Anna Ursyn: Data Mining

Artist(s):

Anna Z. Ursyn

Title:

Data Mining

Exhibition:

DAC Online Exhibition 2011: Analogue is the New Digital

Creation Year:

2004

Medium:

Art & Design

Size:

Length 0:29

Artist Statement:

Humans create cities, whereas a city metaphor reflects datasets.

What do technological and human worlds have in common? Natural order guides our understanding of big datasets related to network analysis, when we employ physical analogies of the data, render the data graphically, explore them “by eye,” and interact in real time. My task is to juxtapose the regularity of nature with human physical and intellectual constructions. The big city, for example, combines how humans affect their environment and how a city metaphor reflects rhythm and organization of big datasets, and makes data mining easier. Observers, whether artists or technology experts, perceive such relationships from different perspectives and different points of view.

Technical Information:

Computer plots obtained using Fortran and IGL, and transformed into photo-silkscreens for color variation were applied on the surface of a mirror to create an image of a city. A short animated film with people in motion was projected on this mirror surface, creating a reflection of people’s movement. Thus the image of the city was juxtaposed with the animated actions, to show how big-city life involves individual life events and daily routines.