Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve | MA Thesis Report

Wear your heart on your sleeve Humanizing data and enhancing the human experience through the textile and fibre arts.

Madison Snell MA IDS Candidate, 2020

Wear your heart on your sleeve Humanizing data and enhancing the human experience through the textile and fibre arts. © Madison Snell, 2020 MA in Interdisciplinary Design Strategies Candidate Institute of Art, Design + Technology – Dublin, Ireland Institute without Boundaries at George Brown College – Toronto, Canada

Acknowledgments

This thesis report would not have been possible without the educational, emotional and creative support from the following people: Clyde Doyle, Shirley Casey, and IADT staff and associates.

My parents and sisters.

Helene Kwong, Casey Hinton, Taylor Ruecker and Cordelia Snowdon.

Special thanks to the people who contributed their brainpower and imagination to the development of my ideas and research: Charrette participants: Aidan Kelly, Alan Keane, Seรกn Kestell, Wynette Aplasen, Deither Kriby Jay, Alex Judge, Jessie Lopez II, Ali Pierse, Aurelie Kpakpo, Eimear Young, Sean Kavanagh, and Joseph Kelly.

Workshop participants: Marina Moraru, Marina Garckusha, and Alice Brady.

Subject matter experts: Joanna Boehnert, Clare Hunter, Joan Sheldon, Lindsay Obermeyer, Emily McNeil, Justin Connelly, Roopa Vasudevan, Shannon Downey, Rachel Ivy Clarke, Holly Oyster, and Hannah Jones.

The team behind dataphys.org.

Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, hosts of the Data Stories podcast.

The members of r/knitting, r/crochet and r/crossstitch on Reddit.

The members of MFM Arts and Crafts Group, MFM x Crochet, Knitterinos, STEVEN! Cut That Out!, and Mildly Offensive Fiber Artistsโ ข on Facebook.

Milena Radzikowska and the Materializing Bubblelines Project team.

Needlework can record history, convey complex social information about people’s status, relationships, beliefs, origin and allegiances. It can conserve memory, protecting and preserving personal and collective testimonies.

It has a vital role to play in archiving tradition and telling people’s stories in a medium that carries emotional and physical meaning. – Clare Hunter, Threads of Life

Executive Summary

What do you get when you combine the textile and fibre arts with data? This isn’t the setup to a clever punchline. It is, however, the question that sparked months of research, subject matter expert interviews and community engagement.

I focused my research on three key concepts: the textile and fibre arts, data and datafication, and data physicalization.

The textile and fibre arts are ancient and essential. We have relied on textiles and fibre as a form of currency, as protection from the elements, and as a source of income for thousands of years. In today’s data age, more and more of our lives are being tracked, measured and collected.

The human experience is being analyzed, quantified and reduced to numbers. In response to this, new ways of representing data are being explored. Bringing data into the physical world through data physicalization leads to full-body and highly sensorial experiences that can improve one’s understanding of the data.

These three research areas combine in the use of the textile and fibre arts to create data physicalizations as a response to the datafication of the human experience. We are looking for personal ways to deal with the huge amounts of data we are exposed to on a daily basis. Whether it’s data borne of our own bodies, like our blood sugar levels, or data borne from our environment, like the weather, textile and fibre data physicalization helps us personalize and contextualize these numbers. We try to humanize the data and in doing so, we create an enhanced human experience.

works and case studies were determined in part by several consultations with subject matter experts, including data artists, hobbyist crafters, authors, scientists and craftivists. These makers, activists and educators also spoke of the deep joy they have found in the textile and fibre arts – the way it gives people a voice, carries cultural and ancestral roots, and soothes the mind in times of strife.

To understand the impact of crafting on the human experience, I engaged the local Dublin crafting community in two workshops. This community engagement involved three Dublin-based embroiderers in an exploration into their personal experiences with crafting. Some emphasized the freedom of expression and creativity granted by crafting, while others spoke passionately about how crafting helps them release stress and work through complicated emotions. These workshops each concluded with the creation of a participatory data physicalization with the workshop participants about their experiences with crafting.

This thesis report concludes with the planning of a data physicalization based on the key concepts research portion of this report. I have reduced this portion of the report to numbers and subsequently turned them into the pattern for a crocheted scarf. Using the frameworks and thinking I developed, I translated my personal human experience of researching, writing and designing my thesis into the plans for a data physicalization.

This research culminated in four frameworks through which the human experience and textile and fibre physicalizations can be analyzed. In this report, I demonstrate how to apply these frameworks with twelve case studies of textile and fibre data physicalizations that use a wide variety of data sets, including sports scores, traffic congestion and death tolls. These frame-

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3 5 7 8 10 13

Acknowledgments Executive Summary Table of Contents Glossary Preface Introduction

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Key Concepts Research and Synthesis

16 20 26 29 33

Textile and Fibre Arts Data and Datafication Data Physicalization Textile and Fibre Data Physicalization The Human Experience and Data

36 38 40 42 44

Frameworks for Analysis The Five Pillars of the Human Experience Data Physicalization Process Data Physicalization Maker Types Data Physicalization Goals and Intentions

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Case Studies

66

Crafting the Human Experience

67 68 72 74 76 77

Engaging the Community Workshop Outline Workshop One Workshop Two Key Learnings Moving Forward

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Crafting My Human Experience

79 80 82 84

Making a Meaningful Data Physicalization Visualization Literacy in the Fibre Arts Applying the Data Physicalization Process Key Concepts Research Scarf Pattern

88 89 91

92 93 94 96

104 105 112 132 135 161 174 176

Conclusion Wrapping Up A New String Revolution

References Selected Sources List of Figures Endnotes

Appendices Appendix A – Thesis Proposal Appendix B – Data Physicalization Charrette Appendix C – Literature Review Appendix D – Interviews and Questionnaires Appendix E – Community Engagement Appendix F – Crochet Pattern Development Appendix G – Additional Sketches and Notes

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Glossary

Big data

The huge amounts of diverse data points being collected at extreme speeds that are organized and simplified to inform decision-making.1

Biomedicalization

The emphasis on medical thinking in a person’s life to improve one’s health or longevity, such as monitoring one’s food intake or exercise levels.2

Concrete scale

The use of visual metaphors to communicate complex and immense data sets.3

Craftivism

A form of collaborative and accessible activism based in the textile and fibre arts.

Data

Any quantitative or qualitative occurrence that can be tracked and measured to tell a story.

Data physicalization

A physical artifact that encodes data through its shape or other physical properties, such as colour or texture.4

The acknowledgment that data collection, curation and communication processes are subject to social, cultural and historical influence, and bias.7

Imposed tracking

Mandatory self-tracking in a workplace for employees to receive employment or insurance coverage.8

Indexical visualization

The contextualized presentation of data without the use of numbers, such as a face mask that displays air quality levels by changing colour as air quality worsens.9

Participatory data physicalization

The creation of a data physicalization based on the responses and actions of participants.

Physicalization literacy

The skills associated with properly interpreting the meaning of data physicalization components, such as size, colour and texture.10

Positivism

Data representation

The presentation of data as raw numbers or graphical interpretation.

The belief that only what can be observed, tracked and recorded can provide the basis for knowledge.

Data sculpture

Pushed tracking

A form of data physicalization that results in the artistic interpretation of a data set.5

A form of self-tracking where tracking is rewarded with economic incentives.11

Data visualization

Quantified Self

The graphical communication of data.

Datafication

The trend of translating the human experience into data points, resulting in a reliance on numbers when making decisions.

An organized self-tracking movement that pushes for transparency in personal data collection by companies and institutions, individualized and private personal data communication, and improved data collection technologies and interfaces.12

Digital positivism

Ravelry

Feminist

Reddit

The application of authority and blind objectivity to the digital presentation of data.6

To challenge patriarchal structures of oppression, including sexism, racism, classism and heteronormativity.

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Feminist data visualization

A social media network for textile and fibre artists that provides a hub for discussion, sales and tutorials.

A social media network comprised of news articles, photos, videos, external links and text posts. The site is broken down into topic-specific forums called subreddits. Posts and comments can be ‘upvoted’ or ‘downvoted,’ depending on their relevance or interest level.

Self-tracking

The act of tracking, measuring and collecting aspects of one’s personal life, such as steps taken, calories consumed or emails sent.

Slow data

An alternative to big data, wherein data sets are kept relevant and noiseless, time is taken to make sense of the data, and decisions are based on quality data.13

Spindle

A tool with ancient, global roots used to spin fibres by hand into thread or yarn.

Spindle whorl

A small disc placed onto a spindle to increase the spindle’s spinning speed, often made of clay, wood, glass, metal or similarly hard materials.14

Subversive cross stitch and embroidery

A style of needlework that subverts antiquated design tropes, such as floral work and script lettering, to create snarky, rude or sometimes vulgar needlework patterns.

Tangible user interface

The physical interaction between a user and a data set facilitated by digital components.15

Tempestry

A portmanteau of ‘temperature’ and ‘tapestry,’ wherein temperature data is translated into textile or fibre form.16

Textile and fibre arts

Techniques such as sewing, quilting, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery and knitting used to create wearable and displayable objects.

The String Revolution

The term given to the invention of string and its impact on prehistoric society.17

Visualization literacy

The skills associated with properly interpreting the meaning of data visualization components, such as graphs, charts and maps.18

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Preface

Let me take you back to May 2016. I had just wrapped up the third year of my undergraduate degree and was working at the airport for my second term as a student information designer. My brain was swirling with post-graduation possibilities. I knew I wanted to continue my education, and said as much to my professor Milena Radzikowska. She invited me to a weekend-long design jam to give me a taste of what I’d experience in a Master’s program. This design jam turned out to be much more influential than either of us anticipated.

That weekend brought together information designers, animators, music composers and sound engineers, a therapist, a motorcycle enthusiast, an engineer, and scholars of the digital humanities, interface design and social innovation. It was my first taste of interdisciplinary design and the close-knit collaboration I would grow to know in my time at the IwB and IADT. Milena and her research partner had previously worked on the interface for a text analysis application called Bubblelines (see Fig. 1). In Bubblelines, you input a chunk of text and ask the application to

Fig. 1 – Bubblelines interface The text analysis tool shows keyword frequency in a given text as circles on a horizontal line.

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Fig. 2 – Sticky notes identifying available assets The group of professionals and students provided a number of assets to the project.

Photo by Madison Snell.

search for specific words – the frequency of the words appear as different sized bubbles along a horizontal line. Bubblelines is an uncluttered, intuitive and aesthetically pleasing text analysis interface. The purpose of our weekend-long design jam was to take Bubblelines off the screen and into the physical world – thus dubbed the Materializing Bubblelines Project.

Conversations and brainstorming activities swirled around the different possibilities.

Could Bubblelines become an interactive experience? How could physical motion and interaction bring about a deeper understanding of the text? What mechanics are needed to achieve a physical version of what is on the screen? What possibilities are offered by using physical materials (see

Fig. 3 – Sketches for the Milking Machine’s inner workings The water bottles contained different colours of sand and were poured into the plastic tubes based on a mechanized control connected to Bubblelines. Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 2) – lumber, plastic, fabric or microchip?

Which emotions are conjured up by seeing a favourite text in a different way? What if you could literally wrap yourself in your favourite text?

We ended the weekend with a prototype for what we called The Milking Machine – a series of plastic tubes in a wooden frame (see Figs. 3 and 4). The horizontal line of Bubblelines became one plastic tube. The bubbles of Bubblelines became different colours of sand. The Milking Machine in action was a mechanical performance of digital text analysis. It brought Bubblelines to life.

Fig. 4 – The Milking Machine at the 2016 Digital Humanities Conference The Machine accompanied Milena Radzikowska in her talk about the Materializing Bubblelines Project. Photo by Madison Snell.

The Bubblelines Project opened my eyes to the possibilities of data representation that exist beyond the desktop. We left the weekend still thinking of the opportunities offered by the materialization of text.

There was something about the tangibility and functionality of fabric that stuck in all of our minds. And now, three years later, I have written a 25,000-word thesis that concludes with a materialization of its text.

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The physical experience, the storytelling, the connection between humans that can happen through an experience is one of the key elements [needed] to push ... the data overload that we have now towards something that can be applied to knowledge. – Data Stories podcast: 106 | Data Sculptures with Adrien Segal

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Introduction

An alternative title to this thesis is, “How to combine your hobby with your profession in two hundred pages or less.” I am an avid crocheter and cross stitcher with an academic and professional background in information design. Data visualization and craft unite in serendipitous form as textile and fibre data physicalization, or the use of craft to bring data off the screen and into physical reality. I embarked on this thesis journey with three goals in mind:

I tested my conclusions in two workshops with the Dublin crafting community, and used my research as a base from which to draft a crochet pattern.

Textile and fibre data physicalization humanizes data and enhances the human experience through its creation. With textile and fibre data physicalization, you can indeed wear your heart on your sleeve.

» To gain a deeper understanding of the textile and fibre arts, including its ancient roots, the misattributed feminine stereotype, and its applications in mental health and activism. » To broaden my knowledge of data representation beyond the desktop. » To engage with the community in a participatory or co-design process.

In the development of this thesis report, I conducted primary and secondary research by interviewing subject matter experts, listening to relevant podcasts, and reading literature on the textile and fibre arts, datafication and data physicalization.

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Key Concepts Research and Synthesis

This section details the research and thinking behind the three key concepts of my thesis report: » The textile and fibre arts. » Data and datafication. » Data physicalization.

The main sources for these areas of research included non-fiction books by textile artists, anthropologists, media scholars and psychologists, as well as podcasts, peer-reviewed articles, and thinkpieces by graphic communication, media and data visualization experts.

In addition to this desk research, I also conducted ten interviews and questionnaires with subject matter experts. I interviewed crafters, activists and artists, and sent questionnaires to scientists, social media influencers and educators. Throughout this section, six of these interviews and questionnaires are highlighted to introduce their perspectives on my key concepts and

research synthesis. These interviews and questionnaires also helped me establish the frameworks for analysis that I identify in the next section (see page 36).

The central findings from my research into the textile and fibre arts, data and datafication, and data physicalization are brought together and synthesized in textile and fibre data physicalization. Based on my primary and secondary research, I propose that people use the textile and fibre arts to create data physicalizations in response to the increasing datafication of the human experience. People are inspired by these numbers to create wearable and displayable objects using the slow process of the textile and fibre arts. This juxtaposition of analog and digital processes leads to an enhanced human experience that returns the human elements to the numbers.

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Textile and Fibre Arts History ‘Textile and fibre arts’ is the umbrella term for techniques such as sewing, weaving, quilting, spinning, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery and knitting. With needle, thread, fabric, yarn, hook, spindle, loom, machine and hoop, these methods are used by people around the world to create wearable and displayable objects.

status, class, wealth, fertility, family, and culture through their materials and embellishments.8 In fact, one of the first ancient examples of clothing is a string skirt that appears in many paleolithic cultures – a skirt which anthropologists theorize was used to symbolize fertility and readiness for marriage, as it was clearly not designed for protection from the elements.9

The textile and fibre arts find their roots in ancient history. The development of string in the upper paleolithic era began a new world for ancient folks – the ability to tie things together meant better, more complex structures like nets, snares, fishing line, leashes, and more.1 This so-called “String Revolution” also sparked the advent of cloth.2 The transformation of fibre to string to thread to fabric was entirely portable and suited the transient lifestyle of ancient peoples.3 As people settled down, larger swaths of fabric could be created on stationary looms, and eventually this fabric turned into an ancient method of currency and power.4 Textile and fibre remains are hard to come by in archaeological digs. Not only are they more likely to biodegrade than other forms of arts and crafts, such as pottery, but before proper processes were instituted and the value of textiles and fibre was realized by archaeologists, scraps of fabric were often tossed out in digs.5 In many cases, the only surviving evidence is the means by which textiles and fibres were made – loom weights, spindles, and spindle whorls, often made of clay, have left traces of the textile and fibre arts across the world (see Fig. 5).6 Some textile and fibre arts have been deemed ‘essential’ – if not for the creation of sewn clothing, woven blankets, knitted sweaters, and other wearables, human life might have been a bit colder and a lot more naked. Clothing has also historically been used as a “versatile form of visual messaging.”7 Garments and other wearables can be used to quickly communicate

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Fig. 5 – Iron Age, Roman and Early Medieval spindle whorls On display at St. Fagans National Museum of History in Wales. Photo by Madison Snell.

Association with Femininity Historically, the textile and fibre arts have been considered women’s work and a feminine activity. Justification for this separation in ancient times was rooted in the idea that activities done by women had to be compatible with childrearing.10 It is difficult to breastfeed or care for a rambunctious toddler if you’re out hunting large game or engaging in other dangerous activities.11 Thus, the realm of spinning, weaving and sewing became the business of women, as it could be safely done around children.12 This division of labour made sense for ancient peoples, but not so much today. Technological advances have moved much large-scale textile work into machine-run factories, and social advances have introduced childcare and early

childhood education. These advances remove some of the burden of textile work and childcare from women – of course, this is not necessarily true for marginalized women, who may work in poor factory conditions or have little to no access to childcare. In today’s modern age, to continually call the textile and fibre arts ‘women’s work’ or ‘just for girls’ serves only to perpetuate this carefully constructed narrative of femininity.

woodworker. Rather, it was seen as often unnecessary and frivolous embellishment to existing objects. It was also too deeply entrenched in the feminine ideal and stereotype to truly be taken seriously as an art form for centuries.17 The rise of patterns and kits stripped women of creative expression in their embroidery, but also made the practice cheaper and widely available to more classes.18 A handful of women introduced needlework programs in art schools, such as Jessie Newbury at the Royal School of Needlework.19 This, however, increasingly lead to a class division among the women and girls learning needlework. The “working-class girls” learned the activity “in preparation for their futures as wives, mothers or domestic servants,” while “middle-class girls” learned needlework as an art form.20 It is not just embroidery that faces this feminization and disparaging remarks about its worth as an art form. Stereotypes about activities like knitting and crocheting being crafts reserved for “oul’ biddies”21 still rear their heads from time to time.

