The idea of "borrowed nostalgia" takes on a very literal meaning as you watch "Facehawk," a music video for Big Data's track "Dangerous" that exploits your own memories. Head to thefacehawk.com and log in with your Facebook credentials to find your profile page -- nothing special. But the video above from director and interactive artist Rajeev Basu demonstrates what happens next using his own profile: the page blows apart into hundreds of fragments -- photos, status updates, etc -- that coalesce into a three-dimensional hawk. You have to try it yourself to appreciate uneasiness that comes with watching so many personal moments explode across your browser window. It's like watching a tornado tear up your house in slow motion and then put it back together in the shape of an elegant sculpture.
What if you haven't posted much Facebook content to play with? Alan Wilkis, one half of Big Data along with Daniel Armbruster, assures a viewer on Vimeo that it'll still work, "but the hawk is considerably more filled out and detailed, the more content that you have in your Facebook profile." There you have it: the tug of war between the desire to share and the fear of putting too much out there. And that's their point -- Big Data say they make "music about voyeurism in the digital age." In this case, though, they promise not to share your data. Their music is available from Soundcloud, Spotify, and the iTunes store. Don't miss Wilkis's videos previously featured on Atlantic Video: "Come and Go," "Shadow," and "Old-Fashioned Girl."
For more work by Rajeev Basu, visit http://www.rajeevbasu.com/.
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