How do artists use fabric to critique surveillance capitalism?

Artists have long employed fabric as a medium to challenge societal norms, and in recent years, many have turned their focus to critiquing surveillance capitalism. Through textile art, they weave together themes of privacy invasion, data exploitation, and corporate overreach. Tactile and subversive, fabric allows these creators to juxtapose the softness of material with the harsh realities of digital surveillance.

Some artists embroider QR codes that link to leaked corporate documents, while others craft tapestries depicting algorithmic patterns or woven "data shadows" representing personal information harvested by tech giants. The choice of fabric—traditionally associated with domesticity and craft—adds layers of irony, contrasting the intimate with the invasive nature of surveillance.

Installations might feature interactive textiles that react to viewers' movements, mimicking how surveillance technologies track individuals. Others repurpose discarded clothing or digital prints on fabric to comment on consumerism's role in data commodification. By grounding abstract digital concepts in physical form, these works make the invisible systems of control tangible, inviting audiences to reflect on their own complicity and resistance.

The slow, labor-intensive nature of textile art also serves as a counterpoint to the speed of data extraction, emphasizing the human cost often erased in discussions of surveillance capitalism. Through stitches, dyes, and folds, artists craft a material critique that lingers longer than a fleeting digital protest.