Data Visualizations as Fine Art
July 11, 2013
It can be a challenge to visually present data in a way that is easy to understand, yet not snore-inducing. Information Management asks, “Data Visualizations: Do You Prefer Destroyed Farms or Fancy Pies?” In this write-up, Justin Kern explores the intersection between art and data visualization.
Kern has been spending time with a book by Nathan Yau, “Data Points: Visualization That Means Something.” Yau’s examples have inspired Kern, and prompted him to contemplate how familiar works of art might function as hypothetical data visualizations. He notes that designing these aids so that they actually communicate clearly is necessary but difficult in today’s business world, and suspects that artists could help:
“For artists, they’re already expressing interest in data as a medium, and the information management field might be one of the few where they could find such a quick entry into decent paying and intellectually satisfying work. And, whether we’re clear about it or not, CIOs, data managers and business analysts are reaching out for information ‘storytellers’ through visualizations. It wouldn’t be too broad a stroke to paint a scene where ‘corporate art’ is more about exciting, innovative and engaging data visualizations and less about that wrought iron abstract piece forgotten about in the middle of a bank headquarters courtyard. I’m geeked up to see how the art and data worlds will combine to make the destroyed farms and refrigerator pies that usher in a new wave of business understanding with a touch of heart.”
Interesting vision. If this Kern turns out to be barking up a valid tree here, this could become a lucrative avenue for artistic types. Will data visualization classes start popping up in BFA curricula?
Cynthia Murrell, July 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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