{"id":19301,"date":"2023-12-19T09:51:19","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T14:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dvsnightingstg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=19301"},"modified":"2023-12-19T09:51:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T14:51:28","slug":"art-in-numbers-crafting-insights-through-an-interactive-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nightingaledvs.com\/art-in-numbers-crafting-insights-through-an-interactive-exhibit\/","title":{"rendered":"Art in Numbers: Crafting Insights Through an Interactive Exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In an ever-evolving landscape of data visualizations, the field of Data Humanism<\/a> weaves together the realms of data and human experience. Based on the work\u2019s of Giorgia Lupi<\/a> and Stefanie Posavec<\/a>, Data Humanism advocates for a more empathetic and humane approach to data representation, elevating it beyond the usual graphs and charts. It therefore connects data to what it truly represents including living organisms, behaviors, interactions, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently undertook my very first project in the field of Data Humanism some months back. I saw the workshop called Visualizing Complexity Science<\/a> in the Data Visualization Society\u2019s event calendar<\/a>. After reading through the overview and going through the research projects at The Complexity Science Hub<\/a> (CSH), I decided to apply. It felt like an opportunity that was in line with my quest to learn about this interesting field of Complexity Science and deep dive into the world of Data + Art. I was then selected and joined this five-day immersive workshop in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the workshop, I worked on one of the presented research projects, Forests<\/strong>, which was based on the scientific paper Growth, Death, and Resource Competition in Sessile Organisms<\/a> (Edward D. Lee et al., 2021). The dataset that I worked with was the Southeast Alaska (Schneider et al., 2020) forest dataset. Exploring the dataset, I thought, how could I convey this complex information about these trees in a simplified manner to a diverse audience that was not necessarily in my same profession?<\/em> Yes, the workshop participants included artists, journalists, scientists, designers, and software developers; what connected us was that we shared the same passion\u200a\u2014\u200adata visualization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a eureka moment when the concept of Data Humanism came to my mind and I decided to put my knowledge to the test. The fractal patterns of trees and that of the human nervous system have striking similarities. The context of humanizing data therefore fits perfectly with nature\u200a\u2014\u200aa living ecosystem and more specifically in our use-case here with trees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now deep-dive into my work in four phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brainstorming & Prototyping Phase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To convey to the audience the results of our data analysis, we have three contexts in data visualization namely, Presentation, Dissemination, and Exhibition. For the Southeast Alaska dataset, I decided to use Exhibition<\/strong>, which focuses on a visual installation to educate and engage a broad audience. Precisely, I thought of implementing this through an interactive artwork. I started by studying and exploring the dataset and learning about its features. This was followed by brainstorming, feature selection, and sketching my ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I had the initial structure in mind, it was time to move to the implementation phase.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Initial sketching with ideation for the Data & Design poster (Source: Image by the author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Implementation Phase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I selected three metrics from the dataset to visualize: the species<\/strong>, the tree number<\/strong> (which is a unique identifier present in the dataset for each tree being surveilled), and the tree height<\/strong>. Next, I laid out the poster with descriptive elements like the title and subtitle and then continued to define the context of how to read the data visualization as shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n