Nowhere is a landscape in the making. Without knowing the users of the German search engines “Metager” and “Metager2”, operated by the University of Hannover, erode the surface of a block of PU-foam (75cm x 75cm x 10cm). The incoming (real-time) search requests control the head of a custom build three-dimensional milling machine. Every request gets immediately inscribed into the material.

Nowhere acts similar to a photo-optical long-time exposure. The shutter opens for up to three weeks (depending on the exhibition duration) and constantly updates the emerging relief. Search queries get interpreted as eroding forces on the surface of the landscape. Simultaneously every entered search term is used as an energy impulse to move the milling head one step forward. Activity removes material. In times with less activity (e.g. in the night hours) the machine works slow and sluggish while during peak times (e.g. midday) the machine works rapidly and hectically. The continuous stream of alternating search requests defines the form and rhythm of this process. The developing space/time sculpture embodies a non-existing place, made visible by search engine users without knowledge. The raw and pixelated appearance and aesthetics of the inscribed landscape hint at its digital/virtual origin.