FutureEverything - winner of the Lever Prize 2010

Artist’s Choice: Data Visualisations - Aaron Koblin

Engaging with the shift towards an age of open data, FutureEverything is chuffed to welcome back artist and designer Aaron Koblin.  Here, Koblin has selected an array of personal favourite data visualisations.

 

A Selection of Data Visualizations

Curated by Aaron Koblin

 

We live our lives surrounded by data.

It seems that to a greater and greater extent we find ourselves living in a digitally mediated reality. Most of us generate massive amounts of data whether we’re aware of it or not. Even if we aren’t personally responsible for large amounts of data it’s certain that we depend on systems that generate and react to a variety of complex datasets. This has been the case for hundreds of years, however, with the integration of computer systems and networks we now have the ability to tap into these flows and to analyze and visualize them procedurally. These data systems tell rich stories, and can be the basis for a new kind of observation and perhaps even introspection.

The visualizations at FutureEverything are an eclectic mix taken from a broad spectrum of data visualization. The projects originate from the fields of science, art, business, and pure enjoyment -- but all of them tell a story and provide us with a unique look at reality. Instead of striving for ultimate simplicity (as we see in pie charts and bar graphs), these visualizations embrace the inherently subjective nature of visualization and express a narrative through the most provocative method possible -- by engaging the imagination. 

 

-Aaron Koblin

 

Running the Numbers; An American Self-Portrait - Chris Jordan

If one thing is for certain, it’s that the vast majority of people don’t understand numbers. I’m certainly guilty of this. Sure, I have some cognitive perception of the difference between, 1,000,000 and 10,000,000, but it really doesn’t seem all that tangible. Chris Jordan attacks this issue head on. His massive prints, assembled from thousands of small photographs, reflect American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, he raises questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a collective that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

 

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php

 

 

Chain of Ether – Ned Kahn

 

Data visualizations can exist in surprising places. Indeed I enjoy using the term “visualization” liberally, but I can’t imagine one denying the fact that there is amazing data being revealed through Ned Kahn’s massive kinetic facades. His 25-foot tall by 110-foot long, wind-activated artwork consists of 3960, 9”x 9” squares of aluminum chainmail. The hanging panels of metallic fabric are extremely lightweight and responsive to subtle changes in the wind. The result is a granular depiction of specific wind patterns in the space. One is instantly able to understand the flow of the otherwise invisible medium that surrounds them.

 

Chain of Ether - ResMed Corporation

 

 

Torrent Raiders - Aaron Meyers

 

When is a game not a game? When you’re actually witnessing (and participating in?) a crime. Torrent Raiders is a dynamic network visualization realized through the idioms and aesthetics of arcade-style video games. Driven in real-time by the activity of bit torrent swarms, Torrent Raiders takes place on the ad-hoc networks created by bit torrent users. Torrent Raiders playfully addresses issues of domestic surveillance and intellectual property by putting players in the role of a mercenary copyright enforcer, encouraging them to capture evidence against peers on torrents in order to collect bounties. Players assist in the distributed surveillance of these torrent swarms, sending information to a central server where it will be used to drive further visualizations of this information. As a dynamic visualization exploring privacy, piracy and surveillance, Torrent Raiders challenges Internet users, content pirates and government spooks to examine their allegiances and mistrust their computer connections.

 

http://www.torrentraiders.com/

 

 

Cabspotting - The Exploratorium, Yellow Cab, and Stamen Design

 

Watching complex systems as they animate through time can be not only beautiful, but a rich exploratory experience that raises questions and tells a series of wonderful stories. In Cabspotting, the routes taken by taxis in San Francisco ebb and flow, revealing patterns of movement out of and into downtown and outlying areas. By viewing taxi data in this way, the city comes to life. The rhythms of commuters, airport arrivals, traffic jams, accidents, and special events become patterns which bear a strange resemblance to circulatory systems in our own bodies.

 

http://cabspotting.org/timelapse.html

 

Googe Image Swirl - Google Labs

 

Algorithms can be beautiful things. Complex tasks such as organizing visual materials require complex algorithms. Google Image Swirl organizes image search results based on their visual and semantic similarity and presents them in an intuitive exploratory interface. This simple interface provides a unique method of exploring rich visual content, and leads users through an exploration of algorithm applied to art. 

 

http://image-swirl.googlelabs.com/

 

Unreal Art - Alison Mealey

 

What does a game engine look like? A series of agent’s making related decisions can create beautiful complexity. Unreal Art is a series of images visualizing gameplay data from the game "Unreal Tournament". Each image represents about 30 mins of the computer’s AI playing against itself with 20-25 bots playing each game. The Bots play custom maps created by Alison Mealey. Each map was pathed so that the bots have a rough idea of where to go in order to create the image desired by the artist.

Every image represents 1 full game, and the position of the dots and lines reflects the position of a player at a given time, as well as location of death.

 

http://alison.organised.info/unrealart/

 

 

Fundament; Financial Data Sculpture - Andreas Nicolas Fischer

 

Data does not need to be stuck on a screen. What happens when the physical world becomes driven by data? Of course this happens in the natural world constantly, now though, artists are able to take abstract datasets and give them tangible form. The data sculpture Fundament shows the allocation of the world’s gross domestic product in comparison to the worldwide derivatives volume. The statistical data was acquired from the CIA World Factbook and the International Monetary Fund. The sculpture consists of two layers which visualize two data sets with the same principle.

The lower half is a mapping of the world’s GDP and the top half is a mapping of the derivatives volume, allotted to the coordinates of the countries on a map.
This sculpture is a statistical map, a hybrid between physical and conceptual space. The horizontal arrangement equates to the Mercator projection of a world map and the vertical axis metaphorically corresponds to the financial activity of the country.

 

http://anfischer.com/fundament/

 

The Essence of Rabbit – Pictoplasma

 

Too many bunnies? There’s no such thing! And just to prove it Pictoplasma asked internationally established and upcoming character designers, illustrators and artists around the globe to send in their versions of rabbits, bunnies, hares and everything in between. The result is a full-scale bunny overdose, with far more than 1.500 individual rabbits from 500+ international contributors. By condensing the endless variations of the rabbit motif into one ultimate system - a perfect bunny mandala - the true nature of the beast emerges: the eternal essence of rabbit.

 

http://exhibition.pictoplasma.com/portfolio/the-essence-of-rabbit

 

All Streets - Ben Fry

 

I love transportation networks. In “All Streets,” all of the streets in the lower 48 United States create an image of 26 million individual road segments. No other features (such as outlines or geographic features) have been added to the image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population.

 

Alaska and Hawaii were initially left out for simplicity's sake, but Fry felt guilty because of the sad emails he received. Unfortunately, the two states don't "work," according to Fry, because there aren't enough roads to outline their shape, so they were left out permanently.

 

http://benfry.com/allstreets/

 

 

2009 Annual Report - Nicholas Felton

 

What happens when we begin to catalog our lives? Each day in 2009, Nicholas Felton asked people with whom he had a meaningful encounter to submit a record of their meeting through an online survey. These reports form the heart of the 2009 Annual Report.

 

Felton kept track of the recipients of the invitations - the number of the card and where it was given. The surveys answers were submitted via text forms, allowing the respondee to write whatever they desired, and leaving the task of making comparisons between the data up to him. This data alone was used to create the report.

 

http://feltron.com/index.php?/content/2009_annual_report/

 

Digital Three-Dimensional Atlas of Quail Development Using High-Resolution MRI  - Ruffins, Seth W.; Martin, Melanie ; Keough, Lindsey ; Truong, Salina ; Fraser, Scott E.; Jacobs, Russell E.; Lanford, Rusty

 

Scientific equipment provides some of the richest and most detailed data. This data is informing our most important advances and furthering our understanding of reality. It’s therefore not surprising that this content can be intensely beautiful. This collection of 3D high-definition MRI models shows an entrancing series of developing quail embryos over time.

 

http://www.thescientificworld.com/TSW/toc/TSWJ_ArticleLanding.asp?jid=294&FromPage=Toc&ArticleId=2585&navFrom=Toc&From=Result

Torrent Raiders - Aaron Meyers

Running the Numbers; An American Self-Portrait - Chris Jordan

Cabspotting - The Exploratorium, Yellow Cab, and Stamen Design

Googe Image Swirl - Google Labs

Unreal Art - Alison Mealey

Fundament; Financial Data Sculpture - Andreas Nicolas Fischer

The Essence of Rabbit - Pictoplasma

All Streets - Ben Fry

2009 Annual Report - Nicholas Feltron

Money Magazine - Tommy McCall

Digital Three-Dimensional Atlas of Quail Development Using High-Resolution MRI - Ruffins, Seth W.; Martin, Melanie ; Keough, Lindsey ; Truong, Salina ; Fraser, Scott E.; Jacobs, Russell E.; Lanford, Rusty