Clara Le Meur

Department: Man and Well being
Website: claralemeur.com

Valuable Gesture Factory

What: A physical representation of the hidden digital economy behind our screens, transforming abstract user data into precious weaves.

Why: Online clicking, liking and commenting generates a continuous stream of valuable data. The companies that harvest this data use it for their own profit. Most of the time, users are completely unaware of the value they produce.

What: Transforming user patterns into weaving patterns visualises the exploitation process. Any activity on Instagram provides the raw material for the production line. Factory workers transfer your digital footprint onto punch cards for a jacquard loom – the analogue ancestor of computer programming. The more data you produce, the more luxurious the weave, the more profit is made.

“A physical trace of digital data”