Big Data and Cloud Culture - To the Cloud: Big Data in a Turbulent World - page 226

surrounded by the city's buildings and by Central Park, but also frighten-
ing, because the network of people nested in relective and transparent
surfaces created the sensation of life inside an information-processing
device. But that may have been only because I have been thinking a lot
about another type of cloud.
Cloud computing itself is becoming the object of conscious artistic
expression, most notably in the Clouding Green collection created by
Tamiko Thiel (2012), one of a remarkable group of contemporary artists
who give life to the art-science movement. With degrees in product design
engineering (Stanford) and mechanical engineering (MIT), Thiel works on
multi-dimensional, augmented-reality projects that create dramatic narra-
tives of social and cultural signiicance. Clouding Green uses technology
to present a visual expression of the share of data-center emissions taken
up by renewable energy sources. Using the Greenpeace (2012) report
“How Clean Is Your Cloud?” she provides a visually stunning presenta-
tion of color-coded clouds sweeping across the skies over corporate cloud
data centers. In doing so, Thiel builds a bridge across the divide between
cloud computing and cloud culture with the goal of creating both art
and environmental awareness. In the hands of an artist, clouds of data
come alive with the emotional resonance needed to energize an informed
response. This convergence of technology, art, and politics renews the
hope that dark clouds are not the only ones on our collective horizon.