Tracking subject: Time-spent in-door vs. outdoor
Material: Chocolate
Week 1, Februrary 2–8, 2024
Tracking subject: Google Searches
Material: Rubber Bands
Visualization practices are not random – they are a multifaceted collation of design conventions and systems of organization. In the context of data, visualization serves as a crucial bridge that transforms abstract figures into visual stories, making the invisible visible and the incomprehensible intuitive. Objectives in visualization practices are aimed at facilitating more meaningful ways of interpreting and communicating data as a part of engaging non-designers in research processes. What can be learned about data visualization practices when goals shift from visual representation to data exploration and translations discovered through material language?
The Weekly ChallengesInspired by the Dear Data project, an artist with material-driven research interests and a graphic designer with expertise in data visualization engaged in an experiment: they took turns tracking one researcher’s selection of a mundane aspect of their lives each week and then visualized this data using materials chosen by the other without knowledge of the specific subject tracked. The challenge is to represent the subject with unexpected materials, fostering a dialogue between form and content. It also involves insightful, unconventional data representation, highlighting the transformative power of perspective and physicality in data storytelling.
Tracking subject: Google Searches
Material: Rubber Bands
Tracking subject: Time-spent in-door vs. outdoor
Material: Chocolate
Tracking subject: Who do we spend time with?
Material: Post-it notes
Tracking subject: How do we eat our meals?
Material: Paint chip samples
Tracking subject: Sleep patterns
Material: Paper clips
Tracking subject: Time-spent on teaching, research, service.
Material: Tape
Tracking subject:Footprint, distance traveled to this conference
Material: Corrugated Cardboard