THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT DATA  (E2)
2024

The Day the Earth  Caught Data unfolds in a series of several episodes that attempt to create  fictional narratives about the end of the world, using different tourist locations. The material is from online sources, using primarily photos that the visitors share, developing in interactive installations.
The title is a reference to post-apocalyptic film “The Day the Earth Caught Fire” (1961) and each episode suggests dystopian scenarios, aftermaths of intense human presence and the constant use of digital media that accompanies it.  A recent Guardian article wrote: “Sites are nothing more than the backdrop for our selfies” Constant surveillance practices on Earth’s surface, frequent use of  mapping apps, as well as incessant sharing self-referential content online, compliments tourism’s already significant part in climate crisis. Is it then that the end of the world might come from our own visual representations in our effort to keep it alive and real?

 Episode 2 of The Day the Earth  Caught Data was an interactive installation involving audience participation using primarily online material shared by different users through Google Street View Photosphere. The work attempted to draw parallels between a widely shared, seemingly   uncomplicated reality and a troublesome fiction, where the image-makers become storytellers of their own unsettling future.

The research is focused on Santorini, one of the most popular destinations in the world which has ended up facing serious environmental and sustainability problems. Its volcano, a separate piece of land surrounded by sea, receives a considerate portion of the island’s visitors on day tours. The use of the satellite images generated by Google Earth along with screenshots taken from the online photos shared by the visitors in Google Earth’ Photosphere, (view slide show) construct a different, more dystopian narrative. The volcanic landscape resembles that of another planet, or that of a doomsday movie setting, where the individuals strolling around look lost, exhausted and disoriented amidst the barren, uninviting surroundings.

The audience was encouraged to participate, when standing infront of the backdrop, by taking their own photos of the real-time projection and share them online.