Public Sphere

Public Sphere is a data sculpture which engages with phenomena of scale in cultural data. CNC milled in brass, Public Sphere is a small (170mm radius), spherical sculpture containing a Raspberry Pi computer. The PI uses the API of Europeanna, an aggregating service for cultural data from European museums to download large quantities of images and associated metadata. Once the PI’s own storage is completely full, it waits for the opportunity to offload and create space for more. A prominent USB port near the top of the sphere invites audiences to insert their own USB sticks. When a new stick is inserted, the PI fills it with the downloaded data until the stick is full or no data is left on the PI. The PI then resumes its cycle of downloads. By constantly downloading internet files, storing them locally and physically redistributing them to audiences, Public Sphere playfully explores scalar issues in public data. The spherical form of the sculpture is both a pun on the notion of the ‘Public Sphere’ and is also intended to place it within an understood stylistic canon of sculptural works in museums while being non-specific to particular times or regions.

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