Surface of Data
Surface of Data (2023) is a multimedia installation and web-based project that compares the environmental impact of gold mining with data extraction in the digital age. Initially developed for an in-gallery exhibition, the work immerses viewers in a reactive environment where their gestures trigger audiovisual elements referencing an abandoned gold mine in Nova Scotia. It now also exists as a digital experience hosted on a website.
Technical Details:
Concept and Process:
Surface of Data is anchored in site-specific research at an abandoned gold mine in Nova Scotia that operated until the 1930s. The artist uses this historically charged site to explore parallels between mechanical extraction (gold) and contemporary data harvesting. The mine serves both as a literal location and a conceptual metaphor for understanding how value is extracted from the earth and from people.
The creative process involved documentation through photography and geological scanning. The artist translated this material into sculptural forms and interactive digital installations. The digital models—containing artifacts, compressions, and irregularities—mirror geological samples, aligning computational errors with mineral imperfections as markers of transformation and time.
By blending historical imagery, speculative cartographies, and reactive systems, the work reflects on how extractive logics persist across industries and epochs. It also draws attention to the physicality of digital systems and the invisible labor and ecological costs behind "clean" data.
Title Meaning:
Surface of Data references both geological and informational stratigraphy. The “surface” is seen as the point of access—what is visible, interpretable, and analyzable—yet it’s also where meaning distorts, fragments, or disappears. The title captures the duality of perception: while surfaces offer data, they also obscure the deeper infrastructures of control, ideology, and environmental consequence. It underscores the illusion of transparency in both geological and digital systems.
Artistic Context:
This project marks a pivotal evolution in the artist's practice, bridging early analog photography with post-MFA explorations into new media. Previously rooted in black-and-white darkroom photography, the artist’s work transitioned to include digital modeling, interactive technologies, and data-driven art during their MFA studies.
Surface of Data exemplifies this hybrid practice—fusing site-specific physical research with speculative digital representation. It has informed subsequent works that continue to merge natural history and digital systems to interrogate the environmental and ideological implications of technology.
Additional Information: