Spectral Roots is an interactive installation that shapes invisible wireless signals, linking nineteenth-century colonial extraction with contemporary digital infrastructure. At the centre of the piece is a projected tree that morphs into cables and mineral crystals. This transformation references Palaquium gutta, a nearly extinct tree harvested under colonial rule to insulate the first submarine telegraph cables, alongside the modern extraction of rare earth minerals required for today’s devices.

The installation senses signals emitted by visitors’ devices, altering the visuals in real time, and invites us to imagine: If the signals around us had bodies, what would they look like? By giving data flows a body, Spectral Roots materialises the digital ether, revealing that our modern, “weightless” networks remain deeply anchored to matter extracted from the earth.