DATA RELIC.
The shape of the future

Human interaction with nature has always involved creating tools that extend the body’s capabilities. But today, our relationship with technology is becoming far more complex. It permeates every aspect of life — from creativity to labor, from communication to self-understanding. We no longer simply use technology; we coexist with it, forming a symbiotic relationship that is beginning to reshape nature itself. Artificial intelligence, mimicking the work of brain neurons and creating a new form of consciousness, emerges as a culmination of the synthesis between the organic and the technological.

A trace is a record — an artifact that allows us to reconstruct what came before. A trace on stone is one of the earliest forms of mnemonic technique, a way for humans to preserve memory. But a trace on stone can also result from natural processes. The slow transformation of its surface through wind, water, and temperature inspired the concept behind data.relic. In this project, sandblasting machines leave traces on stone similar to those that might otherwise take millennia to form in nature — but here, each trace is shaped by collective human input. The trace takes on a dual meaning: at once a physical imprint, and a sign that calls for interpretation.

The sculpture data.relic becomes a material record of the present moment — an artifact shaped by collective choice, created at the dawn of our encounter with artificial intelligence.

In nature, stones change over time under the influence of climate and environment. One of the key processes behind these changes is weathering — the gradual breakdown of rock through wind, moisture, temperature shifts, and chemical reactions. Weathering mechanisms depend on many factors, but they always involve interaction between matter and its surroundings. Over time, a stone becomes a living archive of change: every crack and surface irregularity carries a trace of time passed.

In the data.relic project, this natural process is reinterpreted through technology. SPLACES.STUDIO uses sandblasting to simulate erosion caused by wind and compresses millennia-long processes into a single month.

In SPLACES.STUDIO’s artistic practice, nature-like technologies, refer to an approach in which the logic of natural processes forms the foundation of technological design. Instead of relying on precise, mechanistic interventions, the project simulates the behavior of wind: the direction, intensity, and operation of the sandblasting machines follow algorithms inspired by natural forces. In this system, nature and technology are not in competition — they take part in a shared cycle.