With the permanent wall installation of «www 12.03.1989 06.08.1991» by Brigitte Kowanz (1957 - 2022), the University of St. Gallen receives another artwork in its extensive art collection. 

The artwork «www 12.03.1989 06.08.1991» consists of an arrangement of five mirror boxes, an aluminium tape and a loop-shaped neon tube. The aluminium tape holds within it the two significant dates that give the work its name, in the form of Morse codes. The first date (12.03.1989) commemorates the presentation of the World Wide Web at CERN, the world-famous European organisation for nuclear research in Geneva. The second date (06.08.1991) stands for the historic day when the first website went online, thus laying the foundation for the digital revolution.

According to Brigitte Kowanz, the work portrays the World Wide Web in a unique way. The encrypted form of the aluminium ribbon, which is connected to the neon tube, simultaneously reveals the historical origins and the origin of the Internet. The looped course of the tape is reminiscent of cables, which serve as a medium for transmitting information. The mirror boxes act as «housings» for the tape and the tube, creating an infinite variety of images that are transformed from the real to the virtual.