Server in Orbit

Server in Orbit is a single screen installation with three joysticks in which visitors guide an orbiting server rack in space while listening to a spoken monologue from the machine.

The work takes the form of a short playable video game presented within a freestanding cabinet housing a single display, a control panel with three industrial joysticks, and a suspended directional speaker positioned above the screen. On the display, a 3D abstracted architectural model of a drifting server rack rotates slowly in space, and the visitor uses the three joysticks to stabilise its movement across three axes. While guiding the server through its trajectory, the visitor hears a spoken monologue articulated from the perspective of the machine itself.

The piece reflects on current debates around the environmental pressure of artificial intelligence, data centers, and cloud infrastructure, and introduces the notion of sending servers into orbit as a speculative thought experiment. Rather than proposing a solution, the work uses this idea as a narrative device to question how far technological systems might be displaced in order to sustain continued computational growth on Earth.

The audio is projected through a directional speaker, creating a precise listening zone without headphones. The screen shows the slow rotation of the server against a deep space backdrop, while visitors correct its drift through continuous physical hand movements that influence the game environment in real time.

Technical specifications

Duration: 4,5 minutes in loop
Language: English
Footprint: single cabinet approx. 80 × 80 cm, height approx. 210 cm