The Aesthetics of Data Settings

brittenhouse6 — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:01:55 +0000

What characterizes our aesthetic experiences of data? We are exploring what data can do to us, beyond what it does for us. When do data inspire feelings of curiosity, empowerment, anxiety, or resilience? The focus of our work is on data settings, rather than data sets. The term data set suggests something that is complete, discrete, and effortlessly transferable. But data are none of those things. We use the term data setting (first introduced in All Data Are Local: Thinking Critically in a Data Driven Society) to describe a broader context in which data are meant to be fully understood. Our current work explores the role of place and space in the creation of new data settings. We take a creative approach to questions about how data settings might work on an aesthetic level. In 2021, we made expressive use of painted rubber ducks to explore the aesthetics of cute and grotesque data in a physicalization of turbidity data from Intrenchment Creek in Southeast Atlanta (link). This summer, we are designing a new data physicalization for the Georgia Tech EcoCommons, which is described by its creators as “80 acres of green space across campus that follow what were the original naturally occurring stream paths” (link). We believe that data can transform the aesthetic experience of the EcoCommons, with implications for how visitors relate to the broader ecology in which our campus is situated.

brittenhouse6 Thu, 06/03/2021 - 11:01

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Project Year

2021-22

Project Leads

Yanni Loukissas

Genre Tags

Media Art

Digital Media

Digital Storytelling

Digital Pedagogy

Project Site

Project Website

Contact Email

yanni.loukissas@lmc.gatech.edu

Screening Publics

brittenhouse6 — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 19:23:19 +0000

Screening Publics

Screening Publics is a public art project in collaboration with Cousins, a real estate development company here in Atlanta. Cousins’s property 725 Ponce is an eight-story building adjacent to the Eastside Beltline Trail, and it will be the site of a new outdoor screening series that LMC Associate Professor Greg Zinman will be responsible for curating over the next year or more, starting in Fall 2022. 725 Ponce will be one of the largest screens in the United States, has the potential to be one of the most significant sites for the art of the moving image in the entire world. The art of the moving image has transformed and continues to shape visual culture, and is an anchor of international art fairs and biennials. During the pandemic, we’ve seen a growing audience for video art and other alternatives to mainstream entertainment, and a desire for experiences of togetherness and connectivity. 725 Ponce is poised to be the perfect site to meet and foster that desire. The project also represents an opportunity to collaborate with other Atlanta arts institutions, and to situate Georgia Tech as a leader in innovating art programming for the public, thereby fulfilling the Institute’s stated values in its Strategic Plan to “celebrate collaboration” and “nurture the well-being of our community.”

Programs at 725 Ponce will likely include a survey of contemporary Black video art, family-friendly feature films (e.g. Singin’ in the Rain), a historical selection of experimental dance films, and a live projection-performance that makes use of the site’s state-of-the-art laser projector, projection mapping, and wireless personal audio via visitors’ smartphones.

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brittenhouse6 Wed, 06/02/2021 - 15:23

Project Year

2021-22

Project Leads

Greg Zinman

Genre Tags

Civic Media

Installation

Media Art

Contact Email

gzinman3@gatech.edu