Author and knitter Clara Parkes calls herself and her fellow knitters “a cultural metaphor for invisibility” – nobody pays much attention to a solo knitter in the public sphere.22

Fig. 6 – Completed subversive cross stitch Traditional floral and type styles combined with a snarky phrase.

Pattern by Subversive Cross Stitch. Photo by Madison Snell.

For centuries, the act of embroidery by women was a double-edged sword. It was seen as a way to confine women to the home – their “nimble fingers”13 are, of course, biologically suited to embroidery.

However, the addition of music and embroidery to school curricula made it socially acceptable for girls to go to school and earn an education.14 When embroidered goods were in demand, some women were even paid for their skills.15 Embroidery was also seen simultaneously as an act of devotion to loved ones and as an act of laziness.16 It was lovely that she stayed home to embroider a handkerchief for her beau, but isn’t it terrible that all she did was stay home and embroider?

The growing division between arts and crafts left embroidery squarely in the middle for a long while. It was not a utilitarian craft that created usable objects, such as chairs made by an accomplished

Feminists are left with a funny dilemma. Do we forgo these feminized crafts because of their staunch association with the feminine stereotype, or do we claim them as activities solely in the realm of women?

Psychotherapist and author of The Subversive Stitch Rozsika Parker advocates for neither approach.23 It does the textile and fibre arts a disservice to only be associated with women and femininity – it cannot be truly recognized as a valid art form.24 However, to reject the act of embroidery and other textile and fibre arts solely on the grounds of its association with femininity and the feminine stereotype is to give in to centuries of a patriarchal society imposing these stereotypes on embroidery and other crafts.25 The internet has done wonders for attempting to break stereotypes about those who engage in the textile and fibre arts. Contemporary styles and patterns, such as the rise of subversive cross stitch and embroidery (see Fig. 6), are attempts to show that the textile and fibre arts

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aren’t reserved for doilies and plain alphabet samplers. Online communities, which grant a certain amount of anonymity, encourage people of all ages, genders and cultures to take part in the textile and fibre arts by providing patterns, resources, tutorials and forums for conversation.

Mental Health The textile and fibre arts have long been used as an outlet for grief, mental strife and incapacitation. Mourning embroideries picked up steam in the 18th and 19th centuries and provided ways for grieving family members to record their losses in a slow, reflective manner.26 The textile and fibre arts were also often used in “post-war rehabilitation.”27 The soldiers were not only taught new skills, but the sense of satisfaction at completing a piece, the development of hand-eye coordination, and the use of weakened muscles helped the soldiers feel more confident in their bodies.28 An increasing number of studies are appearing to validate the textile and fibre arts as a method of self-reflection, mindfulness, de-stressing and relaxation.29 Anecdotally speaking, people craft as a way to relax or de-stress because of the repetitiveness of the actions, the sense of accomplishment in completing a piece, and the focusing of attention on the work and away from the stresses of one’s life.

Craftivism Embroidery was taken up and wielded as a tool in the suffrage movement of the 1900s.30 Women skilled in embroidery were ready to take their rightful places as citizens with the same rights as men.31 Beautifully embroidered banners, handkerchiefs and other mementos are the lasting objects of the suffrage movement.32 The time taken to produce these mementos served as visual reminders of the women’s dedication to the movement, and was a way of reclaiming the femininity seen to be lacking in the stereotype of the ‘sexless feminist.’33 The British suffragists were at odds with Russian constructivists, the latter of whom viewed embroidery as a symbol of the bourgeois, while the former reclaimed the activity as a symbol of feminine strength.34 The feminist movement of the 1970s was a time where “artists who swapped their paint brushes for a needle and thread were making a feminist statement.”35 The

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projects done by feminist artists at this time “showed that the personal was the political” – the act of embroidery, often contained to the home, was being used to make strong political statements about the rights of women.36 This artistic explosion of the 70s is akin to today’s craftivism movement, wherein traditional crafts, often using the textile

Fig. 7 – Craftivist embroidery project Stitched in response to the #MeToo movement by Badass Cross Stitch.

Photo by Badass Cross Stitch.

and fibre arts, are used to make political, social, anti-capitalist and empowering statements (see Fig. 7).37 The term was coined in 2003 by Betty Greer38 and has exploded into online communities like Ravelry39 and Craftster40 as a way for people to make their voices heard and to demand action.

Craftivism can be considered a kind of “slow activism.”41 Just like the suffragist movement mentioned previously, the time spent on a handcrafted object indicates a significant level of dedication and belief on behalf of the maker. These objects demand attention based purely on the time commitment put into their making.

Craftivism also provides increasingly affordable and accessible ways to be an activist, from materials being cheap and easily accessible, to the act of craftivism capable of being done from one’s home, in amongst one’s other duties.

Interview Spotlight: Clare Hunter Clare Hunter, community textile artist Author of Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle Interviewed November 14, 2019

Clare’s book is part non-fiction and part memoir, and uses embroidery and other needlework as the basis from which to tell the world’s history.

From tapestries telling of wars and conquests to handkerchiefs raised to bring awareness to the missing and murdered, these works of needle and thread are apparent in the histories of every culture and society.

Our conversation helped me establish an understanding of the human experience as it relates to crafting and the textile arts (see page 34 for more on my thinking around the human experience). You can read the full transcript of our conversation starting on page 135.

“I pictured what it was like to make something so exquisite in such terrible circumstances.”

M:

What do you think it is about textiles and fibre arts and just working with our hands and using these materials that makes us want to capture parts of our lives and make records out of these objects that take so much time and effort to create?

C:

Well, I think probably the greatest sense is of touch – that when we're sewing, we're constantly touching the cloths that we're working on, and by transmitting our touch into that piece, we feel as if we're putting part of ourselves into it. In some ways we are, because as I say, even pieces that I've kept from my grandmother, I sense that I'm touching where she touched. It gives me a tactile connection through generations. And I think that's one of the most potent forms for many people, when particularly they're making something as a gift to others or something that they want to be remembered by, that all those hours they spend doing it are times in which they are transmitting their touch.

Second to that is when you're sewing, if it's a gift or if it's for public view, you're thinking about that audience. Again, as I say in the book, sewing isn't just an object. It is also a correspondence. Through sewing, we're trying to communicate with other people – visually, obviously, but also texturally. And I think that's another really important part of why we spend so much time working with our hands, our hearts and our thoughts – to have all those things in the finished pieces.

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Data and Datafication Building Blocks What do we mean when we talk about data? An early definition describes data as “individual units of information.”1 With the advent of processing technology, the word became associated with computers in the mid-twentieth century.2 Various definitions across the web define data in terms of numbers, facts, information, statistics and measurements.3 In data communication and visualization circles, the word is often defined as the building blocks from which information, knowledge and wisdom can subsequently be established.4 Describing data as the building blocks on which to create understanding seems to be a popular definition of the word. For the purposes of this thesis, data has been defined as any quantitative or qualitative occurrence that can be tracked, measured or collected in order to tell a story.

Big Data As our processing technology increases in capacity, more and more aspects of our lives can be tracked, measured and collected. In today’s digitized and increasingly monitored world, the meaning of data has grown exponentially. Literally. We had to come up with a new phrase to account for the obscene amount of data being collected. This so-called ‘big data’ is often defined in terms of the three V’s: volume, variety, velocity.5 We are collecting huge amounts of diverse data points at extreme speeds.6 Much of this data is derived from human activity – where you shop, what you buy, what you watch and how, which ads you click on.7 This list goes on. Analysis of big data can lead to new health technologies, improved digital interfaces, and better targeted ads – for better or for worse.

Analyzing big data means crafting a story out of the mass of numbers through careful selection.

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Blogger Stephen Few writes about an alternative to this overwhelming state of big data – a term he aptly calls ‘slow data.’8 Few proposes the three S’s: small, slow, sure.9 Keep data sets relevant and noiseless, take time to make sense of the data, and ensure that decisions are based on quality data.10 Slow data means telling simpler stories with potentially stronger, more targeted data sets.

Our Bodies, Our Data There are elements about our own personal existence that we can track, measure and collect – a concept known as self-tracking. We can count our steps, note down how much we eat and when, and calculate the hours we spend in REM sleep.

In their book Self-Tracking, authors Gina Neff and Dawn Nafus describe self-tracking as an inherently “human activity.”11 The authors compare modern, technology-driven self-tracking methodologies with those of the past, such as handwritten diaries or logs.12 Neff and Nafus pose that self-tracking leads to either active behavioural changes or to passive, personal reflections on one’s habits.13 The Quantified Self movement, which began in 2007,14 pushes for “self-knowledge through numbers.”15 The movement advocates for better access to personal data collected by companies and institutions, improved methods of personal data communication that retain individuality and privacy, and enhanced data collection technologies and interfaces that can help people better “answer a broader range of questions about ourselves.”16 The movement has faced critiques that the datafication of human activity removes the human element and does exactly what Neff and Nafus identify as a concern from social scientists and philosophers – that self-tracking reduces “human life to numbers.”17 Self-tracking has also faced criticism when it is pushed with the

promise of “economic incentives,” or imposed, meaning that self-tracking is required for access to “employment or insurance coverage.”18 Technologies like the FitBit and built-in smartphone sensors have made tracking easier in some regards. Now, instead of noting down kilometres walked or calories consumed, the apps do it for us with sensors and pre-installed libraries of caloric information.19 The completely arbitrary ‘10,000 steps a day’ has lead to feelings of inadequacy if that threshold is not met.20 The implementation of social media networks into tracking apps has introduced gamification and competition.21 Now, you can earn badges for meeting certain thresholds, post your workout data for all your social network to see, and watch as your friends compare their numbers to yours.

The availability of this technology brings data collection out of the laboratory and into the hands of the people – at least, for those who can afford the technology. Neff and Nafus are wary of the branding of self-tracking tools as luxury items, and how this might be – and in many ways already is – leading to “class and identity distinctions.”22 Undertones of ‘if you don’t have the latest FitBit, or even any FitBit at all, then you don’t care about your health’ are seeping into the self-tracking community, and even just the world at large.23 Self-tracking can be a way of taking back the power of one’s personal data. Companies are collecting our data if we engage with these self-tracking apps and technologies, and they are using it to target us with ads and to shape our behaviour. However, an individual’s intent and purpose behind self-tracking can give that individual back some of that power. Some of the “human nuance” can be re-injected back into self-tracking data collection by being more intentional with how and why that personal data is collected.24 A level of “data mindfulness” can come from spending time with one’s personal data, and serves as a reminder of the human context behind the numbers.25

The Five Styles of Self-Tracking According to Gina Neff and Dawn Nafus

Monitoring and evaluating26 This style is borne from the biomedicalization intents behind self-tracking. For instance, you may decide to track your daily steps. You track your steps for a week and identify what you did on the days you did not reach your target step count. You would then seek changes in your life to ensure that you meet your step goal every day.

Eliciting sensations27 This style comes from the passive, self-reflection motivator behind self-tracking. For example, noting down your changes in mood and then reflecting on the data may reveal how certain actions or environments impact your mood, which in turn puts your mind more in tune with your body. You can then start to anticipate changes in your mood based on how your body is feeling.

Aesthetic curiosity28 This style was identified because some self-trackers also happen to be artists. The data collected from self-tracking becomes inspiration for artistic projects. It is also inspired by attitudes of collecting data on oneself just for fun and to see what happens.

Neff and Nafus write, “Even if there is nothing particularly visually compelling, visualizations of data might become interesting as a way of narrating personal biographies.”29 Debugging a problem30 Again, this style of self-tracking has its roots in biomedicalization. For example, you may track problems with your allergy medication by noting down every time you feel a symptom. As you track, you may start to notice patterns that prompt you to inform your doctor and perhaps get your dosage changed.

Cultivating a habit31 This purpose for self-tracking stems from the gamification and competition elements in today’s app-driven self-tracking methodology. If you want to start going to sleep earlier, then your self-tracking sleep app will reward you for logging earlier and earlier bedtimes. The gamification and competition elements inspire the building of habits through rewards and by holding the self-tracker accountable to their goals.

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Interview Spotlight: Roopa Vasudevan Roopa Vasudevan, conceptual artist PhD candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Philadelphia Interviewed November 18, 2019

Roopa defines herself as a new media and conceptual artist. She is interested in the process of data collection as a cultural and social practice. Data and technology serve as the inspiration for many of Roopa’s projects.

Our conversation helped me understand the use of data as inspiration for artistic projects.

Roopa is also the creator behind the case study on page 60. You can read the full transcript of our conversation starting on page 141.

“I’m really interested in ... what the implications are for society when we start to lose our identities to the machine.”

M:

Speaking from the individual level, in some of the projects that I’ve come across in my research, people are using self-tracking data to then create objects. What is it that makes us want to quantify ourselves and then do something with those numbers afterwards?

R:

There’s a class that’s being offered next semester in my department about quantification and how that has become such a trope. I think that that has a lot to do with the normalized opinions of what science is and this belief that numbers can reveal more about ourselves than we can understand on our own – which might be partially true, but at the same time it’s like, those numbers are coming from somewhere. Somebody wrote the algorithms to collect those numbers. And so you have to always be critical of that kind of stuff whenever you’re doing it because there is no such thing as objectivity, right? Nobody’s actually giving you an objective opinion of yourself. It’s whatever FitBit is telling you or whatever Google is telling you or whatever Apple is telling you.

So, okay, you have these numbers, but why? What are you going to do with it? How is it relevant? When you have all of these numbers and this stockpile of data that’s coming from yourself, I think people start to question like, “Okay, well, is that it?

What else is going to come from it?” And I think the drive to make something from it is stemming from a place to make that data meaningful and to bring that into real life. Rather than just having it as data sitting on your computer and not doing anything, you’re using it to actually do something productive or make something really beautiful that is coming from a very personal place as well.

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Visualization Literacy When it comes to understanding and communicating data, we have had to develop and increase our data and visualization literacy.32 For example, when first faced with pie charts, we had to learn that the bigger the chunk, the bigger the percentage. This is an ongoing process as we are constantly developing new tools to communicate data, and are encountering new kinds of data that cannot be communicated in our standard ways.33 Designer and academic Sheelagh Carpendale identifies that “visualization literacy is not automatic.”34 We visualize data to improve its accessibility to “non-experts.”35 In our numbers- and statistics-driven world, visualization literacy can be the difference between a good decision and a bad one.

to communicate.40 For instance, in trying to convey that racial violence is at an all-time low in the United States, Roser used data for the number of annual lynchings – a data set that Boehnert rightfully identifies as “antiquated.”41

Digital Positivism

In a world governed by short attention spans and an unwillingness to read past the headline, people will see Roser’s tweet reading “Declining Racial Violence in the US since 1882,”43 notice the decreasing slope of the accompanying line chart, and continue scrolling. Then, in an instance where someone says that racial violence is a problem, that person may remember that ultra-simplistic tweet and use it as evidence for the contrary. Because if you saw it on the internet, that means it has to be true, right?

Digital positivism is the application of authority and blind objectivity to the digital presentation of data associated with “empirical work and the hard sciences.”36 Communications professor and writer Vincent Mosco calls the phenomenon “a methodological essentialism that ignores history, theory and subjectivity.”37 The complexities of scientific and empirical studies are often simplified with a specific story or framing in mind. Indeed, one of the goals of data visualization is to communicate complex topics and data sets in visually digestible ways. However, in this internet age, headlines wrought with clickbait reduce these complex topics and data sets to such a degree that their significance may be overblown or misconstrued. Hot button issues, such as climate change, crime rates and food waste, each come with multiple perspectives, value sets and ideologies. Our trust in data and numbers means that anyone can find a data set that backs up their message, or communicate data in particular way to justify their stance.

Communication design researcher and educator Dr. Joanna Boehnert cites Max Roser’s Our World in Data project as a prime instance of digital positivism.38 Our World in Data gained traction due to its communication of world issues through easily digestible bar charts and line graphs.39 However, Boehnert examined some of the data sets chosen by Roser and found him to have “cherry picked” data sets that back up the points Roser is trying

Cherry-picking data can be necessary when it comes to data visualization. The problem arises when the cherry-picked data leaves out a significant chunk of the story that the visualization should tell, or serves to only reinforce certain aspects of a story. Roser’s use of the annual lynchings data set to demonstrate decreasing levels of racial violence in the United States leaves out the increasing levels of police brutality against people of colour.42

Pushing back against digital positivism means a call for better critical thinking skills.44 Our reliance on data means that people may be drawing wrong or incomplete conclusions, and then making major decisions from those wrong or incomplete conclusions. Whenever we encounter a data set or a data visualization, we need to ask ourselves, ‘Who is sharing this data and why? Where and how was this data collected? What’s missing?’ We cannot take numbers for granted.

Feminist Data Visualization How can data visualization be feminist? In 2015, data visualization educator Catherine D’Ignazio proposed a new endeavour for data visualization that incorporates feminist theory and thinking.45 In many ways, what Catherine D’Ignazio has proposed is very similar to those pushing against the digital positivism phenomenon identified earlier. As more and more data than ever before is being collected – that big data phenomenon explained on page 20 – it needs to be communicated. The

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common phrase heard in the data visualization community is that ‘the data speaks for itself.’46 Numbers are numbers, and you can’t argue with numbers. But data is not that easy. The numbers have to come from somewhere and for a specific reason.47 D’Ignazio is calling for the data visualization community to acknowledge the power structures behind data – the decision to collect data, the exclusion of groups from that data collection, how and by whom that data gets curated and communicated, and to whom that data is communicated.48 The data doesn’t speak for itself – several someones are speaking through the data.

We’ve been so enthralled with flashy graphics and taken aback by statistic-laden headlines that we’ve entirely forgotten – or never cared to know – the behind-thescenes of data visualization.

