{"id":19470,"date":"2024-01-11T09:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dvsnightingstg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=19470"},"modified":"2024-01-11T10:01:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T15:01:46","slug":"the-data-vandals-take-to-the-streets-of-linz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nightingaledvs.com\/the-data-vandals-take-to-the-streets-of-linz\/","title":{"rendered":"The Data Vandals Take to the Streets \u2013 Of Linz!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Data Vandals create art works, performances, installations, and social interventions to present data in interesting, exciting, and surprising new ways. Our aim with each project is to stop people in their tracks and make them want to learn more. We\u2019ve been experimenting with formats and approaches for almost three years, bringing data onto city streets, galleries, museums, and parks in order to set a different context for how people think about data \u2014 and it\u2019s been a revelation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Data Vandals (Jen Ray and Jason Forrest) are based in New York City and we see our work as an act of civic participation. Our work has taken a few forms: We have created isotype-inspired performances to talk about the hopes and fears of New York City<\/a>, or the lesser known history of the Lower East Side<\/a> of Manhattan We\u2019ve also shared  ecological information about oak trees<\/a> in Washington Square Park, and made a provocative game to engage people in a deeper conversation about gun violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past summer, the Data Vandals went international, as we were invited to create a collaborative project with the graduate students of the VisCom department at the Kunstuniversit\u00e4t Linz,<\/a> an art and design school in Linz, Austria. This was part of the school\u2019s 50th anniversary celebration and part of a larger program called \u201cRadical Collective<\/a>.\u201d We were invited by our friend Tina Frank<\/a>, who chairs the VisCom department and has a long history of media-based social interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Herbert
Herbert Bayer, Design for a newspaper kiosk, 1924 link<\/a>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Getting started<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There were a lot of unknowns as we started the project, but we start any project by trying to understand our communication objectives. After exploring some options on what data we could use, we decided to focus on the students\u2019 thoughts, feelings, and attitudes about  art, careers, and genAI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, our project would also act as an index of the graduate student projects which would be exhibited at the same time. The combined artworks would be presented as part of a public exhibition on the main square of Linz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We decided to gather the data and student details into a Data Vandals kiosk. While talking with architecture professor Clemens Bauder, we all agreed to take inspiration from Herbert Bayer\u2019s \u201cDesign for a Newspaper Kiosk\u201d from 1924, while using simple materials of wood, cardboard, and hand painted signs. We also agreed to create a performance next to the kiosk that drew on anecdotal data from the assembled audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collecting the data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to collect data from the students, we created a series of posters with survey questions. These poster surveys were placed around the art school near different departments and were designed to set an irreverent tone. As you can see from the photos below, the students gladly vandalized the posters with their data just as we had asked them to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n