Dear Data is an apology letter from the artist to all the data she has given away. This letter expresses feelings of guilt and regret while also expressing a new found appreciation and respect for her data. Her sincere apologies are an attempt to create a sense of responsibility in the reader for their own data and forces them to think about how much they have given away and hopefully take this issue more seriously. Data rights are human rights, get to know them.

Aisling Phelan was born and raised in the Wicklow mountains in Blessington. She now studies at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, where she is undertaking a joint degree course in Fine Art Media and Critical Cultures. While 3D work is her main focus, as it allows her to create the unimaginable and bring her concepts to life, her practice also encompasses photography, video, and performance art. In exploring humanity’s relationship with technology, she is interested in using virtual reality to gain new perspectives on human connection and our capacity for empathy. Her work is always heavily backed up with intensive research, and her most recent works have been influenced by an exploration into surveillance capitalism and data rights in hope of a more dignified information economy.

In 2018, Aisling’s photographs were chosen for a publication by NCAD Master students and she performed for Jessie Hopkins for her MFA show. In response to IMMA’s ‘Desire’ exhibition, she had a live virtual reality performance in an Open Studio in IMMA in December 2019.  Aisling’s photograms were included in a digital showreel for the Dora Maar UNIQLO Tate Lates Display in the Tate Modern and her poetry was published in the 2019 Dublin Art Book Fair after successfully gaining a place on the Temple Bar Gallery Young Art Writers Programme. Her photographs have been published in UTB Magazine and in the British Analog Collective. Aisling is also a member of the DHG Student Forum, with work included in a publication for Culture Night in September 2020.