In 1947, scientists working on the Harvard Mark II computer found a moth trapped in the relay circuits of the machine, impeding its function. They taped the dead moth into the computer’s logbook and wrote: “(moth) in relay ... First actual case of bug being found.” Grace Hopper, a key programmer on the computer, later popularized the incident and the term “debugging” through her lectures.
This work conjures a world where the moth remains trapped in the computer and searches for a way out of the machine. It autonomously flies across global internet infrastructure, and each time it locates a node—a data centre or cable landing station—it searches the web for information about that facility, hoping to find an escape from the relay.
(moth) in relay was created by Shaheer Tarar as part of the Ghost in the Loop commission by The Photographers’ Gallery and Goethe-Institut London.