Feminist data visualization is contextualized, thoughtful, careful and imperfect. It considers the intersections of oppression, power and people at every stage in the data collection, curation and communication processes.49 Doing so may break down our trust in numbers, but feminist data visualization practices instead seek to build trust in those previously excluded from the data collection, curation and communication processes. Feminist data visualization is about acknowledging visualizations as “objects of communication and culture” that are “subject to biases.”50

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The Six Principles of Feminist Data Visualization

According to Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein Rethink boundaries51 How does the data account for outliers? How can we acknowledge the limitations of the data collection process in the final visualization?

Embrace pluralism52 Which voices can we involve in the data collection process? Whose perspectives are excluded from the data visualization process?

Examine power and aspire to empowerment53 How can the end users be involved in its collection and communication? How can we visualize the data to best suit the needs of the end users?

Consider context54 How will the process of data collection affect those whose data is being collected? Where and how will the final visualization be distributed? How can the visualization facilitate contextual understanding?

Legitimize embodiment and affect55 How can we engage people in the data visualization and make them pay attention? What kinds of data visualization can inspire the most engagement and emotion from audiences?

Make labor visible56 How can we communicate the back end processes of the data’s collection, curation and communication to the end users? How can the work done at each stage be properly addressed and attributed in the final visualization?

Questionnaire Spotlight: Shannon Downey Shannon Downey, craftivist Founder of the BadassHERstory project Questionnaire returned December 9, 2019

Shannon Downey, better known by her art name Badass Cross Stitch, is a craftivist who uses her platform to share the stories of underrepresented and marginalized people, particularly women. Her BadassHERstory project asks people to submit one 12x12” quilt square that represents their lived experience, personality, and ambitions.

Shannon’s responses helped me understand what it means to be a craftivist in today’s digital and technology-driven age. You can read the full questionnaire starting on page 162.

“By centering ourselves in our own narratives and stories – we take control over that narrative.”

M: S:

M: S:

In a world wrought with clickbait headlines and short attention spans, what is it about the handmade and DIY that makes people stop and pay attention?

It’s a juxtaposition to the digital world we live in. It represents slowing down, going analog, thinking, making, spending time creating. It goes against everything that exists in the digital space and that is attractive to us as we are drowning in digital noise.

Would you consider incorporating data into future pieces? Why or why not?

If it added value – sure. I love data but I also think we, as humans, put far too much value in data. As a Director of Development who writes dozens of grants every year, I am often frustrated by foundations’ emphasis on data without context or without the narrative and interpretation of that data. It takes a lot of understanding and investment to properly interpret data – and even then there are so many variables that it’s hard to be sure exactly what is causal. Stats and data are helpful to a point but without careful critique or a nuanced understanding of how that data was acquired there is a lot of room for manipulation.

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Data Physicalization Physicalization and The Data Age We are living in a data overload. We are hit by headlines, tweets and articles wrought with percentages and statistics on the daily. Crucial decisions are made based on data. People listen to data. Data has more street cred than I ever will. So what are we doing with this data overload? How are we responding to the age of data?

Data visualization and infographics are one response. Designers turn these massive amounts of numbers into charts and graphs, using tried-and-true techniques like iconography, colour theory and typography to communicate the stories behind the numbers.

is about using data to create tangible objects with multi-sensory experiences that facilitate understanding and inspire action, whereas the latter is about using data to create visual representations that simplify complexities and decrease abstractions.3 Data physicalization is similar to three other areas of data representation: indexical visualization, tangible user interfaces and concrete scales. The first is

Data visualization and infographics work for many kinds of data, but as the data grows more complex and visualization techniques become more specialized, designers may lose some of their audience – failing to communicate the stories behind the numbers to the people who would benefit from them the most.

Data physicalization is another response.

This turns the data into a full-body experience, and uses more approachable techniques. We can feel the differences in numbers with our hands. Data physicalization also returns some of the unknowingness to numbers. Sometimes, data physicalization is about getting the sense of a downward slope, rather than knowing exactly what number is at which part of the slope (see Fig. 8) – creating what data sculptor Adrien Segal calls an “intuitive, embodied knowledge” of the data.1

Encoding Data in Material Properties In a seminal paper on the topic, Jansen et al. define ‘data physicalization’ as “a physical artifact whose geometry or material properties encode data.”2 This definition separates it from the world of data visualization, which takes place primarily in the digital sphere. The former

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Fig. 8 – Strata Bench by Adrien Segal Inspired by the geological landscape of Death Valley, CA. Crafted out of plywood by Adrien Segal. Photo by Adrien Segal.

about using contextualized objects to represent abstract concepts, such as a face mask that darkens as air quality worsens.4 Indexical visualization differs from data physicalization in that the former does not start with a discrete scale for comparison in the way typical data sets often do.5 Tangible user interfaces allow audiences to explore physical data, but the experience is often mediated through digital components.6 Tangible user interfaces differ from data physicalization in that the experience of the former focuses on the manipulation of the interface rather than the exploration of the physicalized data.7 Concrete scales aim to communicate data sets of “extreme magnitudes or unfamiliar

units” in familiar forms (see Fig. 9).8 Concrete scale representations differ from data physicalizations in that data physicalizations often leave more room for interpretation and exploration of the data.

Data Physicalization Examples The idea of physical data is not novel. In fact, we have only been visualizing data in the digital sphere for merely a handful of

Fig. 9 – Concrete scale example Demonstrates the quantity of sugar in three sizes of soft drinks with the exact amount of sugar in cubes. Photo by SugarStacks.com.

decades since the advent of the computer.9 Historical examples of data physicalization include the Incan data storage system of Quipus, or knotted rope (see Fig. 10), and early molecule models for educational purposes.10 Nowadays, we see data physicalizations in presentations, classrooms, museums and homes.11 Data physicalizations can be static or dynamic.12 Dynamic data physicalizations are changed or added to as new data comes in.13 Certain physicalizations that involve audience participation are called participatory data physicalizations.14 Data physicalizations can be handmade with help from data processing technologies, or can be entirely constructed with digital technologies, such as 3D printers.15 The field of data physicalization found its roots in data art, such as data sculptures, where data provides the artistic inspiration behind a piece. Much of data art and physicalization is about pushing the boundaries of data representation. Data art also involves a more emotional connection with the chosen data set.16 Some handmade data physicalizations

use self-tracking or other personal data to create a “representation of one’s body and self.”17 The team behind dataphys.org maintains a lengthy list of data physicalizations.18 These physicalizations use a range of materials like plywood, acrylic and LEGO bricks to encode a huge variety of data sets, such as population, temperature or a person’s daily mood.19 One such data

Fig. 10 – Quipu Knotted ropes used by the Incans as a data storage and retrieval system.

Photo by Claus Ableiter.

physicalization listed on the site uses pottery. UX designer Alice Thudt connected her love of pottery with her study of data and design in a project called Life in Clay (see Fig. 11 on the next page).20 The project tackled the “tension” between the perceived accuracy of data with the “unpredictable medium” of pottery.21 The resulting data physicalizations are personal, beautiful and functional.22

Benefits from Data Physicalization Data physicalization is not a reversion to the pre-digital era. Instead, the field is about embracing experiences that use all of our senses. Data physicalization can make data more accessible to the visually impaired and kinesthetic learners.23 Physicalization can bring complex topics into the so-called “real world” by making them approachable and engaging, rather than existing as merely numbers or lines on a screen.24 Physicalization can also give the data situational context.25 In an unapologetically in-your-face way that screens may fail to achieve, physical data makes people pay attention.

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Barriers in the Field The process of making data physicalizations can also be extremely beneficial.

Making data physicalizations by hand can be a more accessible introduction to data representation and visualization techniques, which can help people improve their data and visualization literacy.26 Data physicalizations can reduce the abstract qualities of data.27 The creation of a data physicalization can lead to a deeper understanding of the data because of the sheer amount of time spent with the numbers needed to figure out a properly contextualized physical representation.28

The current field of data physicalization is faced with technological and social challenges. Firstly, the field must continually make a case for its existence by always having to provide proof that it is worthy to be researched in the first place.29 Secondly, the field is plagued by limitations that prevent the more complex ways of encoding data in a physical manner from being executed.30 Jansen et al. have identified that “more work is needed before we can “actuate” a range of physical variables such as reflectivity, porosity, rugosity or taste.”31 Thirdly, people must build and improve their “physicalization literacy” in much the same way we have had to improve our visualization literacy.32 The same principle will need to be applied in data physicalization so that less time is devoted to the explanation and contextualization of the physicalization.33 Jansen et al. have also identified that making data physicalizations can be a costly adventure in regards to time and money.34

Fig. 10 – Data pottery Represents the structure and page count of the maker’s friend’s PhD dissertation.

Photo by Alice Thudt.

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Textile and Fibre Data Physicalization Crafted Data Physicalizations The three key elements of the research behind this thesis are the textile and fibre arts, data and datafication, and data physicalization. To bring it all together, I propose that textile and fibre data physicalizations are the latest response to the datafication of our world.

I first noticed this phenomenon of crafting with data on Reddit’s pages for crochet and cross stitch. Crafters were taking temperature data sets and translating them into

three to maybe eight degrees per range, and colours of yarn or thread were assigned to each range. I watched several of these projects develop over the course of the year, as the original posters would share updates every two to three months.

I wondered why people did this. What was the appeal to turning data into a physical object in such a laborious fashion?

This ‘why’ question brought me to this thesis research. In my preliminary searches, I uncovered more projects like the temperature blanket. People of different cultures, backgrounds, skill levels, craft types and fields of work were translating numbers and data into beautifully functional, wearable and displayable objects. I discovered the research world of data physicalization, which helped me answer the ‘why’ behind the textile and fibre physicalizations that I was reading about. My hobbies and my field of study had united in a stunningly serendipitous fashion.

Using Textiles and Fibre to Create Physicalizations I propose that people make textile and fibre data physicalizations to help them add a personal touch to the constant influx of numbers we are presented with.

Craftivist Shannon Downey, better known by her art name Badass Cross Stitch, poses that handmade objects draw us in and are “attractive to us as we are drowning in digital noise.”1 Using these ancient methods gives space for people to make their voices heard among all the numbers.2

Fig. 12 – Temperature blanket Represents the maker’s son’s senior year of high school.

Crocheted by u/ArtEclectic on Reddit. Photo by u/ArtEclectic.

beautifully rainbowed stitches – often small tapestries or large blankets (see Fig. 12 above and Fig. 13 on page 31). The temperature data was turned into ranges of

On the flip side, assistant professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and avid crafter Rachel Ivy Clarke posits that perhaps we turn data into textile and fibre objects as a way to “make arts and crafts ‘valuable’ in the eyes of … a society that functions in this numbers [and] metrics-driven paradigm.”3 If we “make the arts [and] crafts speak that metric-based language,” then we can get more people to

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Questionnaire Spotlight: Rachel Ivy Clarke Rachel Ivy Clarke, quilter Assistant professor at Syracuse University, School of Information Studies Questionnaire returned November 18, 2019

I discovered Rachel through her 2010 quilt exhibition called The Visual Display of Quilted Information. Rachel sewed nine quilts based on iconic visualizations, including pie charts, subway maps, topographical maps and the periodic table of elements. Drawing on these principles of information visualization helped Rachel connect her passion for sewing with her love of information studies.

Rachel’s responses helped me understand data as an extension of the self, and the influence of the data age on textile and fibre data physicalizations. You can read the full questionnaire starting on page 161.

“Textiles have always been a kind of natural or default medium for me.”

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M:

How does incorporating seemingly impersonal data into such handmade and personal projects affect the project?

R:

All my projects are personal, and all data is personal. For instance, thinking of the train delay scarf or the temperature scarves and blankets – all of these are in a certain local and personal context. A different person riding a different train would experience different delays and end up with a different scarf. People all over the world have made the temperature scarves and sky blankets with their own local temperatures – their own personal experiences. So I guess I don’t think of any of this data being ‘impersonal’ at all. In fact, as I reflect on it as I write this, I think this is a way of expressing one person’s personal experience and sharing it with others in a tangible, visceral way.

pay attention to the labour and hard work behind these handcrafted objects – especially given the masculine/feminine dichotomy present in the stereotypes behind data science and craft.4 The use of the textile and fibre arts to create data physicalizations may help “numbers-based people better understand … craft.”5

Feminist Data Physicalization What does it mean to have feminist data physicalization, especially with the textile and fibre arts? A general rule in many online craft groups, whether on Facebook, Ravelry or Reddit, is to give credit where credit is due. If you used a pattern, credit the pattern maker. Share the brand of yarn you used to make your object. List off the modifications you made to a pattern if people ask. Copying another’s pattern and claiming it as your own is a major no-no.

Saying you found it on Google or Pinterest is not enough. Your post will either not be approved or will be deleted if you don’t give credit where credit is due.

This stance taken by many a craft group is reminiscent of D’Ignazio and Klein’s sixth principle of feminist data visualization – “Make labor visible” (see page 24).6 In posting about a project online, the maker must also employ the fourth of D’Ignazio and Klein’s principles – “Consider context.”7 What information needs to accompany the project post, and who will see the project on this craft group?

When it comes to data physicalization projects made from the textile and fibre arts, the maker must undergo a careful process to prep for the physicalization’s creation. Gaps in data must either be

filled or acknowledged in the final object – just like the first of D’Ignazio and Klein’s principles, “Rethink boundaries.”8 Textile and fibre data physicalizations are often borne from a highly emotional place and carry emotional significance for the maker, similar to the fifth of D’Ignazio and Klein’s principles, “Legitimize embodiment and affect.”9 Textile and fibre data physicalizations can be feminist if the maker acknowledges the labour behind its creation – from the people behind the data set, to the pattern and materials used, to the hours put into the object. The maker must consider the context in which the data was created, and how they intend to share their project with others. The maker must also acknowledge the imperfections behind the data, and any imperfections in the object itself. The resulting object carries an emotional significance for the maker, and may inspire others to feel similar emotions upon using or viewing the object.

Counteracting Digital Positivism Textile and fibre data physicalizations are still somewhat of a novelty. They cause people to slow down and ask questions.

You turned data into a blanket? Why? How? Asking these kinds of questions is the first step to counteracting digital positivism (see page 23). Until the novelty of these projects wear off, people will ask questions about the object and not take it at face value.

These projects are a conversation-starter.10 Engaging with data on this tangible level gets people involved with the numbers in a way that screen-based visualizations cannot achieve right now.

Fig. 13 – First year temperature blanket Represents maker’s child’s first year of life. Crocheted by u/mazzomop on Reddit.

Photo by u/mazzomop.

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Questionnaire Spotlight: Joan Sheldon Joan Sheldon, marine scientist Creator of the Globally Warm Scarf Questionnaire returned November 25, 2019

Joan combined her scientific background with her passion for crochet to create the Globally Warm Scarf project. The scarf uses data from Dr. Michael Mann about annual global temperatures deviations from the norm dating back to 1600. A similar project is detailed on page 62.

Joan’s responses helped me understand how a scientific background influences textile and fibre data physicalizations. You can read the full questionnaire starting on page 158.

“Fiber art with countable units lends itself to representing mathematical concepts and bringing out the inherent beauty in them.”

M:

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What has the response been for your Globally Warm Scarf project?

J:

The responses to me have been consistently positive, in that both scientists and non-scientists have expressed that they understand what the scarf is meant to convey and think it is an interesting way to present the data. Several times I have had someone who has talked to me about the scarf bring someone else over to talk about it, or even explain it to their friend themselves, and that’s when I feel that the scarf is really having the effect I wanted it to have: it’s starting conversations about climate change. People don’t feel positive about the message, of course, and the news that the last few years have required that I add two darker shades of red is usually met with a look of shock. Weather organizations have, several times now, had to declare the “warmest year on record” but somehow it’s still a surprise.

M:

You make a specific point to acknowledge the source of your data, and to ask others who complete similar projects to credit the sources of their data. Why is this important to you?

J:

Academic integrity is really important to me, and even though it’s enforced in science and other academic disciplines, I think it should extend to any situation where we build upon the work of others: give credit where credit is due. Before I undertook this project, I researched who else might have done similar things in the fiber community and I cited their work and showed how my project is related but has new and unique aspects. On the data side, I was reinterpreting a well-known published dataset that is not my own, and I am obligated as a scientist to cite it.

That would have been sufficient, but I also did not want any ill will from its wellknown author so I wrote to Dr. Michael Mann to ask if he minded if I made use of his data in this way. He was very gracious, and that’s an email that I will treasure!

The Human Experience and Data Messy Imperfection

Humanizing Data

Humans live messy and imperfect lives in often equally messy and imperfect environments. In trying to make sense of this mess and imperfection, we humans have created systems of problem-solving, decision making and quantification. We devise strict rules and policies to govern this messiness.

We build infrastructure to predict the weather. We create binding contracts to navigate human relationships. We attempt to tidy up the human experience.

We can remind ourselves of the human experiences behind the numbers by humanizing the data. One way to achieve this humanization is to bring the data off the screen and into the physical world.

That way, we can see, touch and surround ourselves in the numbers. We can reinsert the human context behind the numbers through data physicalization.

To make sense of the human experience, we select, analyze, quantify and reduce it to numbers. Numbers are the result of tracking, measuring and collecting elements of the human experience – a way to bring order to humanity.

Numbers and data have clout. They do not carry the same messiness and imperfection with them as humans do. They influence policies and decisions. They can be the difference between a good day and a bad day, if your weather app’s prediction of an 80% chance of rain comes to fruition.

We take numbers and data at face value, and forget about the human experience that went into creating them. The human experience is reduced to mere numbers.

To create a data physicalization, we must immerse ourselves in the numbers and find ways to translate them into a contextualized material form. When it comes to textile and fibre data physicalizations, the process slows down immensely. Every stitch carries a greater understanding of the numbers. In spending time with the numbers, we humanize the data and create an enhanced human experience.

