DATA BLACKOUT | 2012-2018
“Each of us is now a walking data generator.” - McAfee and Brynjolfsson for Harvard Business Review, 2012
Instructions performed by the artist and participants:
Transmit no traceable data for 24 hours.
No cell phone, no internet, no key fobs, no debit or credit cards, no TV may be used during this time.
Perform all usual activities to the best of your ability.
Send your response to the project to the artist.
Description:
DATA BLACKOUT was a participatory event that took place annually in the United States and internationally.
The spaces where DATA BLACKOUT were held become blank spots in the masses of data transmission as inhabitants of the space turn off all digital devices that transmit a signal. Participants and non-participants were requested to write about their experiences of DATA BLACKOUT and send them to the artist. The artist collected these consciously transmitted pieces of data to present in a future exhibition. By sending this data to the artist, the participant gave the artist full permission to use their written document in print, on the internet and in exhibitions.
Context:
In the developed world, we voluntarily (and often unknowingly) feed data about our locations, tastes, relationships, consumption habits, finances into the ether through social media, email, Internet browsing, cell phones, key fobs, debit cards and other devices. In 2012 I became more aware of how this data was being collected and analyzed by many for-profit companies as well as governments and I found it disturbing. DATA BLACKOUT invited people to experiment with what life would be like without volunteering all of this information about ourselves. It was a type of boycott. Each year that the piece was performed the experience became more absurd and more challenging as data transmitting devices have infiltrated nearly every aspect of our lives.