‘SEA-ME-WE3’ explores the hidden physical infrastructures that enable digital communication. While terms like “cloud” and “data flow” suggest immateriality, the internet relies on vast networks of fiber-optic cables, data centers, and cooling systems. The internet is often described as being blue. Blue is the most widely used color online because it evokes a sense of calm, safety, and trust. These symbolic associations shape how we perceive the digital world, making it feel more familiar and immaterial than it actually is. Though we often perceive the
digital world as abstract, it is deeply rooted in physical materials that shape and sustain it.
 

At the center of the installation is SEA-ME-WE3, the world’s longest undersea internet cable, which connects Belgium to Australia and Japan. Here, it is reimagined as a long water-filled tube, flowing between three vases that symbolize the cable’s endpoints. Water pumps circulate liquid through the tube, mirroring the unseen movement of data beneath the sea. 

Water plays a key role in this work. It is essential for digitality, as enormous amounts of water are needed to cool data servers and prevent overheating, contributing to a significant environmental impact. At the same time, water references the ocean, where vast networks of fiber-optic cables lie. In this installation, the waterpumps create a continuous exchange between the three points, symbolizing the internet’s core function of global communication.
 

The work also visualizes the digital journey of a single photo from Belgium to Australia: transmitted across continents, transformed into ASCII symbols, and reduced to binary code. A final piece materializes digital storage into physical weight, translating personal data of the artist into a data cabinet. By making these invisible systems tangible, this work invites reflection on the material reality of digitality and the way we perceive it through symbols, metaphors, and color.