This project addresses the impact that data storage will have on the environment (now and in the future). Although the cloud metaphor would have us believe that digital information is volatile, it is actually supported by huge physical infrastructures that demand ever more energy, water and raw materials. Compost Computational analyses the architectures of data centres through two devices: a vermicomposting system powered by energy generated by astronomical simulation software; and a film starring the kipu MCHAP 0780 (a pre-Columbian calculating machine and technological fossil that offers some clues to imagine another digital future). The starting question is how this type of infrastructure, whose existing resources are already stretched to the limit, will be able to resist the future expansion of artificial intelligence, the metaverse or the Internet of Things. In addition, Computational Compost questions the relationship between data storage and collective memory. If the growth of data centres is unfeasible on a limited planet, how much of this disproportionate archive should be considered digital heritage and passed on to future generations? And how will we deal with the mourning of collective memory lost in the promise of the cloud? Through this combination of narrative and technical experimentation, Computational Compost examines data storage, revealing the political dimension of infrastructure, the ecological and cultural impact of design decisions, and the need to critically rethink the narratives of the digital future.
