Bitcoin Mining and Field Recordings of Ethnic Minorities (Extreme Presence Programme)

A speculative journey through the history of technology, infrastructure, ecology and finance, where these meet anthropology and science fiction’s global imaginaries. During a series of field trips, the artist observed that a large number of bitcoin mining sites are located inside abandoned hydroelectric plants in the rural terrains of Western China, an area also home to many minority groups. This programme is part of Extreme Presence, presented by Hartwig Art Foundation (23–25 October 2026). Extreme Presence gathers artists, thinkers, technologists and practitioners across a weekend of talks, performances, interventions and workshops, spread across three locations in Amsterdam Zuid—Hartwig Proxy (Parnassusweg 213), Cinema The Pulse, (Hildegard Von Bingenstraat 4) and the newly opened pop-up space Parnassus 212 (Parnassusweg 212). It continues and expands the research and R&D activities of the future Hartwig Museum (opening 2028), exploring devotional currents in contemporary art, digital technology, ecological and theological thought, alongside knowledge traditions that have long held presence and relation at the centre of practice. Consult the full programme schedule here: https://www.hartwigartfoundation.nl/en/programmes/extreme-presence/