Nomination
links.linkmariosantamaria.net/Emerald-black-latency
Emerald Black Latency takes the Medusa Submarine Cable System as a starting point to explore the representation and material dimension of data circulation on the internet. Planned for 2026, Medusa is an 8,700 km fiber optic cable designed to enhance connectivity in the Mediterranean and link Europe with North Africa. Submarine cables currently carry 98% of international internet traffic.
Photo: Mario Santamaría
Environmental impact plan. Photo: Mario Santamaría
Photo: Mario Santamaría
Photo: Mario Santamaría
The project focuses on a 7 km segment between the coast of Sant Adrià del Besòs (Barcelona), where one of the landing points is located, and the Balearic Sea. This stretch, documented in official reports, is recreated on Google’s global map using studio-generated images visible in Street View mode. The result is a hybrid of reality and fiction, simulating the impossible experience of walking along a fiber optic cable, which can be thinner than 1 mm.
Like the mythological Medusa, whose face could only be seen through a reflection, the interior of the cable can only be perceived through its representation. The project thus operates at the intersection of the material and virtual, the real and the fictional.
Credits
Artist: Mario Santamaría
Biography
Mario Santamaría (ES) is a Barcelona-based artist whose work moves across diverse media, often employing photography, video, performance, websites, and online interventions. In 2018, he founded Internet Tour, a tour operator offering tourist experiences of infrastructures linked to the digital. He has exhibited at ZKM Karlsruhe, C/O Berlin, WKV Stuttgart, Aksioma Ljubljana, MACBA Barcelona, CENART Mexico, and Arebyte London. He teaches at Elisava School of Design and Engineering Barcelona and has taught at UC Berkeley, HSLU Luzern, and Trinity College Dublin. He has held residencies at Hangar, HISK, and Sarai New Delhi.