Data Elephant

Data Elephant is an evolving commentary on personal data, permission and exploitation. The soundscape creates a warm texture of corporate invitation that subverts its own brand of wholesomeness. A small, visible disclaimer allows the artist to record excerpts of visitors‘ intimate conversations and add them to the sonic texture of the room. By physically being in the space, the visitor has ’given‘ their permission, with no control over how or to what degree their data is being used. In this sound piece, disingenuous data collection disrupts the soundscape‘s invitation and serenity, gradually becoming more insistent over the course of the exhibition. As the visitors‘ awareness to their lack of consent to granting their data grows, it mirrors issues around privacy and fair use of data in the wider public realm.