Data Shadows

Step into a world where art, science, and philosophy converge to uncover the unseen dimensions of data.

The Ethical Data Initiative invites you to an exclusive screening of Data Shadows, a captivating short film that delves into the uncharted territories of data science. This unique collaboration features philosopher and data scientist Sabina Leonelli, artist Jacob van der Beugel, and co-director Oliver Page, whose innovative storytelling brings to life the concept of data that is invisible, inaccessible, or unexplored.

What to Expect

• Stunning visual metaphors by Jacob van der Beugel that illustrate the journeys and transformations of data.
• An evocative soundscape by Felix Erskine, crafted specifically for this film.
• Thought-provoking insights into the physicality, mutability, and hidden infrastructures of data.

Event Details

Date: Thursday, January 16, 2025
Location: RioKino, Rosenheimer Straße 46, Munich
Time: 17:30 - 20:00
Refreshments: Enjoy a complimentary drink with your token. Additional beverages will be available for purchase.
Ticket: Free entrance, please make sure to reserve your spot ahead of time.

About the Film

Just as data are extracted from the real world, in the context of this film, we have extracted concrete cores to represent the creation of data. Concrete is an artificial and natural medium, very akin to data. The central narrative follows the physical journeys of these datacores as they undergo processes of loss, de-contextualisation, appropriation and transformation.

Artist Jacob van der Beugel and philosopher Sabina Leonelli have collaborated with filmmaker Oliver Page towards an art movie examining the notion of ‘data shadows’, which Sabina pioneered (and discusses at length in a forthcoming book).

Examining data that are not there, not readily available, and/or not usable towards proving claims or fostering discoveries brings us to confront the significance of what is not typically recognised as knowledge — what is invisible, tacit, ignored, denied, expected, forbidden, private, inaccessible, unknown, or unexplored.

See some trailers here.

The film casts a light on how research data make their way through through human activities and non-human landscapes. By reimagining data as tangible physical objects that are subject to change from its very inception, we burst the bubble that has taught the general public, as well as academics, that data are immutable objects that magically appear everywhere all at once and can be easily controlled and owned. Our data have a life of their own, viscerally related to changes in nature, societies and climate, constantly adapting to novel conditions.

Data clusters are visualised by Jacob as concrete casts cast with a choice of aggregates: Physical cores get extracted from the soil, then graded and polished to go into a repository. This de-contextualisation is the start of their meandering journeys to other contexts and applications. When trying later to fit a core back into an extraction hole, some no longer fit as the core or the hole have degraded or filled, whereas others slot seamlessly together. The data shadows are what is missing, unavailable, or invisible — contrary to the naive idea of ‘data’ as solid, clear and immutable, we follow them through their journey of de- and re-contextualisation, here with patterns of light and shade that act to both clarify and obscure, and attract speculation, hinting at hidden infrastructures that change their meaning. Since there has been a perceived loss of human agency around data for many years, this project will reestablish the reasons why data does this and dissolve the magic that surrounds its perceived ethereality. This is one of the defining issues of our time and this project aims to bring a degree of restitution to this complex field.