The Digital Infinity Machine

2020 | Installation | Atmega 328p microcontoller,  Acrylic Glass, Leds , PCB, silver coated copper wire | 2500 x 310 x 250 mm

Computation is peculiar: it works best in the abstract world, where everything is nicely discrete and time is but an integer. In the physical world, computing machines are confronted with the ugliness of time being continuous. Hence they rely on a clock signal to provide them with a steady stream of time steps. This installation is reminiscent of theUnendlichkeitsmaschine: 15 microcontrollers in a row provide the clock for each subsequent one at a fraction of their speed, slowing them down exponentially. The last in line will execute one instruction every 142 years. While its sadly not a very useful machine, this installation highlights an often unregarded property of our binary best friends.