Affective Footprints, published in Heliotrope, explores the persistent low-frequency hum emanating from the cooling systems of four data centers in southeast Austin, Texas, and its impact on nearby communities. The essay examines how this mechanical, disorienting sound infiltrates the materials and bodies within its vicinity, shaping community relations through vibratory, affective, and rhetorical forces, while also questioning the environmental and social consequences of such exposure.

“Dissonant hums become the material and vibratory tissue that form bonds with individuals in close enough proximity to hear and feel their impact. Just beyond the confines of these data center service yards, which are home to sometimes hundreds of fans stacked on top and around each other, a perimeter of seemingly disparate things are brought into relation through this sound. Depending on the exact frequency being emitted, this community includes the bark of trees, the drywall and stucco of homes, porous particles of dirt, sand, and rock, and even the skin of humans and animals. Through simply spatial location, exposure foregrounds how entities crack open together in their material and affective persuadability. In short, being around the sounds of these data centers makes a sense of community. Not in a blanket of impact but through independent resonant encounters.”

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