Data Warp

Kathryn Combs

Area: Printmaking

Thesis Statement

Drawing from the unfathomable amounts of consumer data collected from users each day, "Data Warp" is a large-scale multimedia weaving that serves as a metaphor, allowing viewers to consider these enormous volumes and act. Inspired both by the processes of data artists and print artists who create paper weavings, this massive, 4 feet tall by 60+ feet long object represents the digital but exists in the physical world.

This physicality creates a non-digital metatext through which the viewer can see, feel, and sense the scope of the information. Displayed near the piece, a QR code directs the viewer to educational resources on data privacy located on my website. Within the work, I pull from the visual language of both glitch imagery and print media. Weaving together fluorescent colors, pixelated Terms of Service text and a variety of iridescent and reflective materials, I visually overwhelm and overload the viewer. Photographs of the mundane, embarrassing, and private moments of life make the viewer feel watched. These elements, when combined with the imposing size of the artwork, create a feeling or impression of the colossal volumes of data that companies like Facebook and Google gather daily. I use these uneasy feelings to encourage viewers to take part in policy reform that limits the power of companies that collect and sell our information, transforming discomfort into the potential for action.

Viewers are encouraged to visit the “On Privacy” page of my website to learn more about how laws can protect individual consumers from the prying eyes of big tech and social media companies, as well as find resources to improve their own privacy using free tools online.