Week 4: Bunkers, Resilience, and Data Center Imaginaries.
Read before class:
Paul Virilio, “Preface,” and “The Monolith,” in Bunker Archaeology, trans. George Collins (Princeton Architectural Press, 1994), 8-16, 37-47. Read these two excerpts, then browse through the photographs – choose one or two favorites.
ARE Taylor, “Concrete Clouds: Bunkers, Data, Preparedness,” New Media & Society 25, no.2 (2023): 405-430.
Optional readings:
Brian Michael Murphy, “Bomb-proofing the digital image: an archaeology of media preservation infrastructure,” Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus 10, no.1 (2014), https://median.newmediacaucus.org/art-infrastructures-hardware/bomb-proofing-the-digital-image-an-archaeology-of-media-preservation-infrastructure/
Greg Elmer and Stephen J. Neville, “Bunker media: stories from the abundant and redundant underground,” Culture, Theory and Critique 64, nos. 1-2 (2023): 120-139.
Optional listenings:
Matt Parker, “Data Centres.” Radio Broadcast. Boring Talks. London, UK: BBC Sounds, 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0878sg7.