London has unveiled its largest participatory public artwork in west London, marking a groundbreaking fusion of community engagement and digital art. The massive installation, titled "11 Million Dots," was created by artist Rafael El Baz and spans an impressive 2,700 square meters (29,000 square feet) across the six-story facade of a new data center located near Park Royal in Ealing.
The innovative artwork transforms human experiences into visual data through a unique creative process. El Baz recorded ambient noise and environmental sounds from the surrounding area, along with more than 120 audio interviews conducted with local residents and business owners. These recordings were then converted into binary code and audio waveforms, which were subsequently perforated onto aluminum panels that make up the installation.
The artist's vision centers on making invisible data visible and meaningful to the public. "My practice is really about materiality, about sustainability, waste streams – the way in which we undervalue certain materials and how that leads into the way we undervalue certain stories," El Baz explained. He emphasized that the project "takes the unheard stories of people and turns them into something sustainable," exploring what data can "look like when abstracted in a moment of time."
The installation covers one complete side of the Vantage Data Centers' building and serves as part of London's Design Festival. The artwork consists of dots perforated onto aluminum panels, creating abstract patterns that represent the digitized voices and environmental sounds of the local community.
London's deputy mayor for culture and the creative industries, Justine Simons, praised the project's impact on the community. "Public art brings our city to life, it sparks conversations, celebrates and connects our communities and 11 Million Dots does all of this and more," she stated. Simons noted how "a data center in Acton and Park Royal has been transformed with a stunning installation, the abstract patterns drawn directly from conversations with local people and the surrounding environment, its clouds, trees and traffic."
