Artist Statement
May, 2008

"Data_Scape" is a live representation of Internet traffic passing over the local network. As the information is read, it is translated into both sound and image. The transformation of information into these reduced forms questions the notion of the digital environment in which we find ourselves participating, knowingly or unknowingly.

The elements of beauty are used to objectify the subject matter, and connect with the viewer on an intimate level. Object as landscapes can be dismantled through the elements of color, line, shape, and space. This very basic idea of objectifying nature, has led me to examine the sources that affect the land.

“Data_Scape” is a play on the notion of a manufactured landscape. A manufactured landscape in the sense used here is the human creation or alteration of a space in a direct or indirect manner. As the work changes in the gallery, it skirts a line between being either a landscape or a cityscape. I hope the viewer will find the land/cityscape to be a simple and graceful creation.

"Data_Scape" was created in Processing 0135 Beta found at processing.org using the OpenGL, Carnivore, full screen, and ESS libraries.

Several questions have motivated the pursuit of this work: when the computer became mainstream could we as a society predict the effect that technology would have on human society? To what degree have we as humans become dependent on technology, and what will the outcome of this dependence have on human society?