Emerging Media - Week 2
Project Concepts: WARNING.... These really need sketches- otherwise they make little sense.... I will update with sketches.
Generate at least 3 concepts for your dataviz/infographic project. At some point in the process the data needs to in some way be connected to "emerging media" (creative code, database, generative processes), but the final product does not necessary need to be digital (but if it's not digital, please be extra sure that we talk through all the details). For each of your concepts describe (at minimum):
1. Fringe Hours | IM/BALANCE
What data you will visualize: I am a stay and home working mom in grad school. I am never not working! As a health concern, I am interested in how much actual sleep I get and how much fun I get. Like carefree time with my kids (which I also have to schedule). I would like to take data from a week in my life and see the im/balance between family life, work, school, other work, sleep exercise and play. I think my doctor will find this particularly interesting. I have found that since I started grad school and sleep much less and work much more, I eat more and drink much more coffee (extra hours awake = extra meals) and I feel lost in my schedule. I have literally been attempting for three weeks to visualize our family schedule and my work/school schedule- with not luck. I literally don't have enough time in the day for everything I need to do and something will always suffer neglect. I think it would be both fascinating but also perhaps offer me an opportunity to find some balance and fringe hours for play and exercise or both in one. Being a SAHWM basically means I work every second that I'm not with my kids - which also means, no time for self-care or my husband or my friends or my other interests. Especially after this summer of thesis and literally no break from work and school- I feel suffocated by my schedule and mournful of the time that I am completely distracted while with my kids.
I think as an interactive aspect it would be fun to have my kids collect the same data and chart their week and balance as well. It provides a mindfulness and honesty to how busy and imbalanced we all can be at times. Perhaps in the installation there is a way to measure the balance and the viewer can help me find solutions to be more balanced. Necessary technology (print/interactive/physical/combo): Combo of physical and interactive Why this is unique concept: I don't know because I'm ready to burn out if I don't find balance soon. What you need to learn to build this:
One the the charting programs, likely the one Juss opted for ;)
Where you will get the data:
My day planner, phone and facebook photos and IG posts for dates and work
The tools/process used (software to capture/parse/visualize):
I will have to used some type of charting program to see the relationships visually and spatially and then translate it to a physical data visualization piece (similar to Stefanie Posavec's dear Data example on my Pinterest) The final display of the piece:
Not sure yet.... something heavy and overwhelming like my schedule. Perhaps a physical object like a cloud you walk into and plastic streamers color coded by the category in my schedule sort of engross your personal space leaving the viewer stressed, then a second, third and forth "cloud" based on my kids schedules and the weight of their schedules and the differences based on age and personality. The things we make littler or no time for being the furthest from the viewer, but perhaps heaviest in structure because it's most upsetting (?). I have to sketch this out for it to make sense.
Similar to bloom exhibit, but obvi smaller scale...
A different translation of this data could be interactive in that all of my categories are color coded along with the time needed to devote to them and viewer can shift item on and off the "schedule" load to try to balance the "scales"
Or grouping my IG posts based on categories of stressful high pressure moments or happy and relaxes moments and organizing by color palette of the image.
2. Family Tree Mapped by Frequency and Contact What data you will visualize: My family tree based on frequency of contact/engagement, and distance and times visited in the past year. My husband and I are a blended family, we have both been married before and having people in our family that we don't talk to much or at all as well as people that are very close. I think visually analyzing and mapping the frequency of these interactions, and who initiating them is fascination, especially since it would dismantle the traditional idea of of a family. Where you will get the data:
My day planner, phone and facebook photos for dates and visits The tools/process used (software to capture/parse/visualize):
I will have to used some type of charting program to see the relationships visually and spatially and then translate it to a tactile visualization installation (similar to Charlotte Potter's example on my Pinterest) Also my phone and photos have a location and date stamp. The final display of the piece: On the wall a map of my family tree, color coded by relationship and plotted by distance based on frequency of interaction (both my initiation and their initiation) Necessary technology (print/interactive/physical/combo): Combo of physical and interactive. Perhaps and printed map for the viewer to use to quickly chart their family tree if they'd like Why this is unique concept: It is unique because most family trees have a structure of closeness based on blood and relationship to the person creating the tree, this tree however, would be based on actual frequency interaction between family members of their interest and engagement in my/our life. Perhaps including three friends as well to show the greater efforts that are made by friends sometimes than family. It would be really cool to create a way to map viewers trees too based on their interactions. What you need to learn to build this: How to chart this data and the intersections of the data. Possibly to build a way for the viewer of the installation to map their own real family tree.
3. Grandma's OC logs || Forming Deep Meaningful Relationships
What data you will visualize: My 89 year old grandma, Olive is a hoarder with OCD. Very painful for her family to see the way she lived and obsessed, but nonetheless completely fascinating to me. Apparently she kept logs of everything that happened in her life (similar to Nick Felton but for her whole life rather than a snapshot). When they moved her to a nursing home two years ago, my uncle dismantled her hoard and found all the note books. There are over 50. One of the only things he held on to. Some of the topics of the notebooks are: flea market logs, gift logs, returned gift logos, who visited logs, who they visited logs, phone call logs (with topics discussed).
This is a tricky one because I'm completely fascinated by it and I'm sure others would be too, but it's extremely painful for my family, so I'm on the fence. Though I think less exploitative of her painful disability would be a comparison between her visitors and visits to others and mine. I don't make much time for visiting people (as aforementioned) though it is very important to me. That may be interesting. Additionally the difference between importance of calling and visiting family before and after social media and the faux "visiting" that we think we are doing when we interact online with family. Necessary technology (print/interactive/physical/combo): Combo of physical and interactive and possibility performance element with grandma and I sitting with our data or holding it, or being inside of the structure of our data and how our relationships can give us shelter in our times of need or fall apart from the lack of nurturing relationships that could have made us stronger. It would be interesting to use knitting or something to show to tight knit relationships Grandma nurtured vs my loose and neglected relationships. The bottom of my cocoon would be tight (showing my immediate familial relationships, but the top becomes loose and flimsy. Whereas Grandma's is tight until the top and then it's unraveling because her support system is dying off or checked out. Why this is unique concept: Because it's a comparison of how valued interpersonal relationships used to be juxtaposed to how we interact now (often not face to face/through screens, and faux senses of closeness through the availability of glimpses into our loved ones lives through social media). I fear my kids generation will devalue interpersonal interactions even more (sex robots are being created to replace companions, wedding and important events will start being attended via facebook). A great loss of not interacting in person with people is building confidence and courage to talk to others and be vulnerable. I love social media, but I have noticed a huge difference between my generation (Generation Y) and the Millennial in how they interact socially. The steps that we both took/take to getting to know someone. It's fascinating! I would also love to explore data visually this guys facts and assertions:
https://youtu.be/lU3R0ot18bg What you need to learn to build this:
One the the charting programs, likely the one Juss opted for ;)
Where you will get the data:
Not sure yet.....
The tools/process used (software to capture/parse/visualize):
Not sure yet, need to brainstorm more on this. The final display of the piece:
Not sure yet, need to brainstorm more on this.
EMERGING MEDIA PINTEREST
Let me just say that what I love about data viz is the ability to make data (generally boring) and make it engaging and interesting. I wish I had known about data viz as an art teacher! This is so amazing for cross curriculum teaching and also as a avocation for the importance of the arts and visualizing data.