Enhancing the Human Experience In an enhanced human experience, we may be more in tune with our body and mind. We may feel freer to be ourselves in public spaces. Perhaps our emotional intelligence is higher. Our value systems may be put to the test. Critical thinking skills may be in high demand. An enhanced human experience is about being selective in what we add to our life’s story.

is and qua ntifi nalys ea ca tiv tio c e l n e s

Human Experience

fibre data physic aliz and e l at i io xt n te

Numbers

Enhanced Human Experience

Fig. 14 – The journey to an enhanced human experience Diagram by Madison Snell.

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Crafting is one way to bring about an enhanced human experience. You may learn a new skill, or teach someone a skill you know. You may seek a deeper connection with your ancestors. The sense of touch granted through craft unites people across the decades.1 A handmade quilt passed down from generation to generation carries with it the love of its maker and the love of all the hands who have used it and cared for it since its creation.2 Crafting relaxes the mind and can provide an outlet for stress, grief and frustration.3 People find their community in crafting. We tell stories through craft.4 The act of crafting, no matter the form or resulting object, can lead to an enhanced human experience.

Behind every textile and fibre data physicalization is a story about its creation. The resulting object is made of numbers borne of the human experience, and is also a tangible memory of the human experience of making the object. A swath of red stitches means an insufferably hot summer. A dropped or imperfect stitch is the result of a distraction when the dog suddenly barked at someone walking by. A new skill may have been learned in the process of the physicalization’s creation. The resulting textile and fibre data physicalization is the manifestation of an enhanced human experience.

Fig. 15 – The Sleep Blanket A fibre data physicalization that represents the fleeting moments of rest for the maker’s child’s first year of life.

To read more about this project, see page 53. Project knit by Seung Lee. Photo by Seung Lee.

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Interview Spotlight: Emily McNeil and Justin Connelly Emily McNeil and Justin Connelly, craftivists Co-founders of the Tempestry Project Interviewed November 18, 2019

Emily and Justin use their joint love of knitting and numbers to create powerful pieces that speak to our changing climate, and the Tempestry Project provides people with the tools to create their own pieces with a personal touch.

Our conversation helped me understand the role of activism in crafting. The Tempestry Project is also a data physicalization case study (see page 54). You can read the full transcript of our conversation starting on page 146.

“The Tempestry Project resonates because it’s still that very personal experience, but you know you’re doing it as part of a larger project.”

M:

What do you think it is that drives us to collect and capture this data about ourselves and then turn it into these physical objects?

E:

I think data is very ephemeral. We forget it and it disappears. It gets deleted.

And we have so much in our brains that these little moments get lost. So this ... is just a way of commemorating something that you wouldn’t remember in ten years, or five years.

J:

I think as an audience, seeing a piece that’s been knitted or crocheted or handmade in that way is different than just scrolling through an article and seeing a chart or whatever. Those are there and gone and then you don’t think about it again. But with something tangible, you can hang it on a wall, you can see it tomorrow, it’s there. I think there is an inherent appreciation from an audience viewing something like that of the time it took to create it. And I think that causes people to slow down and appreciate it a little more than all the infographics and stuff that’s constantly flashing in front of our eyes.

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Frameworks for Analysis

In this section, I outline the four frameworks I developed to help me capture my thinking and values surrounding the human experience, as well as to categorize and interpret data physicalization projects.

The first framework is the Five Pillars of the Human Experience. This framework captures the five key elements of the human experience that I noticed were emerging based on my interviews and secondary research. I apply this framework in Crafting the Human Experience (page 66) and Crafting My Human Experience (page 78). As a framework, The Five Pillars of the Human Experience helped me test my thinking against my value sets.

The next three frameworks focus on the process, makers and intentions behind data physicalizations. In my research into data physicalization projects, I noticed that many of them followed similar patterns in terms of their creation process. These data physicalizations are also made by a diverse set of makers, each with their own skill sets, goals and intentions behind the project.

The first of the three data physicalization-specific frameworks is the Data Physicalization Process. This framework identifies the five-step journey it takes for a data physicalization to be made. The next framework defines the Data Physicalization Maker Types. This framework provides a basic categorization tool with which to analyze the people behind data physicalizations. The final framework defines the Data Physicalization Goals and Intentions. This framework is similar to the Maker Types framework in that it is another basic categorization tool that can be used to understand the motivations behind a data physicalization’s creation and dissemination.

I apply these three data physicalization frameworks to twelve case studies of textile and fibre data physicalizations in the next section (see page 46). The application of these frameworks to the selected case studies helped me test my frameworks against real projects. I had the opportunity to interview the makers behind five of the case studies, which helped me understand the deeper thought processes, motivations and desires behind the projects.

1. The Five Pillars of the Human Experience 2. Data Physicalization Process 3. Data Physicalization Maker Types 4. Data Physicalization Goals and Intentions

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The Five Pillars of the Human Experience

A number of themes surrounding the human experience began to emerge based on my conversations and questionnaires with crafters, scientists, activists and educators. To me, the human experience is fivefold. These ‘pillars’ as I have dubbed them are a way for me to understand and think about the human experience as it pertains to my research into textile and fibre data physicalization.

This framework also captures my feminist values as a person. Feminism is about working together to break down oppressive power structures and empower underrepresented and marginalized people. Feminism seeks to make space for

Ephemeral

38

Beautiful

people to share their voice and reach their full potential. The Five Pillars of the Human Experience capture the emotional aspects of being human in a world that doesn’t always respect and value emotion.

I apply my five pillars of the human experience to the thinking behind the final two sections of this report: Crafting the Human Experience (see page 66), and Crafting My Human Experience (see page 78). First, I analyze the results of my workshops using the pillars. After, I apply the pillars as a way to justify and analyze the reasonings behind the final artifact for my thesis report.

Personal

Collaborative

Performative

The Human Experience is Ephemeral We take photos to capture moments of our existence. We write diaries to help us remember our lives. We try to trap the human experience in data and numbers. In textile and fibre data physicalization, we turn those numbers into a tangible form. These objects are “sensory and emotional triggers”1 that remind us of the fleeting moments behind the numbers. Memory fades, but objects last far longer.

The Human Experience is Beautiful We seek beauty every day. We wake up to watch the sunrise. We paint our bedroom our favourite colour. Humans were making beautiful things long before they were making useful things.2 In textile and fibre data physicalization, we try and turn boring, black-and-white numbers into objects of beauty. We reinsert beauty into the quantified human experience through textile and fibre data physicalization.

The Human Experience is Personal We are often private creatures. We are constantly looking for a way to capture what the human experience means to us specifically. We want to remind people of the individuality behind the numbers in our increasingly quantified human experience. In textile and fibre data physicalization, we take a craft that we love and use seemingly objective numbers to create an object that is deeply personal in both process and presentation.

The Human Experience is Collaborative We would be nowhere if not for each other. As much as the human experience is personal, it is also shared and influenced by others. Our personal experiences combine. We have shared stories to tell. We want to push back against the “reduction to statistics”3 that we face. In textile and fibre data physicalization, we can find a way to work together and share our story in a way that matters to us as a whole.

The Human Experience is Performative Being human is a performance. There are certain norms and unwritten rules that come with being human. We are in a constant dance with one another, negotiating which norms to abide by and which rules can be ‘broken’ in which interactions. Numbers are just one way to capture the performance of the human experience. The process of making a textile or fibre data physicalization is an emotionally charged performance of humanness rooted in ancient practices.

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Data Physicalization Process

What does the process of creating a data physicalization look like? This process is not exclusive to textile and fibre physicalizations. However, each step listed here is framed using a fictionalized fibre data physicalization project to give context to the process in terms of this specific kind of physicalization.

I determined this process through a close examination of data physicalization projects, many of which were collected by the team behind dataphys.org. I discovered some projects – particularly those using the textile and fibre arts – on various social media craft groups, personal blogs and online forums, such as Ravelry and Reddit. In reading the project descriptions by the makers themselves, as well as the comments and reactions by social media users, a clear process began to emerge.

Inspiration

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Reflection

From inspiration to dissemination, many data physicalization projects follow very similar paths. Each project typically begins with some kind of creative spark, followed by a moment of reflection. The planning and creation stages sometimes occur simultaneously, depending on the nature of the project. These projects have also all been disseminated online in some form or another, with specific intents and unprecedented reactions from the public sphere.

I apply this process to six of the twelve selected case studies beginning on page 46. I interviewed five of the six makers behind these projects, and their responses helped me frame their projects under the steps of this data physicalization process.

Planning

Creation

Dissemination

Inspiration » Where does the inspiration come from? » What specifically sparks the interest in creating a data physicalization? » What role will the resulting object play?

Reflection » Which data set will be used? Does it already exist?

If not, how will it be collected? » What outcome is desired? » What happens if there is no reliable data, or any data at all, for the chosen subject? » What emotions might be sparked during the creation of this project? » How do gaps in the data get represented?

Planning » What shape, form or pattern will the data physicalization take? » What materials or other technologies are needed? » From where will the materials be acquired? » What alternatives can be implemented in the case of materials shortage midway through the project?

Creation » Will the data physicalization be made manually or entirely from technology? » If it is made manually, will it be created all at once or will it become a consistent daily activity? » How can motivation get restored if it is lost midway through the creation of the project? » What can be done if the resulting object isn’t as pleasing or effective as planned?

Dissemination » Will the data physicalization be shared with others? With whom, how and why? » What details, if any, are included alongside the data physicalization? » How will critiques to the project be handled?

“I got the idea to make a temperature blanket from Pinterest. Making this project will help me learn new stitches while also creating a beautifully functional ‘scrapbook’ of sorts for my son’s first birthday. Living here, we see a huge variety of temperatures in a year. This will be a great way to capture those differences.”

“I’m going to use the daily high temperature for our town, from the day my son was born to his first birthday. It will be a gift to him on his first birthday, hopefully. I think there’s a couple weather sites that have that data available.

However, we visited my parents for two weeks when my son was six months old, and I’m not sure if I should reflect the trip in the blanket by using the temperatures from that trip. Making this blanket will give me those much sought-after moments of solitary peace as a parent.”

“I’m new to crocheting, so I’ve picked a simple pattern that I can do while also taking care of my son. Maybe for different months I’ll do a different stitch type. I’ve been meaning to learn new stitches anyways, so no better time than now. I’ll need to make sure I have enough yarn in the colour codes I’ve assigned for the temperature variances. The only store close to me is pretty expensive, so I might have to order the yarn online.”

“I’m going to use Excel to prepare the data. This will help me estimate how small or large the temperature groupings need to be, and help me see the range of colour distributions. My son is nine months old, and I want to be done this blanket for his first birthday. I’ll have to stitch about four or five rows a day. It might be hard to commit to that, especially as my son starts to get more mobile.”

“I’m fairly active on Reddit, so I think when I’m done my blanket, I’ll post it there. I like the idea of inspiring someone to make their own blanket, just like how I was inspired. I’m also excited to give the blanket to my son. I know it won’t mean much to him now, but I can’t wait to tell him stories once he gets older, using the blanket as a starting point.”

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Data Physicalization Maker Types

Who creates data physicalizations? In exploring the various projects found on forums, craft groups and data physicalization resources, a handful of ‘maker types’ began to materialize.

I based these maker types on the creator’s own words about their projects, interviews and reposts of these projects, and the creator’s social media profiles, as well as conversations conducted with a small batch of creators.

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These maker types are not exhaustive, and could potentially be broken down further.

Some creators may fit into multiple maker types, depending on their skill sets and intentions. As more and more people dip their toes into the realm of data physicalization, more maker types may begin to emerge. These maker types are also not limited to those employing the textile and fibre arts. The case studies starting on page 46 demonstrate how these maker types fit with textile and fibre data physicalizations.

The Researcher This maker type is likely an academic who has chosen the field of data physicalization as their playground. They may use or create data physicalization projects to tangibly demonstrate the validity of the field, or as part of a research endeavour. The Researcher seeks to harness the power of our evolving technologies to create more accurate and cost effective data physicalizations. Projects should not only reflect the data, but also contextualize it and engage multiple senses to create a full data physicalization experience. Data physicalization projects made by The Researcher may include 3D printed physical bar charts for accessible data communication.

The Artist This maker type has found their muse in the world of data. They may make data physicalizations without even applying that specific term to their work. The inspiration behind their work lies in the artistic possibilities provided by the data. The shape, form and materials of The Artist’s data physicalization are often informed by The Artist’s abilities and skill sets, as well as the data itself.

The Artist often finds this feeling of ‘unknowingness’ to be thrilling – the piece will only reveal itself fully once it is complete. Data physicalizations may or may not serve as functional, usable objects after their creation. Data physicalization projects made by The Artist may include sculptures, pottery or furniture using data derived from their personal life or from general interest in a subject.

The Hobbyist This maker type is similar to that of The Artist. While data is a driving factor in projects created by The Hobbyist, they may not call the resulting works data physicalizations. Every decision along the way is often affected or influenced by The Hobbyist’s personal life, from the data sets chosen to the materials used to the time allotted to create the physicalization. Projects are often completed in The Hobbyist’s spare time. The Hobbyist may work with data in their day job, or may only have an average level of experience with data collection and communication processes. Data physicalization projects made by The Hobbyist may include blankets, scarves or tapestries using easily trackable data, such as temperature, that can serve as a representation of a significant time in one’s life.

The Educator This maker type seeks to use data physicalization as an engagement and education tool. They use the physicality of the resulting objects to their full advantage. The Educator creates their data physicalization with a specific experience in mind for the end user. Data as an interactive, physical experience or tangible object makes for an in-your-face and completely unavoidable learning opportunity. The Educator seeks to engage the senses of the end user and make learning a full-body experience. Data physicalization projects made by The Educator may be molecule models for the classroom, interactive museum exhibits, or physical demonstrations to educate people on subjects such as sugar consumption or election results.

The Activist This maker type is similar to that of The Educator in that The Activist also has a specific vision in mind for how they want their data physicalization to be perceived and experienced. The chosen data sets are often of sensitive or politically charged subjects, and the creation of the data physicalization may be seen as an act of resistance or a provocation for change. The Activist may also share some characteristics with The Artist and The Hobbyist, depending on the skill sets and motivations behind their data physicalization. Data physicalization projects made by The Activist may include wearable objects or act as large-scale demonstrations that communicate some kind of shocking data, such as pollution levels.

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Data Physicalization Goals and Intentions

Why do people make data physicalizations? A maker may create a data physicalization with more than one goal or intention in mind. These goals and intentions are not exclusive to data physicalizations that use the textile and fibre arts. The case studies starting on page 46 demonstrate how these goals and intentions apply to the textile and fibre arts.

I determined these goals and intentions by closely examining the write-ups and descriptions for various data physicalizations. The Aesthetic Curiosity goal was

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directly inspired by Gina Neff and Dawn Nafus’ list of self-tracking motivations (see page 21). Many goals and intentions are often closely linked to the project’s maker type (see page 42.) For example, The Activist maker type will likely have the goal and intention of Advocacy and Change.

The goals and intentions outlined here are not an exhaustive list and could potentially be broken down further. New data sets and novel forms of physical data representation might reveal new goals and intentions behind the work.

Advocacy and Change This goal is rooted in the chosen data set for the data physicalization. The data is likely related to a social justice cause, such as the environment. The maker may have decided that traditional routes of data communication and visualization are not captivating enough to spark the kind of reaction needed to create change or raise awareness for an issue. Data physicalization provides an opportunity for people to interact with data in a way that screens typically cannot facilitate, and these interactions might just be enough to encourage action.

Aesthetic Curiosity This goal comes from the playful desire to just see what will happen if one lets the data dictate the direction of a project. The maker may be starting with an incomplete data set, which comes with a certain level of unpredictability. Patterns and colours may be chosen ahead of time, but the resulting data physicalization is entirely subject to the data. Projects done for the sake of aesthetic curiosity require the maker to be flexible and give up some control over the data physicalization.

Learning and Growth This goal is inspired by a history of learning by doing, feeling and seeing in the classroom.

From dissecting frogs to carrying bags of flour bundled in diapers, sometimes the best way educators have gotten through to students has been by letting them experience the lesson material in fun, novel ways. A data physicalization borne from the desire to educate means that the maker has recognized the inherent value in letting audiences experience the data and draw their own conclusions.

Storytelling and Memory-Keeping This goal is sparked from the desire to use data as the grounding element in telling a story or sharing a memory. Data is often perceived to be a completely objective representation of a certain time or certain subject. However, many data sets can be comprised of qualitative and quantitative occurrences, which can be quite subjective. With the increasing pervasiveness of data in our society, many memories and experiences are tied to data. A data physicalization that uses seemingly objective data can result in a powerfully emotional object based on the maker’s motives for using that particular data set.

Self-Reflection This goal is often not always intended by the maker of a data physicalization. The act of creating a data physicalization, from inspiration to dissemination, is laden with decisions. Each decision requires the maker to self-reflect. Why did I choose this data set? Why did these materials make the most sense for the project? Why am I nervous to share my project with others? These questions and more follow the maker throughout the project. Sometimes, the chosen data set can be so deeply personal that the maker often finds the act of data physicalization essential for understanding the data set’s nuances.

Further the Field This goal is derived from the field of data physicalization itself. The data physicalization project likely has another goal or motivation behind its creation. However, every endeavour into the field thus furthers the study of data physicalization, no matter the maker, data set or resulting object.

As technologies continue to develop and new data sets are being explored, the data physicalization field of study expands. Even if a maker doesn’t realize that what they are making is contributing to the field, their actions are leading to a more robust research base.

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Case Studies

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These selected case studies demonstrate the range of data sets and final outcomes available to textile and fibre data physicalization. In the case study write-ups, I have applied three of my frameworks for analysis: Process, Maker Types, and Goals and Intentions. These frameworks help to identify the steps involved in creating a textile and fibre data physicalization, the skill sets and problem solving abilities of their makers, and the motivations and aspirations behind each project.

I selected these twelve case studies for their diversity of data sets, materials, encoding methods, makers and intentions.

