Corrupted is a compilation of screen recordings documenting the process of loading a recovered file after surveillance footage taken in Sarnia, Ontario’s Chemical Valley during the April 8th eclipse was found to be corrupted and unable to view. Within a district surrounded by cameras and security, surveillance and careful observation using imaging techniques and networked technologies become tools of resistance. As the moon crosses across the sky to conceal the sun and lighting conditions shift in a cosmic display, a 360 camera is repositioned to face the refineries that continue to exert control and enact violence against the land and the bodies that reside on it. Corruption speaks not only to a data processing error, but also to the obscurity of information made publicly available by corporate entities that have caused and continue to cause harm. Despite a manufactured reputation of social and environmental stewardship, residents continue to experience negative health effects while nearby companies deny responsibility. A longstanding history of chemical leakage and gas releases within the Valley that have been poorly communicated or hidden from the public has continued into the present. Through corruption and recovery, the memory card reveals the present state of affairs in a space in which public suspicion and acts of surveillance are heavily scrutinized by corporate interests, but it also reveals the potential for future recovery. Within the loading glitch, the future is unclear but also mystifying and beautiful.
