Fragile Connections

The interactive installation documents the massive grassroots computer network SNET (Street Network) that Cuban technology enthusiasts have set up in response to the constraints of internet access on the island. This network allows users to play multiplayer video games, chat, send messages, debate in forums, share files, or host websites. SNET organically evolved from hundreds of neighbourhood local area networks (LANs) connecting with each other and is believed to be the largest community network in the world that is entirely isolated from the internet, linking tens of thousands of households in Havana. Its material base consists of miles of Ethernet cables running across streets or balconies, Wi-Fi antennas mounted on poles on rooftops, and servers and network switches operated by an army of volunteer node administrators. It relies on a network of thousands of participants who collaboratively create, operate, and maintain its hardware and software infrastructure. 

The installation replicates the technological set-up of a SNET node and thus constitutes a fully functioning Local Area Network. It allows audiences to connect with their smartphones to explore part of the network themselves and view or download research documents about SNET’s history. It further consists of a three-channel video documenting a focus group interview with three SNET admins that was conducted over one of the network’s TeamSpeak servers and recorded on their desktop screens. Further elements of the work are an infographic detailing SNET’s power dynamics and hierarchies and a set of stickers with icons and symbols that SNET members use to express their digital identities.