Overview
DESMA 259: Data and the Media Arts
Far from virtual, inert quantities, data exert real forces in the
physical world -- They are incendiaries wielding the power of
once-secret diplomatic cables, mores initiated with the flip of a
privacy setting, and physical laws shaping urban structures with the
quiet, persistent action of zoning regulations. Data are bribes, calls
to action, objects of coordination. Data build. Data destroy. Data
renew. Data rarely act in isolation, gaining power through
combination, "join"ing forces and moving into new terrain. Their
presence is thought to guarantee transparency, their absence is seen
as suspicious and restrictions on their movement appear to be
temporary, at best.
This course will deal in data. It is not meant to be a study in data
visualization, per se, although we will not rule it out. Instead, we
will examine different "locations" for creative practices along a kind
of data flow that moves from collection, processing and publishing, to
recombination with other sources, analysis and interpretation, and
finally to policy and "action." Work for this course might not have a
visual component at all, but could instead represent a new way to
organize, search or publish data. It might be a novel data collection
strategy or a joining mechanism that crosses databases. In short, we
are looking to examine how the forces that surround data naturally can
be directly engaged when working with data as "material."