Some of the projects do not use data in the typical sense of the word. For the purposes of this thesis report, data has been defined as any quantitative or qualitative occurrence that can be tracked and measured to tell a story. The stories told by these selected projects are often deeply personal, and their final forms are exceptionally beautiful. Through thread, yarn, hook or needle, people are finding ways to tell their story, share their experiences, and leave their mark on the world. Textile and fibre data physicalizations are a physical manifestation of the human experience.

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The Knitting Map

Fig. 16 – The Knitting Map Photo by Tomas Tyner.

Fig. 17 – The Knitting Map Photo by Nicola Moffat.

Maker

Jools Gilson and Richard Povall of half/angel studio with volunteers, 20051

Data set

Daily weather and traffic reports for Cork City, 20052

Data source

City centre CCTV footage and the local weather station3

Form

One knitted panel per day, combined to create a tennis court-sized tapestry4

Encoding method

Colour (weather) Stitch complexity (vehicle and pedestrian traffic)5

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Inspiration Jools and Richard of half/angel studio, tasked with creating a lasting cultural legacy for Cork City during the city’s year as the European Capital of Culture, found inspiration for the Knitting Map in cartography.6 We make maps to mark down our presence, to say, ‘I was here, I built a life here.’ What would happen if the map of Cork City wasn’t so literal, but still granted the city the opportunity to mark down its presence?7 Jools had done a number of art performances with knitting in the past, and knew how emotional the act of knitting can be for a person.8 The “social practice” of mapping could be applied to the social roots of knitting.9 What would an emotionally driven knitted metaphorical map of Cork City look like?

Reflection Undertaking this massive project would mean challenging people’s established notions of art and women’s work.10 Project volunteers ended up being primarily older, working-class women.11 These volunteers gave up their time and energy to this massive conceptual art project. Knitting and art still remain dissociated in the public conscience, and suddenly these volunteers were challenged to redefine their own personal distinctions between art and craft. This project gave “cartographic authority” to a group of people who faced marginalization and a lack of decision-making power in their regular life.12

Planning Around 2,500 volunteers were brought together for the creation of the Knitting Map.13 Each day, “digital codes” translated the incoming data into a knitting pattern – the complexity of the stitch type determined by the traffic and pedestrian activity, the colour determined by weather values.14 Jools and Richard selected natural, earthy colours of yarn to represent the undulating Cork City landscape, including its hills, valleys, ocean waves and dreary skies.15

Creation The basement of St. Luke’s Church in Cork City served as the home for the project’s volunteer knitters.16 The process was incredibly collaborative, given the tightly packed space.17 Knitters shared skills, tips, tricks and life stories every day for a year.18 This “communication linked by creative energies” connected the volunteers to a world of art that has tried for decades to exclude fibre and textile craftspeople from its midst.19 The Knitting Map’s creation attempted to break down the “elitist” walls surrounding the definition of art.20 The making of the Knitting Map was performative – with each stitch came a story, and with each story came the life of a volunteer.21

Dissemination The Knitting Map project was poorly received by the local and broader Irish community, right from its conception.22 Critics did not see it as a full representation of the Cork City experience, and found it to be a waste of taxpayer money.23 Those involved in the project, particularly the volunteers, remain baffled by the flurry of criticisms that the project endured.24 The project volunteers found working on the Knitting Map to be a valuable and emotional way to spend their time.25 Many critics misunderstood the cartographic metaphor employed in the project and thought it was supposed to be a real map of Cork City.26 Critics failed to recognize the data-driven efforts behind the knitting patterns, and merely saw a pack of “oul’ biddies” who spent the whole year knitting in the basement of a church for no justifiable reason.27 Local and Irish criticisms aside, the Knitting Map was indeed well-received elsewhere – it was even exhibited in Pennsylvania.28

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Blood Glucose Blanket The Knitting Map

Fig. 18 – Blood Glucose Blanket and yarn scale Photo by Holly Oyster.

Fig. 19 – Blood Glucose Blanket Photo by Holly Oyster.

Maker

Holly Oyster, 2019

Data set

Daughter’s daily blood glucose level at noon, January 2019 to present1

Data source

Daughter’s Continuous Blood Glucose monitor2

Form

Crocheted blanket, one row per day3

Encoding method

Colour (blood sugar level) Yarn type (emergency room visits or hospital stays)4

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Inspiration Holly, a mom of two and co-founder of an industrial automation company, has been crafting regularly since she and her husband first got together about thirteen years ago.5 She learned about and tried her hand at making a temperature scarf years ago, but didn’t end up finishing it for a number of reasons.6 Holly, being familiar with data processing in her work, learned about how the binary nature of knitting was used to pass secret messages during the Second World War.7 So, Holly thought, what other numbers can be translated into fibre form? Her 12-year-old daughter’s height as she grows, or maybe her grades?8 Then, “the light dawned” on Holly and she began to conceptualize a blanket based on her Type 1 diabetic daughter’s blood glucose levels – green shades for “good” levels, red shades for “dangerous” levels.9 “This would create a work uniquely hers,” because nobody’s blood sugar levels will ever be the same as her daughter’s.10

Reflection Holly shared her initial idea to some of her favourite online craft groups to seek inspiration for crochet patterns she could use.11 Among the many positive comments, Holly encountered some negative perspectives, often from diabetics.12 One commented, “I know for sure I’d not want to see a year of my failures and struggles ... on such a visual scale.”13 The last thing Holly wanted to do was shame her daughter for mismanaging her blood sugar levels, or try and scare her into taking better care of herself.14 To solve this, Holly chose to talk to her daughter about the idea – rather than give the blanket as a gift, as she had initially planned.15 Her daughter, ecstatic and enthusiastic, helped Holly choose a colour palette of soothing purples and teals – making it not immediately obvious which colours represent good days, and which represent bad days.16 For Holly, this project is about making something “functional and beautiful” for her daughter.17

Planning Holly chose a tight crochet stitch to best show off the colour variations and to avoid making the blanket ridiculously large.18 She divided up the data in such a way that one or two colours would not be the most prominent out of the entire colour scale.19 The data is not divided on an even scale because it reflects the natural data distribution Holly noticed in examining her daughter’s first four months of data in 2019.20 This makes for a more interesting colour distribution that does not hide the tiny intricacies of the data.

Her daughter’s Continuous Glucose Monitor uploads data every 3 minutes to Holly’s phone, which is then sent to a website accessed by her doctors, Holly and her husband.21 Holly used her daughter’s blood glucose levels at noon every day starting on January 1, 2019 to create her scale and to start the blanket.22 Holly also decided to include a thinner “eyelash yarn” on days spent in the emergency room or a hospital as “another subtle marker” of the life lived by an adolescent diabetic.23

Creation By the summer, the blanket had grown considerably large.24 Holly now saves up “10 to 30” rows to do at a time – given its size, it is no longer worth it to pull all the materials out each night to do a single row.25 As she has spent time with the data, Holly has noticed “a disturbing number of high blood sugars all the time” for her daughter, causing her to reflect on the family’s habits and activities.26 For Holly and her daughter, it is helpful to see this object evolve to demonstrate that even though the disease can be “ugly” at times, “it can be turned into something beautiful and comforting.”27

Dissemination Holly has shared her progress in two blog posts, and often shares updates on various online craft groups. Holly has noticed an uptick in comments from fellow diabetic caregivers and diabetics themselves who are interested in making their own Blood Glucose Blanket.28 Holly’s second blog post about the project includes a detailed description of how to break down the number ranges into an effective colour palette.29 As it is an object confined to the home and not in the public sphere, very few people have seen it in person. Those who have seen the blanket find its colours to be particularly engaging, even if they do not understand what the colours truly represent.30

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NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt

Fig. 20 – AIDS Memorial Quilt Photo by Mark Thiessen.

Fig. 21 – AIDS Memorial Quilt Photo by Carol M. Highsmith.

Maker

Cleve Jones with Mike Smith, Joseph Durant, Jack Caster, Gert McMullin, Ron Cordova, Larkin Mayo, Steve Kirchner, and Gary Yuschalk, 1987 – present1

Data set

Lives lost to the AIDS crisis2

Data source

Lived experiences of those closest to the people lost in the AIDS crisis3

Form

Patchwork quilt, over 48,000 panels total4

Encoding method

One 3’ x 6’ quilt panel per life lost5

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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The Sleep Blanket

Fig. 22 – The Sleep Blanket Photo by Seung Lee.

Fig. 23 – The Sleep Blanket in use Photo by Seung Lee.

Maker

Seung Lee1

Data set

Son’s sleeping patterns for his first year of life2

Data source

Note-taking and BabyConnect app logs3

Form

Knitted blanket4

Encoding method

Colour (grey – one stitch per 6 minutes asleep; blue – one stitch per 6 minutes awake)5

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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The Tempestry Project

Fig. 24 – The New Normal Tempestry Includes tags to add context with historical events. Photo by Emily McNeil.

Maker

Justin Connelly and Emily McNeil, 2017 – present

Data set

Original tempestries use daily high temperatures; New Normal tempestriess use annual deviation-from-average temperatures1

Data source

NOAA, Wunderground2

Form

Knitted, crocheted or woven small tapestries3

Encoding method

Colour (temperature) Beads (event markers, precipitation data)4

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Fig. 25 – The New Normal Tempestry Photo by Emily McNeil.

Inspiration Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration made many wary for the future, particularly given his climate change-denying attitudes. Knitters and number lovers Justin Connelly and Emily McNeil started the Tempestry Project with Marissa Connelly shortly after Trump’s inauguration.5 Tempestries, or temperature tapestries, are an extension of the temperature blanket phenomenon that has swept the fibre and textile community over the last few years. These knitted, crocheted and woven tapestries tell the tangible story of climate change in America, as well as about 30 countries around the world for which the Tempestry Project is starting to accumulate data.6 These tapestries and their “subtle activism” serve as a lasting reminder of the devastating state of our planet.7

Reflection As Trump amped up his climate change denials and withdrew funding from state departments monitoring the changing climate, Emily and Justin decided that the Tempestry Project was going to be home not only to their climate change tapestries, but also to a wealth of information collected by state governments on the state of the planet.8 The Tempestry Project website now hosts a collection of documents from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that were saved prior to their removal from the official EPA website in 2017.9 Exploring the Tempestry Project website causes audiences to reflect not only on these devastating representations of climate change, but also on the Trump administration’s attempts to silence the environmental movement towards a healthier planet.

Planning The Tempestry Project sources their American data primarily from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as they have found it to be accurate, reputable and reliable.10 Gaps in data, as the result of broken equipment or station shutdowns, are sometimes filled in with websites like Wunderground.11 To keep the tempestry kits affordable and consistent, the Project sources their yarn from KnitPicks.12 The Tempestry Project prepares the data sets for each state, including the necessary colour palette, so that people can make their own tempestries without needing to purchase a kit.13 Currently, crochet and knitting kits are available, but the Project would like to add weaving and cross stitch kits to their inventory in order to reach more crafters.14

Creation One of the Tempestry Project’s newest additions is their New Normal project, which is “a visual representation of annual deviations-from-average temperature for different locations.”15 US data covers 1895 to present day, while global data covers 1880 to present.16 Emily found the process of knitting the sample New Normal tempestries to be “strangely emotional” for her.17 She used beads to mark out the years in which her family members were born, so to see the later generations of her family born in the deep red portions of the tempestry was unsettling.18 Emily and Justin hope that others feel as connected to the data for their specific place as Emily has felt in doing hers for Washington.19

Dissemination Reception to the Tempestry Project has been overwhelmingly positive, with only a few naysayers seeping into the Facebook group.20 Emily and Justin often share their projects in the Facebook group ‘Mildly Offensive Fiber Artists™’ to bring as much attention to the cause as possible.21 The pair are hoping for more tempestries to make their way into museum and classroom exhibitions.22 Emily and Justin also create tempestries and send them to their state government officials, and bring them to local climate change protests in lieu of protest signs.23 The Tempestry Project is gaining traction each and every day as people discover the emotional importance of “slow activism.”24

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Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project

Fig. 26 – Crocheted mandala The patient is the red stitch in the centre. Hospital visitors upon arrival, 3 months and 6 months are the pink stitches. Photo by Larry Sanders.

Fig. 27 – Collection of crocheted mandalas Photo by Larry Sanders.

Maker

Lindsay Obermeyer, 2015 – 2016

Data set

Number of visitors for stroke patients in the hospital1

Data source

Social network research by Dr. Amar Dhand at Washington University2

Form

Crocheted mandalas, one per patient3

Encoding method

Raised, coloured stitches in 3 rings (stroke patient hospital visitors)4

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Inspiration Data artist Lindsay Obermeyer suffered a stroke that left her entirely dependent on her social network during the lengthy recovery.5 Once recovered, Lindsay began to work with her neurologist on an art installation to accompany his research about stroke patient hospital visitors.6 For this, Lindsay found inspiration in the structure of crochet.7 With crochet, “each loop is interdependent on the other,” much like how a stroke patient and their social network depend on one another.8

Reflection Dr. Amar Dhand’s work “illuminates the invisible architecture of a family structure and network of friends.”9 Given her own medical history and personal connection to the research, the process of drafting plans for a crocheted data installation on this topic was deeply moving for Lindsay.10

Planning Lindsay began her crochet studies with a number of mandala experiments.11 The mandala is “viewed as a healing symbol in the medical field”12 and represents “the universe.”13 The specific shade of blue for the backdrop is reminiscent of the “Come Back Strong campaign of the American Stroke Association.”14 The data is encoded in a bobble crochet stitch to increase its tactility and assist the visually impaired in exploring the data.15 The goal for the installation was to create 1,600 mandalas to “represent the 1,600 admitted stroke patients to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in 2014.”16

Creation Lindsay made several hundred mandalas herself, and relied on volunteer contributions to create the final installation – Katherine Hull and another volunteer by the name of Yvonne.17 Yarn companies also reached out to Lindsay – Lion Brand Yarns contributed the blue yarn for the three main panels of the installation.18

Dissemination The art installation of Dr. Amar Dhand’s data in crocheted form received much in the way of local press and even made it into the Washington Post.19 Lindsay found that people gravitated to the installation because of its “flashy”-ness and novelty.20 Lindsay remains on Dr. Amar Dhand’s team given her valuable opinions as both a stroke survivor and as an artist.21 The unusual nature of the data representation made waves in both Dr. Amar Dhand’s hospital of work and Washington University’s social network research division.22

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2019 Mets Scarf

Fig. 28 – 2019 Mets Scarf Photo by u/shmajent on Reddit.

Maker

Reddit user shmajent, 20191

Data set

Final scores for the New York Mets’ 162 games in 20192

Data source

Unknown

Form

Knitted scarf, one row per home run by team3

Encoding method

Colour (blue – Mets runs; orange – opponent’s runs) Tassels (total number of Mets wins) Baseball beads (games attended by the maker)4

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Emotional Labor Apron

Fig. 29 – Emotional Labor Apron Photo by Kate Kretz.

Maker

Kate Kretz with Karl Lista, 20191

Data set

Number of instances of emotional labour done by the maker in a single day2

Data source

Maker’s lived experience3

Form

Embroidered apron4

Encoding method

Each instance of emotional labour embroidered on the apron written in full5

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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All-American Girls

Fig. 30 – All-American Girls Photo by Roopa Vasudevan.

Fig. 31 – All-American Girls at the 2012 ITP Holiday Show Photo by Roopa Vasudevan.

Maker

Roopa Vasudevan, 2012

Data set

Percentage of women who voted for Obama and Romney by state, 20121

Data source

CNN exit polls2

Form

Cross stitched typography of ‘Obama’ and ‘Romney’3

Encoding method

Percentage of coloured stitches per name (red – Romney; blue – Obama)4

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Inspiration During the 2012 American election campaign, new media and conceptual artist Roopa Vasudevan became interested in the role of women as an up-and-coming essential voting block.5 At the same time, Roopa had rediscovered a childhood pastime in cross stitch and embroidery.6 In her academic life, Roopa was growing increasingly fascinated by data representation and coding.7 What would happen, Roopa wondered, if the 2012 election, so focused on women voters, was put in conversation with needlework, a traditionally gendered craft?8

Reflection Roopa considered the historical role of embroidery and other forms of needlework in stripping women of their agency, individuality and voice.9 Roopa thought about how to unite the construction of gender through embroidery with the agency and voice granted by having the ability to vote.10 The election came to a close on November 6, 2012, and President Barack Obama was elected for a second term. Roopa poses that if not for the support of women voters received by Obama, he may not have been re-relected.11 Roopa recalls the 2012 election as the first in her memory where candidates had to reckon with the importance of women as a voting block in America – their votes could make or break the election, one way or another.12

Planning Roopa used the open source programming framework Processing to write the code to create the patterns based on the percentage of women’s votes received by each candidate for four states, using data from CNN’s exit polls from the night of the election.13 Roopa drafted cross stitch patterns for a handful of states to be the top part of each final piece’s design.14

Creation Roopa found this project to be as much about the process of creating each piece as it was about the final collection of work.15 She finds the stitching process to be meditative and reflective, so working with this data set so intimately allowed Roopa the time to reflect on the importance of the data.16 Representing this data in such an analog, off-screen way helped Roopa figure out her future as a new media and conceptual artist.17

Dissemination The pieces were crafted for a project in Roopa’s fall 2012 semester of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).18 Roopa first exhibited the pieces at the ITP 2012 winter show,19 where she sat next to the exhibition and stitched.20 Roopa found that many people were drawn into the exhibition of her pieces because of their newness – we are used to seeing data represented in certain ways, so when representations break that mental model, we find their novelty fascinating.21 Roopa worries that data-driven textile and fibre arts projects may only gain public interest because of this novelty, and not because the public sees the physical form of the data as an enhanced representation of the data.22 During the first exhibition, Roopa received many requests to stitch other states, or to open an Etsy shop to sell her creations.23 To answer this call, Roopa created a pattern for the election results of seven additional states and made them free to download from her website.24 Roopa also ensured that her source data was available on the project page of her site.25

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139 Years of Global Temperature Change

Fig. 32 – 139 Years of Global Temperature Change Photo by Hannah Jones.

