the art project stores approximately 30 Gigabytes of audio and visual data daily. The series of archival stereometric images printed here (lasting until September 19, 2014) feature black gaps. These gaps occur due to slight shifts in the synchronization of the two cameras with the flash light as much as to mid- and longterm failures in power and data connectivity. Furthermore, faulty communication between the networks of the involved institutions provokes loss of data. These failures point to precarious technical and environmental conditions in which research is conducted. The varying lightness of the images show the swell and the marine snow (smallest organic particles and probaly microplastics in the water) that increases with rough sea and reflects the light of the flash. Also visible are photos that were taken during repair and calibration work in the workshop.