Florian Semlitsch. SUBSCRIBE CLIMATE CARE

The exhibition Subscribe Climate Care by designer Florian Semlitsch focuses on the smartphone as the linchpin of our increasingly digitalized society.

For quite some time already, the development of the omnipresent tool has been digressing from its immediate communication function towards serving all areas of individual and collective entertainment, marketing of content and products. In this context, we are barely aware of the amount of energy required to, for example, watch high-definition videos, stream the latest episode of our favorite series on our way to work, or scroll through hundreds of images on social media. Worldwide, approximately 70 000 GB of information pass through the internet every second. Each GB consumes about 5 kWh. The energy required per GB per second would cover the average daily demand of 12.1 kWh of an Austrian household every 2.4 seconds. A large part of this required energy is due to social media platforms and video portals. 

By now, an entire generation has grown up with these media, they have become an important part of the global economy. But which content is actually spread through this enormous energy consumption?

The designer draws attention to those internet platforms that, whether consciously or not, produce and spread interesting content regarding climate care. The content Semlitsch has selected in the form of Instagram accounts, videos and tutorials by YouTubers, or podcast audio streams is presented in an extensive multimedia installation and, as a prelude to the exhibition series, aims at providing an introduction to the overarching theme of climate care and activism.

Florian Semlitsch completed his graduate degree in Industrial Design 2 (“Design Investigations”), headed by Prof. Anab Jain, in 2019.

floriansemlitsch.com