Site specific data art (2023)
A Data Art experiment for Electrolux
Data River is a data art project born in collaboration with Electrolux Italy at the Susegana plant, redefining the boundaries of possible dialogue between artistic expression and technological advancement.
The meeting between the artistic collective D20 ArtLab and the company was made possible thanks to the Smath project – “Smart Atmospheres of social and financial innovation for innovative clustering of creative industries in the Med area” – aimed at connecting the world of artists with business realities that want to open up to new solutions and languages.
The project develops in a high technological intensity context like Genesi, the company’s new production department.
The artistic intervention aims to emphasize the centrality of the human experience, reshaping the concept of data usage and visualization: the values and numbers coming from the production lines do not converge into a readable “graph”, but shape an abstract artistic image that regenerates in real time. An artistic language that synthesizes technology and emotion, human and machine, functionality and contemplation.
The Genesi project by Electrolux, born with the objective of building a highly automated plant based on the principles of the Smart Factory (Industry 4.0), has created the ideal context to engage with, involving the company in the artistic process.
Thanks to the collaboration with Federica Fragapane and Paolo Corti and the enthusiasm of the IT sector at Electrolux, Data River is born, which visually and sonically represents the data coming from the production lines of the new 4.0 plant. The production numbers and values are sublimated into artistic images, literally giving life to 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 readings, are collected from the production lines and transmitted to the installation every 15 minutes, feeding a display on a LED wall and creating a sound in the surrounding area.
These data influence the dimensions and colors of the river banks, with the monitoring stations taking on different shades based on specific quality measurements. Throughout the day, totals of the produced pieces are calculated, highlighted by accumulations of white dots within the graphics.
The result is a constantly transforming artistic 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 or 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 is generative and constantly evolving, never being the same twice. It takes shape in real-time, reacting to the data and the passage of time, drawing inspiration from famous compositions like Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports”.
This approach aims to convey a sense of serenity and flow through small but constant sound variations.
Data River is a unique project in the national territory, representing the convergence of art and technology and providing an extraordinary experience within an industrial context.
