Open Access

Winfried Gerling, Svea Bräunert, Paul Heinicker

• Climate and migration are not just bound together on a political or metaphorical level but their relationship is also coupled in the joint application of data. Building on Allan Sekula’s notion of the instrumental image developed in light of aerial composite photographs taken during World War I, we propose to speak of instrumental data to describe operative platforms fusing data from satellites, social media, and local sensors and using them for divergent political ends, most notably the control of borders and the quality of water, air, and crops in Europe. Taking the EU-funded pilot project CALLISTO as a case study, we combine media-theoretical analysis, artistic research, and critical data visualization to address the nexus of visualization, decision making, and control effected by the ways in which the platform promises to make satellite data operable, ultimately fusing not just data but also the corresponding social fields of climate and migration.