Data Visualisation as Art

We have decided that a direction we want to explore is data visualisation in the form of art. Though we want the project to also use the data for some kind of practical function, this post is focusing on the art aspect only. Visualising data has become a popular art form, as it is a way of transcribing incomprehensibly complex data into a digestible form. "Human beings respond intuitively - and emotionally - to patterns" - these are the words of data artist Laurie Frick. More can be found on her art in this article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/05/the-rise-of-the-data-artist/392399/

This week I have been looking into past examples of data being used to create art. I intend to avoid visualisations that come in the form of static graphics, as these are less analogous to the kind of project we want to produce. In my personal opinion, static two-dimensional imagery is somewhat of a stagnant art form, and I feel that if we are to create a large scale project using big data, we should use a more ambitious medium. We hope to present the visualisation with some form of tangibility or 3D depth.

An example of an artist who visualises data is Nathalie Miebach. Nathalie uses weather data to form 3D art sculptures, with each segment of the sculpture directly corresponding to a piece of data. Here is an example a sculpture which was made using ocean related data such as buoy height readings, wind speeds, biological patterns, etc:

In one of her projects she also created accompanying music from the same data as a sculpture. This series is called 'Weather Scores'. Below is a video example:

'On Broadway' is an interactive project created by Dan Goddemeyer that compiles 13 miles of Manhattan imagery into one installation. The most obvious data sources which provide the photos are google street view and instagram, but as you explore the piece you'll find all kinds of other data in visualised form such as median household income or taxi stops. This is very relevant to our project, as it is likely we would be gathering data from a city-center area given the project brief.


ON BROADWAY from Moritz Stefaner on Vimeo.

Here's an example I found of translating one form of art into another: Audiolandscape. This uses the data of an uploaded mp3 file to generate a scrolling landscape, similar to a 3D waveform, but more visually appealling. Below is a link to the site:

http://dan.nea.me/audiolandscape/