We generate 2.5 quintillion – or 2.5 million trillion – bytes of data that record our online activity each day: an inconceivable amount. With recent advances in technology and over 4.2 billion people using the World Wide Web today, the volume of data being produced, collected and stored has never been greater.
As a raw digital material, data may seem dry and inaccessible, but it has given rise to a new type of artist. Data artists specialise in making the unseen visible through artworks, using innovative data visualisation techniques to show the viewer something that the numbers alone cannot. Many source their raw data from the web, while others take offline data and use the web to turn it into something accessible, and often beautiful.
The ability to see patterns, make sense of data, and also create beautiful works of art is a skill. Data visualizations have officially become common in every facet of our lives, even the art world.
Click here to check 6 artists who have found the beauty in numbers — using spreadsheets, datasets, and computers as their paint and canvas.
DSGN 264-401 | Fall 2020 