AN EXTENSION OF DATA:
THE NEW BLACK GOLD
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THE NEW BLACK GOLD
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Data: The New Black Gold emerged out of a longer line of research that examines the data economy in West Africa.
Tracing the history of oil production in Nigeria revealed the complex relationship between exploitation, wealth and environment. I explored how multinational corporations were taking land and taking control of public data. As a reaction to the research I began creating rudimentary scanning devices that could allow the public to collect and control their own data. While developing scans of popular markets in Lagos I realised that there was a whole other narrative emerging within the project. There was a glitch in the quality of scans, due to the voids in the data collected. It became evident that scanning softwares have embedded visual biases in contrasting spaces.
When scanning Balogun Market in Lagos —the cars, okada’s, keke’s, and stalls— appear glitched. This highlights tensions between the landscape and the technology. While Data: the New Black Gold began as a speculative project, it opens up a lot of questions on Eurocentric mapping ideologies and western cartographic tools. I would like to contribute to Disembodied Territories a Virtual Reality space. This will be an immersive walk-through extension of the original film.
Tracing the history of oil production in Nigeria revealed the complex relationship between exploitation, wealth and environment. I explored how multinational corporations were taking land and taking control of public data. As a reaction to the research I began creating rudimentary scanning devices that could allow the public to collect and control their own data. While developing scans of popular markets in Lagos I realised that there was a whole other narrative emerging within the project. There was a glitch in the quality of scans, due to the voids in the data collected. It became evident that scanning softwares have embedded visual biases in contrasting spaces.
When scanning Balogun Market in Lagos —the cars, okada’s, keke’s, and stalls— appear glitched. This highlights tensions between the landscape and the technology. While Data: the New Black Gold began as a speculative project, it opens up a lot of questions on Eurocentric mapping ideologies and western cartographic tools. I would like to contribute to Disembodied Territories a Virtual Reality space. This will be an immersive walk-through extension of the original film.
Ibiye Camp
is a multidisciplinary artist. Her work engages with technology and materials within the African Diaspora. She utilises architectural tools
to create 3D models, sound, video, and AR to highlight the biases and conflicts within technology.
Ibiye Camp holds an MA in Architecture from the Royal College of Art, and BA (Hons) in Fine Art, from the University of the Arts London, Central
Saint Martins. Ibiye is currently a tutor at the RCA in the School of Architecture. She
tutors in Media Studies and the Architecture Design Studio
titled Demonic Shores with Dele Adeyemo and Dámaso Randulfe.