In her trilogy Particular Waters, Su Yu Hsin explores the material foundations of digital technologies. At its centre are water, the desert and silicon—resources and landscapes without which computer chips, datacentres and artificial intelligence could not exist. Rather than presenting digital infrastructures as abstract technologies, the artist shifts the focus to the ecological and political conditions on which they rely.
The first part is set in Hsinchu, Taiwan, where a significant proportion of the world’s highperformance semiconductors are manufactured. The film asks where the vast quantities of water required for chip production come from and who has Access to this vital resource. Told from the perspective of a female water truck driver, it recounts the story of the 2021 drought, revealing the close connections between global supply chains and local water landscapes.
The second part shifts the focus to the Arizona desert. Beginning with the perspective from a self-driving car, it traces the transformation of an arid landscape into a centre of semiconductor manufacturing and cloud computing. Inspired by “Cloud Song” by the Tohono O’odham poet Ofelia Zepeda, Su Yu Hsin poetically explores the tension between the promises of technological progress and its ecological consequences.
The third part leads to Dresden-Gittersee, where the history of mining intersects with current developments in the semiconductor industry. It traces the path of silicon—one of the key raw materials used in computer chips and solar cells—through geological strata, industrial production processes and political upheavals. The landscape tells a Story of coal and uranium mining as well as the promises of today’s “Silicon Saxony”, showing how regional history is intertwined with global raw material supply chains.
About the artist
Su Yu Hsin was born in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1989. She studied at Shih Chien University in Taipei, the Royal College of Art in London, and the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB). In 2023, she received the 26th Federal Prize for Art Students. Her work has been exhibited at Kunsthalle Winterthur, GfZK Leipzig, SculptureCenter, New York, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, and Centre Pompidou-Metz. She lives and works in Berlin and Taipei.
Press images
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Su Yu Hsin, Sunshine-belt Machine (2026), Still © Su Yu Hsin, Courtesy Su Yu Hsin and alexander levy (JPG, 2 MB)
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Su Yu Hsin, Where Clouds Once Formed (2025), Still © Su Yu Hsin, Courtesy Su Yu Hsin and alexander levy (JPG, 4 MB)
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Su Yu Hsin, Sunshine-belt Machine (2026), Still © Su Yu Hsin, Courtesy Su Yu Hsin and alexander levy (JPG, 4 MB)
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