Defined as the makings of a foundation, infrastructure is closely associated as the back bone of technology. Similarly to the foundation of a building, infrastructure is not usually showcased to technology users. Instead of wires, chips, and casing found in most technology, the infrastructure of modern software is programmed or utilizes “immaterial labor.” This form of labor is described as work that is not seen physically, but operates to keep the media running. When I think of infrastructure, I am reminded of Tron and The Matrix, two films that utilize technology and programming to make up the foundation of the movie. Kevin Flynn, the programmer of the game in Tron, describes his invented world as “the Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways?” Through his programming, Kevin created the infrastructure of his game that was ran by his AIs referred to as “programs.” Likewise, The Matrix also revolved around an electronic world where the coding can be seen every time a character tries to plug back into it. Within both of these films there is a glimpse of the invisible infrastructure of which their worlds are consisted.
