A Data Art installation for Electrolux
Data River is a data art project by D20ArtLab created in collaboration with Electrolux Italy that explores the boundaries of a possible dialogue between artistic expression and technological advancement.
The meeting between the artistic collective D20 ArtLab and the company took place within the Smath project – “Smart Atmospheres of social and financial innovation for innovative clustering of creative industries in Med area” – aimed at connecting the universe of artists with business realities that want to open up to new solutions and languages.
The project is developed in a high technological intensity context like that of Genesi, the company’s new production plant. The aim of the artistic intervention is to emphasize the centrality of the human experience, reshaping the concept of data usage and visualization: the values and numbers that come from the production lines do not converge into a readable “chart”, but they give shape to an abstract artistic image that regenerates in real time. An artistic language that synthesizes technology and emotion, human and machine, functionality and contemplation.
Thanks to the collaboration with Federica Fragapane and Paolo Corti and the enthusiasm of the IT sector of Electrolux, Data River was born, which visually and artistically displays the data coming from the production lines of the new 4.0 plant. The production numbers and values are sublimated into artistic images, literally bringing to life a river that takes on the appearance of the Piave, the landscape element that best characterizes the territory where the company is located.
The data, specifically quality measurements, are collected from the production lines and transmitted to the installation every 15 minutes, feeding a visualization on a LED wall and creating a sonification of the surrounding area. These data influence the dimensions and colors of the river banks, with the measurement stations assuming different shades based on specific quality measurements. During the course of the day, the totals of the pieces produced are calculated, highlighted by accumulations of white dots within the graphics.
The result is a constantly evolving pictorial work, located in an acoustically protected area, that breathes and resonates in a continuous flow, capable of generating a sense of peace comparable to that which can arise from observing natural phenomena, such as the flow of water, the trembling of leaves in a forest. The color palette is also inspired by nature, reflecting the slow rhythm of the seasons.
The accompanying soundscape of the graphics is generative and continuously evolving, without ever being the same, taking shape in real time in response to the data and the passage of time, drawing inspiration from famous compositions such as “Music for Airports” by Brian Eno.
This approach aims to convey a feeling of serenity and flow through small but constant sound variations.
Data River constitutes a unique experience in the national territory, a synthesis of the convergence between art and technology, a truly extraordinary experience within an industrial context.
My role: concept, coding the data ingestion pipeline, data sonification.
Read more at D20ArtLab