Elizabeth Hudson: Logic may indeed be unshakeable

“Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom.”
– Clifford Stoll and Gary Schubert

The mechanised looms that made the Luddites redundant have evolved into today’s computers and automated machines via the punch card. Machines can be trusted to drive cars and fly planes better than their human counterparts; are they also the most trustworthy custodians of our personal data? One thing is for certain: they are more trustworthy than artists.

Logic may indeed be unshakeable is an installation that comprises a hand-operated loom, weaving punchcards of data collected using the contemporary methods of Big Data, and an app that automates the role of the conceptual artist. The work weaves together interrelated histories of looms, computing, automation, data collection and civil disobedience. How complicit are we in the amassment of data and rapidly expanding automation?