artistic information visualization: 5 cultural functions
Observing the range of info vis work done by information designers, media designers, artists, computer and information scientists shows that today these projects can perform a number of distinct cultural functions:
1. utilitarian;
2. new visual/spatial/temporal sonic forms driven by data - new chapter in the history of abstraction;
3. a parallel with other modern art forms and traditions: info vis as a statement about its subject (in this case, a set of data) made via various visual resources: using color, texture, composition, choice of visualization metaphor, type, labels, etc.
4. Yet another new subject for contemporary art (following all new subjects already explored in 20th century) - appropriate for our “data society.”
5. Creation of a new autonomous artistic world where data acts as (one of) inputs.
Alex Dragulescu, spam architecture