Maker

Hannah Jones, 2019

Data set

Standard deviations of annual global temperatures1

Data source

Professor Ed Hawkins’ Warming Stripes project2

Form

Knitted baby blanket, two rows per year3

Encoding method

Colour (average global temperature deviation from the norm)4

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Inspiration Hannah, who lives in the UK and works in pensions, began to knit as a way to spend her long commutes.5 She came across climate scientist Ed Hawkin’s visualization project called ‘Warming Stripes’ and immediately saw it as a “good knitting pattern.”6 An “eco-aware” friend of Hannah’s recently had a baby, so Hannah decided to translate Ed Hawkins’ Warming Stripes into a baby blanket.7

Reflection Making a baby blanket inspired by this iconic climate change visualization was a “dubious in-joke,” as Hannah and her husband are child-free for climate change reasons.8 Beginning the project gave Hannah the chance to reflect on what it means to be child-free for the sake of climate change, while still acknowledging the choices of those who choose to bring children into this world.

Planning Hannah used Microsoft Excel to determine how many colours made up the Warming Stripes.9 With a screenshot of the visualization sized out so each stripe was one Excel row, Hannah calculated how much of each shade she would need.10 Given the subject matter, Hannah was determined to avoid synthetic yarn.11 She decided to go for an eco-friendly cotton yarn, but finding a cotton-based yarn brand in the 16 necessary shades proved very difficult.12 Eventually, Hannah settled on the Scheepjes Cahlista brand of yarn13 to create the blanket, as it offered the right variety of shades in Hannah’s desired yarn weight and texture.14 Hannah modified the base pattern to include small hearts throughout the blanket to avoid making the blanket too “in-your-face” about climate change, especially given that its recipient was a baby.15

Creation Hannah found that the process of knitting the blanket really “ingrained” “every single moment, every single kind of temperature” into her mind.16 She estimates that the project took her about 70 hours to complete, so to spend day in and day out consumed by these shades of blues and reds really had an impact on her.17 While there were many shades of blue used throughout the project, as it neared completion and the data approached modern day, the colours switched to “very strong reds [with] almost nothing in between.”18 Many colours stopped being needed at various points, which Hannah found to be very troubling and proved to be a strong indication of our changing climate.19

Dissemination Hannah shared the finished blanket on Reddit’s knitting subreddit and received many positive comments.20 A few climate change naysayers stuck their noses in, but were quickly downvoted from the discussion.21 Fellow knitters shared links to similar projects, such as the Tempestry Project (see page 54) and Seung Lee’s Sleep Blanket (see page 53), to which Hannah was shocked and delighted.22 Hannah had not had any previous exposure to other data-driven fibre arts projects.23 Since posting about her blanket online, she has added several other data-driven projects to her knitting list.24 Hannah hopes that giving the baby blanket as a gift will allow her friend to carry a message of climate change with her in a way that’s not “too preachy.”25 As a blanket, it is an item that may be used daily, and will serve as a reminder of the state of the world each time it is seen.26 The blanket has a level of portability and functionality that is not achieved with a poster or a protest sign.27 The blanket may serve as a subtle way to start discussions and lead others to take action.28

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Train Delay Scarf

Fig. 33 – Train Delay Scarf Photo by Sara Weber.

Fig. 34 – Train Delay Scarf Photo by Sara Weber.

Maker

Claudia Weber1

Data set

Maker’s daily commute delays, 20182

Data source

Maker’s lived experience3

Form

Knitted scarf, two rows per day4

Encoding method

Colour (grey – less than 5 minutes; pink – 5 to 30 minutes; red – 30+ minutes)5

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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City Council Scarf

Fig. 35 – City Council Scarf Photo by Sue Montgomery.

Maker

Sue Montgomery1

Data set

Words spoken by city council representatives2

Data source

Maker’s lived experience3

Form

Knitted scarf4

Encoding method

Colour (red – men speaking; green – women speaking)5

Maker type

Goals and intentions

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Crafting the Human Experience

Engaging the Community Next Steps

What Up, Stitches?

In this report, I have presented my thinking on the use of the textile and fibre arts to create data physicalizations. The previous case studies and applied frameworks exemplify how and why the quantified human experience is being captured in physical form. With textile and fibre data physicalization, the human experience of crafting combines with the datafication of our world to create an enhanced human experience.

What Up, Stitches? started in October 2018.1 Facebook serves as the group’s primary platform, but with its small size and the close bonds formed by the members, WhatsApp has also become a communication tool for the group.2 The group has about seven regular members.3 What Up, Stitches? meets nearly every Sunday, with an average attendance of about five people.4

At this point in the process, it was time to involve other crafters. How could I speculate on the human experience – especially the human experience as it relates to crafting and the arts – without speaking with the crafting community? I devised a workshop that would accomplish three goals: » Increase my confidence in speaking about my thesis research with people. » Test my ideas about an enhanced human experience through crafting. » Help other crafters reflect on the importance of the textile and fibre arts in their life.

Social media proved to be of the utmost importance in my workshop design process. Facebook and Meetup are home to dozens of crafting groups in Ireland and the UK. I contacted nine knitting, stitching and general crafting groups: six from Dublin, two from London, and one from Belfast. Some declined or were unavailable. I was on a tight time frame and some groups were unable to accommodate a last-minute meeting. Two Dublin-based groups – What Up, Stitches? and Dublin Sewcial Club – got back to me with a surprisingly fervish interest. Dates were set and participants were informed. The workshops were a go.

Members share the Facebook page on their personal page, but the group has decided not to do too much else in order to promote the group.5 Members usually work on cross stitch and embroidery projects.6 The members of What Up, Stitches? are all very supportive and loving of one another, much like a small family.

The group is passionate about their chosen crafts and love spending time with other passionately crafty people.

Dublin Sewcial Club Dublin Sewcial Club formally began in August 2019 after an initial meeting in July.7 The group primarily uses Meetup to attract new members and disperse information about upcoming events.8 The overall reception to the group has been positive, but the meetups have remained small due to the impossible task of aligning dates and times that work for all members.9 Cross stitch and embroidery make up the most popular crafts brought to the meetups, but founder Alice has seen attendees quilt, knit, darn, crochet and draft patterns.10 Many members are in their 20s and 30s, which founder Alice notes as particularly surprising to outsiders and even other members.11 She notes how people associate these crafts with older generations, and how even those younger folks who do these crafts are delighted to find other, younger people like themselves with the same interests.12 Alice cites social media as a strong influence on busting this age stereotype.13

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Workshop Outline

The workshop is comprised of seven stages, three of which are the core activities. Activity 1 asks participants to reflect on what it means to be human. Activity 2 asks participants to reflect on their crafting process. Activity 3 asks participants to reflect on the experiences of crafting they enjoy the most. This activity results in a participatory data physicalization about the human experiences behind crafting made out of crocheted granny squares.

What is a granny square, you ask? It’s a crochet pattern worked ‘in the round’ – meaning the project starts with a small loop in which stitches are worked in a counter-clockwise fashion (see Fig. 36).

The maker only needs to know four basic crochet techniques in order to make a granny square. The granny square is known for being a quick and easy pattern to use up odd lengths of yarn. Its history is murky but seems to have roots in early America, where colonialists made use of every scrap of yarn possible with little waste.1 It hit a resurgence in the 70s because of the opportunities posed by the pattern to create delightfully hippie clothing and accessories.2 Nowadays, the granny square is still thriving – loved or hated the world over. In fact, many temperature blankets use variations on the technique, with one square being stitched per day (see Fig. 37).3 I find the granny square to be a very relaxing pattern. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch the project grow round by round.

For this workshop activity, I made 49 granny squares – 40 for the first workshop, of which nine were used, and nine more as replacements for the second workshop. I was stitching granny squares for about four days straight. This time spent stitching helped me get emotionally and mentally ready for the workshops.

The next two pages outline the seven steps in the workshop. To view the full workshop booklet, see page 164.

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Fig. 36 – Creating a granny square One of 49 granny squares crocheted for the community workshops.

Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 37 – Granny square temperature blanket Crocheted for the maker’s sister by u/quantum-kate on Reddit. The grey square represents the sister’s birthday.

Each square uses the daily high and low temperature. The spiral squares represent the high, low and average from each month. Photo by u/quantum-kate.

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Activity 2 YOUR CRAFTING PROCESS

n to be es the ng human smell hat does the textile an for the e? Use the ed as a base houghts. w more itional as needed.

Think about a crafting project you recently completed. Reflect on how you felt during each step.

Which parts of the crafting process changed your mood or affected your overall experience? Where did you experience unanticipated hiccups or issues? Were there any steps that ended up being easier or more difficult than you anticipated?

Use the box here to illustrate or describe your chosen project and the process behind its creation. Use the lines below the box to capture some thoughts about your crafting process.

Project:

Issue(s) encountered:

Time to complete: Easiest part(s): Material(s) used:

Most difficult part(s): Time(s) when mood changed:

Introduction: The Topic

Introduction: Getting to Know You

Activity 1: Being Human

Activity 2: Your Crafting Process

I introduce my thesis research, including a summary of data physicalization, a handful of textile- and fibre-based physicalization examples, and an explanation of the connections between crafting and the human experience. We talk briefly about the research, and I answer any questions they might have.

I run through the ethics and consent checklist and invite the participants to share their hobbies. This provides an opportunity for the participants to reflect on the crafty parts of their lives and why they participate in these public crafting meetups.

I introduce the activity and ask some prompting questions. The participants are free to doodle and sketch out their mind maps.

I invite them to make as many cross-connections and new lines as they need to capture their thoughts.

This activity lets the participants reflect on their human experience and how crafting fits into the picture.

It is a chance for me to see how others define what it means to be human.

I introduce the activity and answer any questions from the participants. The participants can sketch, illustrate or write out their crafting process in addition to answering the provided questions. This activity prompts participants to reflect on their process and consider the deeply emotional aspects of crafting. From here, I can look for gaps in my own thinking about what it means to have an enhanced human experience in general, and as the result of crafting.

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G DATA TOGETHER

ou enjoy the ut the experience ? Choose three granny squares h your favourite es from the piles Don’t see an e you identify with, ne is missing? Grab anny square and a of paper, write the e on the paper, and e granny square. yone has made es, we’ll craft a calization of the gether.

Sense of accomplishment

Moments of selfreflection or mindfulness

Freedom of expression and creativity

Connection to ancestors and family

Giving meaningful gifts

Feelings of selfsufficiency or independence

Collaboration and knowledge-sharing

Learning new or challenging skills

Process of making tangible objects

Other

Activity 3: Crafting Data Together

Conclusion: Feedback Form

Conclusion: Learning More

I introduce the activity and lay out the materials. The participants are invited to make their selections. We combine our squares to create a data physicalization together. This gives the participants a chance to reflect on the reasons why they craft, while also applying their learnings about data physicalization.

With this activity, I can observe how people feel about creating a data physicalization, and take note of what personal connections or stories the participants share about their selections.

I give the participants a few minutes to reflect on the activities and share their likes and dislikes about the workshop. This final moment of reflection helps the participants digest the experience and potentially share helpful improvements for future workshops.

I give the participants a handout with some helpful links and book titles in case they want to learn more.

The handout also includes my contact information in case they need to withdraw their consent from the workshop, or have any additional comments or questions.

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Workshop One What Up, Stitches?

November 17 First Draft Wine and Coffee Marina Moraru Marina Garckusha

What Up, Stitches? kindly invited me to their stitching session prior to the workshop. When I arrived, I found five women – two older, three younger – in light, friendly conversation. The table was covered in stitching paraphernalia – project bags, scissors, pattern pages, thread.

The group welcomed me to the table.

Apparently it was ‘Drama Sunday,’ so they asked if I had any drama to share. Unfortunately I had none, so I listened as the women shared tales of missed buses and rude neighbours. The group asked me questions about school and about life in Canada, and three of them expressed their sincere regret for being unable to attend the workshop. As we stitched, we shared stories and jokes and complimented each other’s work. Sitting with these incredibly kind and supportive women made me wish that I had sought out a crafting group back when I first arrived in Ireland.

Fig 38 – Marina M. sketching a recent project Photo by Madison Snell.

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Fig. 39 – Marina M. and Marina G. selecting their squares Photo by Madison Snell

My two participants were excited and enthusiastic the entire time. As I ran through the ethics and consent checklist, both of them expressed a desire to not be anonymous in this writeup. Reader, meet Marina and Marina. Both of them with Moldovan and Russian backgrounds, both married to men named Egor. Honestly, what are the chances. Marina M. is the founder of What Up, Stitches? She was very interested in the concept of data physicalization and shared many stories about her love of science and data – her and her husband’s wedding rings have an imprint of the other’s fingerprint, for one.

her top three favourite craft-related experiences. The conversation that followed Marina G.’s selection ended up changing Marina M.’s mind on the notion of giving handmade gifts to others.

As we worked through the activities, Marina M. and Marina G. shared their thoughts and opinions openly. With only two participants, I was able to have more in-depth and one-on-one conversations than I think would have been possible with more participants.

Entirely unprompted in the third activity, Marina M. explained her reasonings behind the granny squares she chose – even going so far as to justify the granny squares she didn’t choose. In making her selections, Marina M. was extremely adamant that she did not resonate with the experience of “Giving meaningful gifts.” Marina M. stated that she does not think the hard work and care that goes into her pieces would be appreciated by others. In contrast, Marina G. chose “Giving meaningful gifts” as one of

Fig. 40 – Completed participatory data physicalization Black for the process of making tangible objects, red for sense of accomplishment, dark green for giving meaningful gifts, pink for moments of self-reflection or mindfulness and light green for connections to ancestors and family. Photo by Madison Snell.

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Workshop Two Dublin Sewcial Club November 23 St James’ Parochial Hall Alice Brady

Alice Brady of Dublin Sewcial Club organized a special meetup just for the workshop. She was working a craft market in Dublin that day and kindly had a friend watch her booth for an hour. Unfortunately, the other attendee who RSVP’d on Meetup did not actually show up. I ended up modifying the third activity so that we had to rank our three favourite craft-related experiences – top experience got three granny squares, second favourite got two granny squares, and third favourite got one granny square.

During the workshop, I asked Alice about her education at the Royal School of Needlework – she has a BA in Embroidery – and her experiences at craft markets and in teaching classes. When we were selecting our favourite experiences, Alice specifically pointed out that she does not feel like embroidery gives her feelings of

Fig. 41 – Participant Alice Brady working on the activities Photo by Madison Snell.

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Fig. 42 – Granny squares ready for selection Photo by Madison Snell.

self-sufficiency and independence. I prompted her to consider that she does make some money by doing commissions, selling at markets and teaching classes.

This made Alice reconsider her ideas of embroidery as a hobby versus an income-generating activity. While she did not end up selecting the square as one of her three experiences, I think it still changed how she thinks about her craft.

The final data physicalization demonstrated that between the two of us, we both enjoy the sense of accomplishment granted by finishing a project, and enjoy the process of collaboration and knowledge-sharing that comes from wanting to share one’s craft. While I was more interested in the process of making a tangible object, Alice leaned more towards the initial creative spark of a new idea, and the freedom of expression that crafting gives space for. Together, our data physicalization represents the experiences of two people who craft because of creativity, accomplishment, tangibility and collaboration.

Fig. 43 – Completed participatory data physicalization Red for sense of accomplishment, dark blue for collaboration and knowledge-sharing, yellow for freedom of expression and creativity and black for process of making tangible objects. Photo by Madison Snell.

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Key Learnings The Human Experience of Crafting

Data Physicalization

To evaluate my key learnings from these workshops, I applied my Five Pillars of the Human Experience framework that I identified on page 38. I modified this framework to evaluate the impact of crafting on the human experience.

The most notable part about making the data physicalizations in both workshops was the process. I observed that the participants held onto each square, fidgeting with it ever so slightly, as they explained the reasons why they chose that particular square. The sense of touch and tangibility seemed to be key here. As we made our selections for our favourite crafting experiences, we shared stories about past projects and anecdotes from our lives. We asked each other questions, and pushed ourselves to explain our choices and think a bit deeper about what crafting means for us in our lives.

The human experience of crafting is ephemeral We look to capture moments of meaning in physical form. Just like a photograph, a handmade crafted object serves as a vessel for memories – memories not just of the moment the object represents, but also memories of its creation. The object becomes a physical manifestation of the frustration, pain, delight and satisfaction that went into its creation.

The actual crafting was just a few moments in time, but the object is forever.

The human experience of crafting is beautiful We craft because we seek beauty. We want to share our crafts with others so they too can appreciate their beauty. We craft to capture the beautiful moments of the human experience – weddings, births, celebrations, relationships. Crafting means a translation of life into beautiful stitches.

The human experience of crafting is personal We create with our hands because we need to process grief, heal our minds, and find moments of pause and reflection. Our creations are an extension of ourselves. Letting people see what we have created means opening up and putting our fears aside, at least just for a moment.

The human experience of crafting is collaborative Making can be a group effort. Whether it’s all on one project or everyone working separately in the same space, we make new experiences by crafting together. We seek outside help when we encounter techniques we do not know. The need for ancestral and familial connections brings us back to craft.

The human experience of crafting is performative The act of crafting is a performance, a dance between crafter and material. We may be judged on our performance – a frayed seam, a loose stitch, a misplaced colour. The performance of crafting brings together the other human experiences of crafting – the performance is ephemeral, beautiful, personal and collaborative.

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Once the data physicalization was assembled, there were a handful of comments tossed around about our sometimes similar choices, but the most interesting conversations were in our different choices. The process of making these data physicalizations demonstrated that people are curious, supportive and full of emotion when it comes to the textile and fibre arts.

