Seashells are becoming Unnecessary

At the beach, I'm always on the look-out for seashells big enough to hold against my ear to hear the sound of the sea. This child-like behavior still resonates with me. But I got really puzzled when I saw this movie on wired.co.uk.

How it it possible that I can look at an installation, created by Nils Völker using 108 plastic bags, two CPU cooling fans. MDF, relays, countless screws and an Arduino controller and all I can think of is the sea?