ECOS: everyday energy consumption through interactive data visualisation
"Inviting play and reflection on the role of green buildings, ECOS presents data on the Cube using a simple and interactive game-like application. The data shows how energy consumption and generation impacts people in a variety of climates within a five-star rated green building like the Science and Engineering Centre (SEC), where the Cube is located.
ECOS incorporates live weather data into an interactive illustration and places a fictional green building into different climates, allowing users to play with the parameters of the buildings and observe the results and the possible impacts on people.
ECOS promotes behavioural change by demonstrating the factors that influence sustainable energy consumption and generation."
Project team: Prof Jeff Jones (Cube Project Leader), Debra Polson (Project Leader), David Wallace, Cassie Selin, Warwick Mellow
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Memory Board (Lukasa)
"Lukasa, or memory boards, are hand-held wooden objects that present a conceptual map of fundamental aspects of Luba culture. They are at once illustrations of the Luba political system, historical chronicles of the Luba state, and territorial diagrams of local chiefdoms. Each board's design is unique and represents the divine revelations of a spirit medium expressed in sculptural form. While many lukasa utilize a system of denotation based on masses of shells and beads affixed to their wooden surfaces, this example communicates its content through incised designs and images carved in relief."
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Fig.1 "Memory Board (Lukasa) [Democratic Republic of Congo; Luba] (1977.467.3)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1977.467.3 (October 2006).
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
The Exquisite Clock: dynamic selection of real-world objects
"Exquisite Clock is a clock made of numbers taken from everday life – seen, captured and uploaded by people from all over the world. The project connects time, play and visual aesthetics. It's about creativity, collaboration and exchange.
Exquisite Clock is based on the idea that time is everywhere and that people can share their vision of time. Through the website www.exquisiteclock.org, users are invited to collect and upload images of numbers that can be found in different contexts around them – objects, surfaces, landscapes, cables... anything that has a resemblance to a number.
The exquisite clock has an online database of numbers – an exquisite database – at its core. This supplies the website and interconnected physical platforms. The online database works like a feeder that provides data to different instances of clocks in the form of the website, and installations, mobile applications, designed products and urban screens.
All uploaded numbers are tagged according to a category selected by their creator, and are added to the growing database. People viewing the clock can then choose to view all types of numbers, or can make a selection to view only numbers from a specific category – a clock made of vegetables, or clouds, or garments etc."
(Joao Wilbert)
Fig.1 Exquisite Clock was created and developed Joao Henrique Wilbert at Fabrica in 2009, creative direction by Andy Cameron.
CONTRIBUTOR
Kay Van BellenSHARE
Syllabus for Information Aesthetics at UIC School of Art and Design
"This studio course investigates the database as cultural form (Manovich, 2001), in the context of data visualization, digital fabrication, and computational aesthetics. Traditionally viewed as a tool for scientific reasoning and data exploration, information visualization has emerged as an artistic practice, propelled by the democratization of data sources and the advancement of computer graphics. The massive amount of data collected and disseminated online constitutes the basis for this course. Participants will be introduced to the basic skills for developing creative projects in two-, three-, and four dimensions, such as indexes, graphs, prints, digitally fabricated objects and maps. Students will also become familiar with the a basic vocabulary to co-create and collaborate with professionals in future contexts.
The course focuses on current standards for web development and mobile applications, including HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, PHP, MySQL, and Processing(.js). Fundamentals in XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, and programming are beneficial, but not required. Throughout the course, students are asked to utilize the class blog to collect and share resources, collaboratively collecting interesting data sources towards a final project. A series of presentations, screenings, readings, and discussions will expose students to creative projects and artworks in the context of information visualization. Each student selects a research topic followed by an in-class research presentation (see schedule). Participants will also present their work during class critiques and interdisciplinary workshops to receive qualitative feedback from the instructor(s) and the class."
(Daniel Sauter, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Art and Design, Fall 2011)
Fig.1 Matt Wizinsky (2011). "Chicago unDensity", University of Illinois at Chicago.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Infographics & Data Visualization
"'Where data meets design.' Visual communication is growing in importance; infographics and data visualization are two visual forms designers and statisticians use to communicate to the masses complex and often hard to understand concepts."
(Otto Ottinger)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
