A series of drawings made with weavable patterns created from sound files

As the city moved indoors to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19, digital data production and consumption escalated in an already expanding digital economy. Living a more online life has not necessarily meant a more intimate relationship with our data or expanded awareness of how it is constantly compiled and recorded by platforms far from our reach. We can feel dependent on our digital existence yet disconnected from it and its value.

During the residency at Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Philadelphia, I explored ways to translate sounds gathered on social media into weavable patterns using spectrograms, bitmap images and a digital loom.

The sounds collected were referenced to the North Philadelphia area on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter as well as from walks around the Crane Arts Building; assembling a cross section of the neighbourhood composed of historical records, social justice claims and images of a dystopian nature.

To create the drawings the weavable patterns were treated as brushes and used over imagery extracted from comments and photos posted from users. The drawings are expected to be woven later on into tapestries, using a Jacquard loom.

At the end of the residency a small show was put together with the six drawings created as well as work produced earlier in the year which also touch upon the idea of data collection, creating this way a compelling landscape of information.