How Much Memory is Needed | 2018

custom software, projection, monitor

dimensions variable


As we are expanding our fascination with building immersive virtual worlds we often forget that this seemingly ephemeral undertaking has actual physical repercussions. My most recent project, How Much Memory Is Needed (2018) is inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ short story On Exactitude in Science (1946), which raises the question of the usefulness of a map that is so exact that it eventually reaches the size of the actual territory. I apply this analogy to our incessant reproduction of our physical environment in virtual reality. In this live streaming video installation, a generic 3D world is continuously cluttered by random 3D models. Once the pile of the models fills the frame the scene resets and starts a new. The models are scraped live from 3D warehouse at regular intervals, so they pile up in the installation as they are uploaded to the repository by their authors. The authors are credited in on a separate screen, which lists the author and title of the model as it is dropped. Programming by Leo.