Data.Record

v1.0 by: Michael Takeo Magruder, 2010

A modular digital print installation reflecting on globalisation, multiculturalism, and collective memory in the Information Age.

About the Artwork:

Data.Record explores notions of globalisation, multiculturalism, and collective memory in the Information Age. The artwork has been digitally created using the front pages of the BBC's online news service in 32 different languages, captured from the Internet at a single moment in time. The resulting data was computationally processed into a single digital mural of texture, form and colour.

Constructed in the tradition of pointillism - a technique used by artists such as George Seurat (1859-91) in which small, distinct dots of pure colour are applied in patterns to form an image - Data.Record can be visually dissected into increasingly smaller mathematical grids, block structures, and finally, individual pixels - the primal visual element of the digital domain. The composition also draws upon the process-based creations of the conceptual and minimalist artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007), using computer code and modern automated industrial processes to generate both the artwork's visual aesthetics and its final material form.

Artwork Documentation:

Processes:

[ Computational ] The front-pages of the 32 language editions of the BBC's online news service were simultaneously captured on 17/08/2010 at 16:26 GMT. The resulting data was algorithmically recombined to create a series of 40 uniform digital image files (1210 x 6210 pixel, 32bit colour Tiffs).

[ Physical ] The digital images were output via an archive-quality digital print system using Epson UltraChrome pigment-based inks and Hewlett-Packard matte polypropylene inkjet film. The finished prints (40w x 205.3h cm. each) are then wall-mounted in a site-specific arrangement and destroyed after each exhibition.

With Thanks to:

Trudi Darby [ King's College London commission ] . Lisa Helin [ Living Data exhibition ]

Supported by:

Data.Record is a 2010 commission by King's College London for its development of Somerset House's East Wing. The artwork was first show as part of the 2014 solo touring exhibition Living Data funded by Vivacity (Peterborough), Watermans (London), The Brindley (Cheshire) and Dame Hannahs (Devon).

Installation Documentation:

© TAKEO 2010