Moving Forward Future Workshop Goals More participants While I am extremely happy with the results I received from my three participants, I cannot deny that I went into both workshops a little disappointed. The small sample size does not take away from my key learnings, however. I do not wish to invalidate the experiences of my participants just because there were only three of them in the workshops. However, all three of my participants were young white women, so it would have been helpful to have a more diverse range of participants in terms of culture, heritage, age and gender.

Diversity of crafting types As an avid cross stitcher myself, I was quite happy to speak with people whose primary crafts were cross stitch and embroidery.

However, having more variety in the types of crafting done by participants might have changed the responses in a way I could never predict.

Better prepared examples of textile and fibre data physicalizations Not only did I fail to include visual examples of physicalizations in the workshop activity booklets, but I also did not think about cross stitch- and embroidery-based examples to show the participants. If I did the workshop again, I would prepare a separate handout of textile and fibre data physicalizations to better communicate the concept to participants.

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Crafting My Human Experience

Making a Meaningful Data Physicalization Opportunities for Physicalization

My Human Experience of Physicalization

After all this talk about data physicalization and the textile and fibre arts, there was absolutely no way I was escaping the semester without making my own fibre physicalization. Since September, I have toyed around with how to not only make the physicalization meaningful to my thesis, but also to myself. Do I make a temperature blanket based on weather data from my time in Europe? Perhaps I could combine it with weather data from back home in Calgary, Alberta. I considered going the self-tracking route multiple times, but I just don’t have the discipline. I could have kept track of the hours I spent reading academic papers and blog posts, or how many steps I walked while exploring Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. I even thought about creating a physicalization based on how long it would take me to write this thesis.

To justify and provide reasoning for the creation of a data physicalization based on my thesis research, I applied my Five Pillars of the Human Experience framework that I identified on page 38.

I used my framework to evaluate my plan against my own thinking.

None of these physicalization opportunities struck a chord with me. Temperature seemed like an easy out. Self-tracking required too much premeditation and follow-through. I needed to plan a physicalization that would encapsulate my five pillars of the human experience – ephemeral, beautiful, personal, collaborative and performative. Insert light bulb moment here. What better way to capture my research in a data physicalization than to literally use my research to make it? I could analyze the key concept research portion of my thesis – reduce it to numbers by counting keyword frequency, citation use, research topics – and translate the resulting numbers into a data physicalization.

The human experience is collaborative This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of so many people here and back home – not to mention my charrette students, workshop participants, and interviewees.

The human experience is ephemeral My thesis will live on in physical form, but only as paper and poster. To remind myself of the hard work and commitment that went into its creation, I need my thesis visually present every single day.

The human experience is beautiful A unique pattern will emerge from the text analysis and turn my thesis from black-and-white text into a colourful explosion of texture and softness.

The human experience is personal These are my words, borne out of my thoughts, my research, my interviews, my design.

The human experience is performative The actual making of the data physicalization based on my thesis research would be the ultimate performance – a data physicalization made from fibre based on the text analysis of a written thesis about textile and fibre data physicalizations.

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Visualization Literacy in the Fibre Arts

When I first dipped my toes into the world of crochet, I was faced with the challenge of not only crafting the stitches correctly, but also interpreting them from a pattern.

Crochet patterns exist in two common forms: written word, and symbols. Both are like entirely new languages to the uninitiated. Written crochet patterns are

Fig. 44 – Crochet symbol dictionary Diagram by Taylor Ruecker.

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chock-full of abbreviations, brackets, asterisks and punctuation. Symbol-based patterns are – you guessed it – comprised of symbols representing hundreds of stitch formations (see Figs. 39 and 40). This adds a whole new meaning to the term ‘visualization literacy.’

Fig. 45 – Symbol pattern for a basic granny square Diagram by Taylor Ruecker.

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Applying the Data Physicalization Process Using the data physicalization process I defined on page 40, I created a symbol-based crochet pattern for a scarf out of my key concepts research on the textile and fibre arts, data and datafication, and data physicalization. To see the final crochet pattern, see page 84.

Inspiration The idea of wrapping oneself in a favourite or significant text has been in my head since I first did the Bubblelines project in May 2016 (see page 10). As an avid reader and lover of books from a young age, I cannot stress the importance of text in my life enough. Translating my thesis research – arguably the most significant text in my life at the current moment – into a wearable and usable crocheted object feels like I have gone full circle since the Bubblelines project.

I like the notion that on its surface, the resulting object will seem like just your standard crocheted piece, its deeper meaning only known to me and those I choose to tell. As a fairly amateur crocheter, I am excited to test my abilities and explore different stitch types. As an academic and information designer, I am curious to see how encoding data about my thesis in a physical manner in ways besides just colour will turn out in the actual stitched object. To create a crocheted data physicalization about my thesis research on data physicalization using the textile and fibre arts feels like the perfect finale to this part of my academic career.

Reflection I used the key concepts research portion of my thesis (pages 16 to 28, excluding pages 19, 22 and 25) to create the crochet pattern. It felt far too meta to also translate the part of my thesis where I describe how I’m going to translate my thesis into a crochet pattern. I had to wait until I was fully satisfied with that text before I could start the translation process.

Making each sentence into its own row in the crochet pattern was important to me because I want to see the full length of my research represented in the final piece. I want a physical representation of exactly the amount of secondary research I conducted for this thesis. I also drafted this pattern so that it would be a test of my text analysis and crochet abilities.

Planning Given my (lack of) crochet skills, I created a pattern for a simple scarf. Not only is this a relatively simple project – a long rectangle – but it fulfills my desire of being able to wrap myself in my thesis. It will keep me warm in the cold Canadian winter I am heading home to, and it will remind me of the cold mornings I experienced in my many Ireland AirBnbs that seemed averse to turning on the heating. I incorporated 3 types of data into the pattern: frequency of three keywords per research topic (each keyword represented with one of three stitch types), citation use, and figure reference.

I consulted several crochet blogs to learn about different stitch types. Based on a tutorial from craftinghappiness.com, I settled on the popcorn stitch, bobble stitch, and puff stitch as the stitch types for the three keywords data set. To indicate citation use in a sentence, I will use a technique called ‘double stranding,’ where I will stitch with an additional yarn of a lighter weight for any row that used a citation in its corresponding text. This is represented in the pattern with a solid white drop shadow on the relevant rows. To indicate a reference to a figure in a sentence, I will stitch the relevant row in the back loop only (in crochet, you usually work under both loops to create a stitch).

This is represented in the pattern with a small arc above each stitch in the relevant rows.

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To create the crochet pattern, I used Microsoft Excel and Adobe InDesign. First, I pasted each line of text into an Excel spreadsheet so that each word was in its own cell. This helped me determine the word count of each sentence. Then, I used conditional formatting to locate my keywords and added columns to note if the sentence used a citation or referenced a figure. After, I noted down where each keyword was in a sentence (word 7 out of 20, for example). Since each sentence is one row of the pattern, I needed to convert each keyword location into a percentage. If the word was word #7 out of 20 words, then it was 35% into the sentence – making it approximately the ninth stitch out of my 25-stitch row.

From here, I turned to InDesign. I used the typeface Stitchin Crochet PRO by Adriprints to generate the symbols I needed for the pattern. I created three tables of 25 rows of double crochet stitches (3).

Then, I went in and replaced double crochet stitches with the three special stitch types (U o G) based on the keyword locations for all three research topics. I only created a pattern for the three key topics: the textile and fibre arts, data and datafication, and data physicalization. Each of the three sections is separated with a row of single crochet stitches (1). Each section will be a different colour, as reflected in the pattern.

Creation The scarf will be highly textural and colourful, and will be made out of yarn. I will probably use either a 5mm or 6mm hook – the hook size being dependent on the yarn weight I end up choosing. I like the feeling of merino yarn the best. It would be nice if the yarn could be purchased from a place in Ireland that spins or dyes their own 100% merino yarn, but this might get expensive quickly. To save costs – and apply those savings to my student debt – I will have to go the acrylic blend route. Given the state of my luggage, I may not be able to start the scarf before I leave Ireland. Although it will be less meaningful, I will likely have to purchase the yarn in Canada.

I often crochet while listening to a podcast or watching a TV show. I find that I can focus on the podcast or show better if my hands are occupied. However, given my amateur crocheter status, combined with the unfamiliar stitch types that will inevitably be incorporated into the pattern, I may have to refocus my attention solely onto the crochet process until I get more comfortable with the new stitches. In fact, I might even practice the new stitch types prior to beginning the actual project.

My hope is that I maintain my motivation throughout the duration of the project. The impending sense of satisfaction and accomplishment I will feel at completing the project will likely be the driving force during its creation. Even if it doesn’t end up looking exactly like how I have pictured it in my head, the process will have undoubtedly been extremely valuable. I will have put my thesis – and my crochet skills – to the test, so no matter the aesthetic result, I should be pleased with myself.

Dissemination The crochet pattern will serve as my final artifact in my thesis defense. It will be a physical demonstration of my thesis research and synthesis, and will accompany my thesis report, which details its creation and purpose. Once I complete the actual crocheted object, I will likely share the project on the craft-based Facebook and Reddit groups I am involved with. It would also be very meaningful to have the finished project shared on dataphys.org, as the website served as a primary source and inspiration for my research this semester.

A legend of sorts to delineate the meaning behind the crochet pattern will be included at the thesis defense. I don’t think I will share the legend when I post the project on social media. Rather, I will include a brief summary about the basics – colour denoting research section, stitch types denoting keywords. I like the idea that some of the project will remain mysterious, even though I feel a strong desire to share it with others.

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Key Concepts Research Scarf Pattern

‘Textile and fibre arts’ is the umbrella term for techniques such as sewing, weaving, quilting, spinning, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery and knitting.

In today’s modern age, to continually call the textile and fibre arts ‘women’s work’ or ‘just for girls’ serves only to perpetuate this carefully constructed narrative of femininity.

The “working-class girls” learned the activity “in preparation for their future as wives, mothers or domestic servants,” while “middle-class girls” learned needlework as an art form.20

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984.

I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

20

Fig. 7 – Craftivist embroidery project Stitched in response to the #MeToo movement by Badasscrossstitch.

Photo by Badasscrossstitch.

This artistic explosion of the 70s is akin to today’s craftivism movement, wherein traditional crafts, often using the textile and fibre arts, are used to make political, social, anticapitalist and empowering statements (see Fig. 7).37 Wikipedia contributors. “Craftivism.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Craftivism, 17 Sept. 2019. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

37

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For the purposes of this thesis, data has been defined as any quantitative or qualitative occurrence that can be tracked, measured or collected in order to tell a story.

Self-tracking can be a way of taking back the power of one’s personal data.

Aesthetic curiosity28 This style was identified because some self-trackers also happen to be artists.

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

28

When it comes to understanding and communicating data, we have had to develop and increase our data and visualization literacy.32 ”Data Visualization Literacy with Jeremy Boy, Helen Kennedy and Andy Kirk.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 9 March 2016, datastori.es/69-data-visualization-literacywith-jeremy-boy-helen-kennedy-and-andy-kirk/.

32

Cherry-picking data can be necessary when it comes to data visualization. The problem arises when the cherry-picked data leaves out a significant chunk of the story that the visualization should tell, or serves to only reinforce certain aspects of a story.

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of taking back the power of one’s personal data.

Aesthetic curiosity28 This style was identified because some self-trackers also happen to be artists.

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

28

When it comes to understanding and communicating data, we have had to develop and increase our data and visualization literacy.32 ”Data Visualization Literacy with Jeremy Boy, Helen Kennedy and Andy Kirk.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 9 March 2016, datastori.es/69-data-visualization-literacywith-jeremy-boy-helen-kennedy-and-andy-kirk/.

32

Cherry-picking data can be necessary when it comes to data visualization. The problem arises when the cherry-picked data leaves out a significant chunk of the story that the visualization should tell, or serves to only reinforce certain aspects of a story.

[Catherine] D’Ignazio is calling for the data visualization community to acknowledge the power structures behind data – the decision to collect data, the exclusion of groups from that data collection, how and by whom that data gets curated and communicated, and to whom that data is communicated.48 D’Ignazio, Catherine. “What would feminist data visualization look like?”

Medium, 22 Jan. 2017, medium.com/@kanarinka/what-would-feminist-datavisualization-look-like-aa3f8fc7f96c. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

48

How can the work done at each stage be properly addressed and attributed in the final visualization?

86 Sometimes, data physicalization is about getting the sense of a downward slope, rather than knowing exactly

[Catherine] D’Ignazio is calling for the data visualization community to acknowledge the power structures behind data – the decision to collect data, the exclusion of groups from that data collection, how and by whom that data gets curated and communicated, and to whom that data is communicated.48 D’Ignazio, Catherine. “What would feminist data visualization look like?”

Medium, 22 Jan. 2017, medium.com/@kanarinka/what-would-feminist-datavisualization-look-like-aa3f8fc7f96c. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

48

How can the work done at each stage be properly addressed and attributed in the final visualization?

Sometimes, data physicalization is about getting the sense of a downward slope, rather than knowing exactly what number is at which part of the slope (see Fig. 8) – creating what data sculptor Adrien Segal calls an “intuitive, embodied knowledge” of the data.1 ”Data Sculptures with Adrien Segal.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 20 September 2017, datastori.es/106-data-sculptures-with-adrien-segal/.

1

Fig. 8 – Strata Bench by Adrien Segal Inspired by the geological landscape of Death Valley, CA. Crafted out of plywood by Adrien Segal. Photo by Adrien Segal.

The idea of physical data is not novel. In fact, we have only been visualizing data in the digital sphere for merely a handful of decades since the advent of the computer.9 “Researching the Boundaries of InfoVis with Sheelagh Carpendale.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 8 August 2018, datastori. es/125-researching-the-boundaries-of-infovis-with-sheelagh-carpendale/.

9

Data physicalization is not a reversion to the pre-digital era. Instead, the field is about embracing experiences that use all of our senses.

The creation of a data physicalization can lead to a deeper understanding of the data because of the sheer amount of time spent with the numbers needed to figure out a properly contextualized physical representation.28 Dragicevic, Pierre, et al. “Data Physicalization.” Springer Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, edited by Jean Vanderdonckt, Springer, 2019.

28

Crochet pattern symbols generated with Stitchin Crochet PRO typeface by Adriprints

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Conclusion

Wrapping Up

For this thesis report, I tackled the topic of textile and fibre data physicalization. I conducted secondary research with non-fiction books, podcasts, thinkpieces, social media scans, and peer-reviewed articles on the following topics: » The textile and fibre arts. » Data and datafication. » Data physicalization.

I also carried out four interviews and distributed six questionnaires to subject matter experts, including communication and media scholars, activists, educators, and hobbyist crafters.

These interviews and questionnaires, coupled with my secondary research, brought me to my central conclusions: that the textile and fibre arts are being used to create data physicalizations as a response to the datafication of our human experience, and that the process of creating a textile and fibre physicalization not only humanizes the data, but also leads to an enhanced human experience for the maker.

Based on my primary and secondary research, I created four frameworks through which to analyze and categorize the human experience and data physicalization projects: » » » »

The Five Pillars of the Human Experience.

Data Physicalization Process.

Data Physicalization Maker Types.

Data Physicalization Goals and Intentions.

The first framework brings a certain level of emotion to the structured and academic process I had engaged with thus far. They identify what I feel are the five key elements to the human experience: » » » » »

The human experience is ephemeral.

The human experience is beautiful.

The human experience is personal.

The human experience is collaborative.

The human experience is performative.

I applied three of the frameworks – Process, Maker Types, and Goals and Intentions – to twelve case studies of textile and fibre data physicalizations. The selected physicalizations are emotionally driven, beautiful and functional objects that were created by a diverse set of makers using a wide range of data sets. Using my frameworks, I was able to categorize and better understand the motivations, purposes and reasonings behind the projects. The makers behind these physicalizations were looking for a personal way to deal with the datafication of our world, and almost nothing is more personal than a lovingly handcrafted object using data that came from the human experience.

Exploring these case studies at such an intimate level made me consider what I mean by the human experience more deeply. I propose that crafting – whether using data or not – leads to an enhanced human experience. I tested this proposal by engaging with the Dublin crafting community in two workshops.

These workshops introduced crafters to the notion of textile and fibre data physicalization and helped the crafters consider the impact that crafting has on their human experience. I conducted these workshops with three local Dublin embroiderers. Both workshops concluded with a participatory data physicalization that helped the participants apply their learnings about data physicalization while simultaneously pushing them to recognize and name the experiences about crafting that they enjoy the most.

To conclude my exploration into the world of textile and fibre data physicalization, I drafted a pattern for a crocheted scarf using the key concepts research portion of this thesis report. I reduced my thesis research to mere numbers and enhanced my educational experience by creating a plan for its physicalization.

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[The Tempestry Project turns] into something beautiful and visual and ancestral.

You look back at what you’ve experienced and what your parents and grandparents have experienced ... using a technique that’s been around for millennia to capture the data generated by our modern mechanations. There’s a juxtaposition there that ... people crave.

– conversation with Emily McNeil and Justin Connelly of The Tempestry Project

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A New String Revolution

I believe that textile and fibre data physicalization is important to the future of being human. In amongst all the numbers, we continually return to these ancient, analog and deeply personal methods of craft. We communicate through craft by expressing complex emotions and creativity. When we craft, we are joining the ranks of the ancestors before us who crafted for survival, for power and for love.

When we combine this deeply personal and communicative act with the digital world of data that is borne from the human experience, we return the human element to the numbers. As the world becomes more and more reliant on numbers and data, I believe that textile and fibre data physicalization can be a way to retain our humanity. Textile and fibre data physicalization will be the String Revolution of our time.

Just like the creation of string revolutionized the humans of the past, so too will textile and fibre data physicalization. The process is infinitely more approachable, accessible and affordable than other forms of data representation, which will help break down barriers based on education and privilege.

In being approachable, accessible and affordable, textile and fibre data physicalization democratizes data representation and data processing. These skills will be of the utmost importance as we move further and further into the age of data and the datafication of our human experience.

