The Network Reigns is a series that questions the image of the digital “cloud” as abstract and weightless; what excessive energy consumption, mineral extraction, and physical infrastructure hide behind our screens? Next to the questioning of the geological and ecological consequences of digital technology, Martha Kicsiny also reflects on technofeudalism, where user activity creates unpaid cloud capital, which, combined with our physical lives, creates a new type of dualism. The internet is becoming a feudal domain of control and dependency, where participation empowers yet simultaneously exploits users.
While these issues seem hard to pinpoint and visualise, the series uses a symbolic visual language developed from archaic myths to make artworks about them. By combining 3D printing with drawing and antique objects, Kicsiny creates objects that form a bridge between traditional drawing and contemporary screen technology. These white lithophanes only become visible when backlit, highlighting light as a key characteristic of digital screens. They were historically among the first mass-produced light-based image forms, and function here as proto-screens.
By merging historical image technologies with contemporary digital processes, The Network Reigns exposes the continuity between early optical devices and current screen-based environments. The series invites viewers to reconsider digital images not as immaterial interfaces, but as objects shaped by—and dependent on—material realities.
The Network Reigns (2025-2026)
at argos centre for audiovisual art, Brussels
3D printed lithophane, (PLA filament), antique hand-carved fire screen frame, electric lamp, W 112 x H 124 x D 44 cm
To Fuel A Million Tiny Suns (2025-2026)
3D printed lithophane, (PLA filament), antique brass ship lantern, electric lamp, 17,2 x 40,5 x 13,5 cm
Reign of Walls (2026)
3D printed lithophane, PLA filament, antique glass, LED lights, fishing wire, 38,5 x 17 x 7,8 cm
Copper Reigns (2026)
Photo by Dávid Bíró. 3D-printed lithophanes, PLA filament, LED lights, hand-woven copper frame, 22,9 x 33,6 x 7 cm
The Fishing Net (2026), 3D printed lithophanes, PLA filament, LED lights, W 30 x H 23 x D 4,3 cm
Horizon Lost (2026)
Photo by Dávid Bíró. Ink, 300gr paper, 21 x 29 cm.
The Mechanism’s Defiance (2026)
3D printed lithophanes, PLA filament, LED lights, hand-woven copper frame. 29 x 30 x 7 cm.
Net Works IV (2025)
Photo by Dávid Bíró. Ink, 300gr paper, 21 x 29 cm.
Artworks from the series was exhibited in:
– Methods of Enclosure – solo exhibition, Parallel Vienna & Horizont Gallery, Vienna, Austria.
– Div.fuse Festival – group exhibition, argos centre for audiovisual art, Brussels, Belgium.
– Future Icons – group exhibition, WARP, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium