BD175 Art at The Agnes

Big Data Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre

On view in the Atrium through 22 December 2016

Agnes Etherington Art Centre Director Jan Allen in front of the installation of Dave Kemp’s Data Collection. Photo: Tim Forbes

In conjunction with Queen’s University’s 175th anniversary and a cross-faculty series on Big Data (BD175), The Agnes presents two major art works that speak to the dataverse. Information about these pieces, which are drawn from the Agnes collection, may be found here.

Dave Kemp, Data Collection

This multi-part work from The Agnes collection by artist and Queen’s alumnus Dave Kemp (BSc ENG, 1997) complements the “Big Data 175” series of talks and events this fall and winter term. The piece probes individual attitudes to privacy through photo portraits of the wallet contents of 101 subjects. Each card represents a database, a striking and familiar mix of public/governmental and corporate caches.  

Detail view of Dave Kemp, Data Collection, 2009. Photographic installation; inkjet prints on Sintra, 28.9 x 40.3 cm (each of 101 parts). Gift of the artist, 2012 (55-008a-gggg) 

 Wally Dion, Seated Thunderbird, 2015. Circuit boards on plywood, nails, acrylic medium and pigment. 104.0 x 122.0 x 5.7 cm. Purchase, Art Centre Acquisitions Trust, 2015 (58-011)

Wally Dion, Seated Thunderbird

For artist Wally Dion (Saulteaux), the creation of an ancient sacred being from discarded computer processors reflects the renewal of enduring flows of power. Thunderbird takes on new forms for successive generations. His Thunderbird series is a reflection upon Indigenous systems of thought and their continuing relevance in the contemporary world.