From Data Doubles to Data Demons: Reflections on a CripTech Collaboration

This article describes a collaboration between Laura Forlano and Itziar Barrio around a series of robotic sculptures that were created by Barrio with data from Forlano’s “smart” insulin pump and sensor system. Forlano, a Type 1 diabetic for over 10 years, has written previously about her experience as a “disabled cyborg”. As CripTech art, the robotic sculptures, discussed here as data demons, complicate and expand contemporary discourses on artificial intelligence and design.By engaging themes such as data as labor, data as material, and data as relations this piece ultimately argues that both people and technologies are disabled.