Data Shadow (All Saints Gardens, Cambridge)

To coincide with the first draft of the Investigatory Powers Bill (Nov 2015), Data Shadow was an interactive art instillation commissioned by Collusion, in partnership with Arts Council England, the University of Cambridge and The Technology Partnership.

Located in All Saints Gardens, Cambridge, all visitors were required to interact independently with the installation, entering one at a time.

On entering the 8 x 2m shipping container, the participant was greeted by a woman holding a contract of consent. Until signed, the woman remained silent, directly staring the individual in the eyes (a physical manifestation of Terms & Conditions). Once signed, candidates proceeded to join the WiFi.

Participants progressed to the second half of the container, divided by a partitioning door. With sensors tracking the participant’s movements, their realtime (digital) shadow was cast by a projection on two, facing walls - one filled with 1000 characters from their most recent text or WhatsApp messages, the other a collage of 64 images from the participant’s mobile phone.

• http://www.data-shadow.com/