Webs of Water

An Online Activations Series

March 18 – May 13, 2025

TBA21–Academy

Programming

Education

TBA21–Academy, in collaboration with Tactical Tech’s “Exposing the Invisible” project and artist-researcher Federico Pérez Villoro, invites applications for “Webs of Water”, an online activation series exploring the relationship between technology infrastructures, freshwater scarcity and water distribution issues in the Caribbean.

Taking place from March to May 2025, this program invites journalists, researchers, artists, scientists, and activists to collaboratively investigate the environmental impact of tech industries on water access. Participants will analyze the physical and geopolitical dimensions of computing infrastructures through workshops and collective mapping. The series will culminate in the creation of public knowledge resources hosted on Ocean-Archive.org, inspiring further research and action.

Project Outline

The Webs of Water activation series, developed in collaboration with Tactical Tech’s “Exposing the Invisible” project and Federico Pérez Villoro, examines the intersection of technological infrastructures in the Caribbean. By combining Tactical Tech’s investigative strategies with Pérez Villoro’s research on the industrialization of water, and drawing on the diverse expertise of participants, the series aims to identify specific regional issues and expose the industries and political actions—or inactions—that cause them.

As global data networks expand, sovereignty is increasingly tied to control over information flows rather than physical territories. Yet, these infrastructures are inherently dependent on physical spaces, including oceans, which are becoming new frontiers for data processing and storage. This raises urgent questions about how tech companies can extend private interests and influence specific territories, often bypassing local regulations and increasing ecological risks.

Over the course of five online sessions, we will study the impacts of tech industries in relation to water scarcity in the Caribbean as we seek to identify the growing presence of computing infrastructure in the region —from data centers or underwater fiber optic cables to artificial intelligence training farms. Together, we will investigate the resource consumption required by these systems and critically reexamine the narratives needed to shift their current path.

This series is an invitation not only to investigate the impact of technologies on our environment but to rethink together our own complicity with extractive dynamics. Through collaborative development of counter-forensic methodologies, we aim to envision regenerative possibilities for ecosocial transformation rather than perpetuate current trajectories of capitalist extraction.

WHAT ARE THE ACTIVATIONS

Five workshops and skill-sharing sessions (2 hours 20 minutes each) focusing on the impact of tech infrastructure development on water scarcity in the Caribbean.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE

We are looking for practitioners who already have experience in journalistic and citizen investigations, cartography, data science, hydrology, geology, artistic interventions around water access, evidence-based campaigning. Successful participants will have knowledge of the area and be based in or working on related topics.

OBJECTIVE

To create a network, a collaborative space and a knowledge resource that socializes the group’s findings and methodologies, serving as a public tool for future initiatives.

SCHEDULE

March 18
April 1
April 15
April 29
May 13

6 pm - 8:20 pm CET, 11 am- 13:20 pm CST (Mexico City), 12 pm- 14:20 pm EST (Kingston), 1 pm- 15:20 pm (Santo Domingo)

LOCATION

Online

APPLICATION DEADLINE

February 5, 2025

APPLICATION FORM

Apply HERE

FACILITATORS

Federico Pérez Villoro, Laura Ranca (Tactical Tech / Exposing the Invisible), Aleksandra Czerniak (TBA21–Academy)

COSTS

The Activations are free to attend, no stipends for participation will be provided for selected participants.

MORE INFORMATION

Learn more about the project, timeline and selection process HERE.

ABOUT THE FACILITATORS

Laura Ranca is an investigator and trainer with Tactical Tech’s “Exposing the Invisible” (ETI) project since 2018, where she trains emerging and experienced investigators on OSINT and follow-the-money techniques and tools, conducts digital investigations into the corporate use of personal data, develops learning resources (guides, curricula), public outreach and collaboration opportunities for investigators and independent media worldwide. Laura has 20 years of experience in cross-border collaborative research, investigations and policy projects, having worked with journalists, activists and technologists across Europe, Africa and South America to enhance transparency in the public interest. Laura holds MA degrees in Media Policy and International Relations from the Central European University in Hungary.

Federico Pérez Villoro is an artist and researcher living and working in Mexico City. Through texts, installations, videos and performances, Federico explores the ways in which state, corporate and institutional power materializes through the strategic use of information technologies. His recent work addresses the industrialization of water as an example of the imposition of technical operativity upon living ecosystems. His work has been exhibited internationally and published by Luna Córnea, ADOCS, DELUS, The Serving Library, Printed Matter, C Magazine, Gato Negro Ediciones, diSONARE, and the Walker Art Center. Federico has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and California College of the Arts (CCA). He has lectured, facilitated workshops and acted as a guest critic at schools such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University (NYU), ETH Zurich, Rutgers University, CalArts, and The New School. In 2019 he founded Materia Abierta, a summer school on theory, art, and technology in Mexico City.

Aleksandra Czerniak is a multifaceted creative interested in technological development and performing arts. She works across education, digital culture and art management. Initially inspired by performing arts, she finished her HND Acting & Performance degree at Edinburgh College. Her interest in interdisciplinary knowledge led her to expand her education in Art History, obtaining her BA and MA at the University of Wrocław and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. She is currently based in Vienna, working as a digital project manager at TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary. In her free time, she knits and performs as a DJ.

“Webs of Water”, an online activation series is developed as part of 2024/2025 OCEAN / UNI Program.