About

The Platform

Data Network is realtime infrastructure for creative projects. It provides a WebSocket pub/sub layer with optional message persistence, multi-tenant API key management, and a channel-based model that maps naturally to how interactive and IoT-driven artworks are structured.

The project grew from a recurring need: artists, studios, and technologists building live installations repeatedly spin up the same stack — a WebSocket server, a Redis pub/sub layer, some message store — for every project. Data Network makes that infrastructure available as a managed service, so you can focus on the work rather than the plumbing.

Jordan Shaw

Jordan Shaw is a Toronto-based artist and creative technologist whose practice explores data as material, treating invisible digital signals as substance with texture, density, and temporality.

Built from a background in creative technology, software engineering, computer science, and interactive multimedia design, his work moves across sculpture, installation, light, and textiles to transform wireless transmissions and network activity into tangible, sensory experiences.

Data Network grew directly from that practice: a response to the recurring technical demands of building responsive, networked artworks and public installations that need reliable realtime communication, persistence, and system-level flexibility.

That approach has been developed through solo exhibitions including Data as Material (2025) and an upcoming 2026 presentation of the series, alongside public commissions for Ontario Place, the City of Pickering, and municipalities across Canada, as well as online works and digital experiences designed to persist and evolve on the network over time.

He holds an MFA from OCAD University and is represented by Micak Contemporary Art Gallery.

Status

Data Network is currently in alpha. Access is by invitation. If you're building something that needs realtime data infrastructure, we'd love to hear about it.