I would encourage everyone to work with their hands in some form or another – be it textile, fibre, wood or clay. Irish writer Vawn Corrigan writes that “the act of making is nurturing and empowering”1 – a statement I stand by and wholeheartedly believe in. So the next time you pass by an arts and crafts store, step in and see what speaks to you the most. It could be needle and thread, yarn and hook, wheel and clay.

In whatever you find, I hope you feel the same sense of joy I felt when I unwrapped my first sewing machine on Christmas many years ago, or when I wore my very first crocheted hat. Let yourself embrace your humanness and make something with your own two hands.

This research has taught me the value of appreciating our lived experience as a valid source of information in amongst the false objectivity of data. It does not serve humanity well to doubt the experiences of those around us and to place more faith in algorithmically generated numbers than in our own kin. All we have in this world is each other. We must do whatever we can to empower each other to be our best, most authentic selves.

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References

Selected Sources

Books Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

Corrigan, Vawn. Irish Aran: History, Tradition, Fashion. O’Brien Press LTD, 2019.

Davidson, Rosemary and Arzu Tahsin. Craftfulness: Mend yourself by making things. Quercus Editions Ltd, 2018.

Gilson, Jools and Nicola Moffat (eds.). Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map. E-book, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.

Hunter, Clare. Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle. E-book, Sceptre Books, 2019.

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

Parkes, Clara. Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World. Abrams Press, 2017.

Articles Boehnert, Joanna. “Data visualisation does political things.” Proceedings of DRS2016: Design + Research + Society, Future-Focused Thinking. 50th Anniversary Conference of the Design Research Society, 27th-30th June 2016, Brighton, edited by Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E., 2016.

D’Ignazio, Catherine. “What would feminist data visualization look like?”

Medium, 22 Jan. 2017, medium.com/@kanarinka/what-would-feministdata-visualization-look-like-aa3f8fc7f96c. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

Dragicevic, Pierre, et al. “Data Physicalization.” Springer Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, edited by Jean Vanderdonckt, Springer, 2019.

Jansen, Yvonne et al. Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization.

Presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, United States, 2015.

Podcasts ”Data Pottery with Alice Thudt.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 3 January 2018, datastori.es/112-data-pottery-with-alice-thudt/. ”Dear Data with Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 25 November 2015, datastori.es/ dear-data-with-giorgia-lupi-and-stefanie-posavec-ds64/. ”Feminist Data Visualization with Catherine D’Ignazio.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 23 November 2017, datastori. es/109-feminist-data-visualization-with-catherine-dignazio/.

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List of Figures

Fig. 1 – Screenshot by Madison Snell.

Fig. 2 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 3 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 4 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 5 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 6 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 7 – Badass Cross Stitch. “Boys will be held accountable for their fucking actions.” Instagram, 8 July 2019, www.instagram.com/p/ Bzp8upVF0WI/ Fig. 8 – Segal, Adrien. Strata Bench, 2019, www.adriensegal.com/stratabench. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 9 – Photo by SugarStacks.com.

Fig. 10 – Ableiter, Claus. “Quipu.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 May 2016. Web. 28 Dec 2019.

Fig. 11 – Thudt, Alice. Jagoda’s PhD Mug, 2018, life-in-clay.alicethudt.de/ portfolio/jagodas-phd-mug/. Accessed 28 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 12 – u/ArtEclectic. “Temperature afghan marking son’s senior year in high school. He’s 6’1” with arms straight in the air.” Reddit, 23 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/dlwprg/temperature_ afghan_marking_sons_senior_year_in/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 13 – u/mazzomop. “First Year Temperature Blanket.” Reddit, 8 Aug. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/cno5zx/first_year_ temperature_blanket/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 14 – Diagram by Madison Snell.

Fig. 15 – @Lagomorpho. “There’s nothing quite like the feeling of someone loving the thing you made for them.” Twitter, 15 July 2019, 4:56 a.m., twitter.com/Lagomorpho/ status/1150615166838382592?s=20.

Fig. 16 – Gilson, Jools. “How a knitting project in Cork became a controversial yarn.”RTE, 3 Apr. 2019, www.rte.ie/ brainstorm/2019/0402/1040209-how-a-knitting-project-in-corkbecame-a-controversial-yarn/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2019.

Fig. 17 – Moffat, Nicola. “Monstrous Knits: The Knitting Map Ten Years After ‘Controversy.’” monsterivity, 15 May 2015, monsterivity.wordpress. com/tag/the-knitting-map/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 18 – Jazmynoy [Holly Oyster]. “Blood Glucose Blanket – A Crochet Visual of Type 1 Diabetes.” Ohio Iconoclast, 23 Mar. 2019, jazmynoy. blogspot.com/2019/03/blood-glucose-blanket-crochet-visual-of. html. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 19 – Oyster, Holly. “Re: MA Thesis Report.” Received by Madison Snell, 23 Feb. 2020.

Fig. 20 – Thiessen, Mark. “AIDS Quilt, Washington, 1992.” National Institutes of Health, Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Aids_Quilt.jpg.

Fig. 21 – Highsmith, Carol M. “AIDS Quilt, Washington, 1987.” Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:AIDS_quilt,_Washington,_D.C_LCCN2011631696.tif.

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Fig. 22 – @Lagomorpho. “The original plan was to crochet the entire blanket but I switched to double knitting because the data was much more clearly visualized and the color changes (of which there were literally thousands) were significantly easier.” Twitter, 12 July 2019, 7:57 p.m., twitter.com/Lagomorpho/ status/1149754617422417920?s=20.

Fig. 23 – @Lagomorpho. “There’s nothing quite like the feeling of someone loving the thing you made for them.” Twitter, 15 July 2019, 4:56 a.m., twitter.com/Lagomorpho/ status/1150615166838382592?s=20.

Fig. 24 – Connelly, Justin. “Re: Permission to use photos.” Received by Madison Snell, 24 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 25 – Connelly, Justin. “Re: Permission to use photos.” Received by Madison Snell, 24 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 26 – Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 27 – Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 28 – u/shmajent. “2019 Mets Scarf DONE. (Info in Comments.)” Reddit, 11 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/NewYorkMets/comments/ dgemm9/2019_mets_scarf_done_info_in_comments/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 29 – Kretz, Kate. “Emotional Labor Apron”, 2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. Facebook, 21 Aug. 2019, 4:18 a.m., www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= 10156341800631356&set=pcb.10156341800736356&type =3&theater. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 30 – Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/ allamerican-girls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 31 – Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/ allamerican-girls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 32 – u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/ fo_139_years_of_global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 33 – @sara__weber. “Im Frühjahr war noch alles ok. Viel grau und rosa.

Dann war eine Weile alles rot: Schienenersatzverkehr, die ganzen Sommerferien lang. Da hat sie pro Fahrt nicht mehr 40 Minuten gebraucht, sondern knapp zwei Stunden. Jeden Tag. Sechseinhalb Wochen lang.” 6 Jan. 2019, 4:29 p.m., twitter.com/sara__weber/ status/1081950909486252032.

Fig. 34 – @sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland.

Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “BahnVerspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/sara__weber/status/1081950904671240192.

Fig. 35 – @MontgomerySue. “I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate. Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results. #reclaiminghertime #women

power #listen.” 14 May 2019, 1:19 a.m., twitter.com/ montgomerysue/status/1128092422314123265?lang=en.

Fig. 36 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 37 – u/quantum-kate. “[FO] it turned out to be much bigger than anticipated but, I finished my sister’s temperature blanket just in time!” Reddit, 21 Dec. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/ edrxoh/fo_it_turned_out_to_be_much_bigger_than/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Fig. 38 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 39 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 40 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 41 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 42 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 43 – Photo by Madison Snell.

Fig. 44 – Diagram by Taylor Ruecker.

Fig. 45 – Diagram by Taylor Ruecker.

Icons on pages 19, 22, 25, 30, 32, 35, 42-45, 48, 50, 52-54, 56, 58-60, 62, 64, 72, 74 and 93 by Creative Stall Premium on flaticon.com.

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Endnotes Glossary Lemov, Rebecca. “Why big data is actually small, personal and very human.” aeon, 16 June 2016, aeon.co/essays/why-big-data-is-actuallysmall-personal-and-very-human. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

1

Tyrol, Kate. “How We Understand Medicine.” TechnoScience as if People Mattered, 16 June 2016, aeon.co/essays/why-big-data-is-actually-smallpersonal-and-very-human. Accessed 14 Jan. 2015.

2

Research Textile and Fibre Arts Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

1

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

2

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

Data Visualization & Human Rights. Concrete Scales, hvisualizingrights. org/kit/improvements/concrete-scale.html. Accessed 28 Dec. 2019.

3

Jansen, Yvonne et al. Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization. Presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, United States, 2015.

4

3

4

Data physicalization wiki contributors. “Terminology.” Data Physicalization Wiki, dataphys.org/wiki/Terminology, 23 Dec. 2019. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017.

5

Boehnert, Joanna. “Data visualisation does political things.” Proceedings of DRS2016: Design + Research + Society, Future-Focused Thinking. 50th Anniversary Conference of the Design Research Society, 27th-30th June 2016, Brighton, edited by Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E., 2016.

6

D’Ignazio, Catherine. “What would feminist data visualization look like?”

Medium, 22 Jan. 2017, medium.com/@kanarinka/what-would-feministdata-visualization-look-like-aa3f8fc7f96c. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

7

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

9

”Indexical Visualization with Dietmar Offenhuber.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 10 Aug. 2016, datastori.es/80indexical-visualization-with-dietmar-offenhuber/.

9

Jansen, Yvonne et al. Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization. Presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, United States, 2015.

10

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

11

Quantified Self Institute. What is quantified self? 2016, qsinstitute.com/ about/what-is-quantified-self/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

12

Stephen Few. “The Slow Data Movement: My Hope for 2013.” Visual Business Intelligence, 3 Jan. 2013, www.perceptualedge.com/ blog/?p=1460. Accessed 27 Oct. 2019.

13

Wikipedia contributors. “Spindle whorl.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_whorl, 22 July 2019. Accessed 28 Dec. 2019.

14

Wikipedia contributors. “Tangible user interface.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangible_user_interface, 23 Dec. 2019. Accessed 28 Dec. 2019.

15

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

5

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

6

Hunter, Clare. Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle. E-book, Sceptre Books, 2019.

7

Hunter, Clare. (2019) Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle [Kobo version]. Retrieved from Kobobooks.com.; Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

8

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

9

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

10

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

11

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

12

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

13

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

14

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

15

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

16

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

17

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

18

The Tempestry Project. About, 2017, www.tempestryproject.com/about/.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

19

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

20

16

17

”Data Visualization Literacy with Jeremy Boy, Helen Kennedy and Andy Kirk.” Data Stories from Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner, 9 March 2016, datastori.es/69-data-visualization-literacy-with-jeremy-boy-helenkennedy-and-andy-kirk/.

18

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine. 1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

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Jazmynoy [Holly Oyster]. “How Crochet Taught Me to Value my T1D Daughter’s Doctors Even More.” Ohio Iconoclast, 23 Mar. 2019, jazmynoy. blogspot.com/2019/03/how-crochet-taught-me-to-value-my-t1d. html?fbclid=IwAR0T-U7_Dd1dkLctuJ0DYmf_ LEZbqovnLadXChHcsvSEwvkGfNW_uq0WMPo. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

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Jazmynoy [Holly Oyster]. “How Crochet Taught Me to Value my T1D Daughter’s Doctors Even More.” Ohio Iconoclast, 23 Mar. 2019, jazmynoy. blogspot.com/2019/03/how-crochet-taught-me-to-value-my-t1d. html?fbclid=IwAR0T-U7_Dd1dkLctuJ0DYmf_ LEZbqovnLadXChHcsvSEwvkGfNW_uq0WMPo. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

16

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

17

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

18

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

19

Jazmynoy [Holly Oyster]. “Blood Glucose Blanket – A Crochet Visual of Type 1 Diabetes.” Ohio Iconoclast, 23 Mar. 2019, jazmynoy.blogspot. com/2019/03/blood-glucose-blanket-crochet-visual-of.html. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

20

Gilson, Jools and Nicola Moffat (eds.). Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map. E-book, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.

21

Gilson, Jools and Nicola Moffat (eds.). Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map. E-book, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.

22

Gilson, Jools and Nicola Moffat (eds.). Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map. E-book, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.

23

Gilson, Jools and Nicola Moffat (eds.). Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map. E-book, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.

24

Gilson, Jools and Nicola Moffat (eds.). Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map. E-book, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.

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Blood Glucose Blanket Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

1

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

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Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

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Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

26

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 12 Dec. 2019.

27

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

28

Jazmynoy [Holly Oyster]. “Blood Glucose Blanket – A Crochet Visual of Type 1 Diabetes.” Ohio Iconoclast, 23 Mar. 2019, jazmynoy.blogspot. com/2019/03/blood-glucose-blanket-crochet-visual-of.html. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

29

Oyster, Holly. “Re: Questions for Master’s Thesis Research.” Received by Madison Snell, 7 Nov. 2019.

30

The Tempestry Project. Impacts of Climate Change by State/Territory, 2017, www.tempestryproject.com/climate-change-by-state/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

9

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

10

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

11

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

12

NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt Wikipedia contributors. “NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMES_Project_AIDS_ Memorial_Quilt, 19 Dec. 2019. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

The Tempestry Project. About, 2017, www.tempestryproject.com/about/.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

13

1

Wikipedia contributors. “NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMES_Project_AIDS_ Memorial_Quilt, 19 Dec. 2019. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

14

The Tempestry Project. “New Normal” Tempestry Triptych Kits, 2017, www.tempestryproject.com/product/new-normal-tempestry-triptych-kit/.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

15

2

Wikipedia contributors. “NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMES_Project_AIDS_ Memorial_Quilt, 19 Dec. 2019. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

The Tempestry Project. “New Normal” Tempestry Triptych Kits, 2017, www.tempestryproject.com/product/new-normal-tempestry-triptych-kit/.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

16

3

Wikipedia contributors. “NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMES_Project_AIDS_ Memorial_Quilt, 19 Dec. 2019. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

4

Wikipedia contributors. “NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAMES_Project_AIDS_ Memorial_Quilt, 19 Dec. 2019. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

5

The Sleep Blanket @Lagomorpho. “The Sleep Blanket. A visualization of my son’s sleep pattern from birth to his first birthday. Crochet border surrounding a double knit body. Each row represents a single day. Each stitch represents 6 minutes of time spent awake or asleep #knitting #crochet #datavisualization.” Twitter, 12 July 2019, 7:57 p.m., twitter.com/ Lagomorpho/status/1149754592579600384.

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

17

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

18

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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1

@Lagomorpho. “The Sleep Blanket. A visualization of my son’s sleep pattern from birth to his first birthday. Crochet border surrounding a double knit body. Each row represents a single day. Each stitch represents 6 minutes of time spent awake or asleep #knitting #crochet #datavisualization.” Twitter, 12 July 2019, 7:57 p.m., twitter.com/ Lagomorpho/status/1149754592579600384.

2

@Lagomorpho. “The sleep data was collected with the @babyconnect BabyConnect app which lets you export to CSV. The CSVs were filtered and converted into JSON (using Google Apps Script and Python) which could then be used for visualization and tracking.” Twitter, 12 July 2019, 7:57 p.m., twitter.com/Lagomorpho/status/1149754659709411328?s=20.

3

@Lagomorpho. “The original plan was to crochet the entire blanket but I switched to double knitting because the data was much more clearly visualized and the color changes (of which there were literally thousands) were significantly easier.” Twitter, 12 July 2019, 7:57 p.m., twitter.com/ Lagomorpho/status/1149754617422417920?s=20.

4

@Lagomorpho. “How to ‘read’ the blanket: It’s top down, left to right. Top row is the day he was born, bottom row is his first birthday. Leftmost stitch is 12:00am. Rightmost stitch is 11:54pm. Blue is asleep and gray is awake on the ‘front’ side, reversed on the back.” Twitter, 13 July 2019, 7:51 p.m., twitter.com/Lagomorpho/status/1150115659805683712?s=20.

5

The Tempestry Project McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

1

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

2

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

3

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

4

Chaisson, Clara. “Trump Is Trying to Pull the Wool Over Our Eyes About Climate Change – These Knitters Aren’t Having It.” onEarth, 19 Dec. 2018, www.nrdc.org/onearth/trump-trying-pull-wool-over-our-eyes-aboutclimate-change-these-knitters-arent-having-it. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

5

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

6

McNeil, Emily and Justin Connelly. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

7

The Tempestry Project. The Tempestry Project, 2017, www. tempestryproject.com/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

8

Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

1

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

2

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

3

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

4

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

5

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

6

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

7

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

8

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

9

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

10

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

11

Obermeyer, Lindsay. “Re: Data Viz.” Received by Madison Snell, 6 Nov. 2019.

12

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

13

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

14

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

15

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

16

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

17

Obermeyer, Lindsay. Social Networks and Stroke Recovery Project, 2016, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

18

Obermeyer, Lindsay. “Re: Data Viz.” Received by Madison Snell, 6 Nov. 2019.

19

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Obermeyer, Lindsay. “Re: Data Viz.” Received by Madison Snell, 6 Nov. 2019.

13

Obermeyer, Lindsay. “Re: Data Viz.” Received by Madison Snell, 6 Nov. 2019.

14

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21

Obermeyer, Lindsay. “Re: Data Viz.” Received by Madison Snell, 6 Nov. 2019.

22

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamericangirls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

15

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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2019 Mets Scarf u/shmajent. “2019 Mets Scarf DONE. (Info in Comments.)” Reddit, 11 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/NewYorkMets/comments/dgemm9/2019_mets_ scarf_done_info_in_comments/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamericangirls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

18

1

u/shmajent. “2019 Mets Scarf DONE. (Info in Comments.)” Reddit, 11 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/NewYorkMets/comments/dgemm9/2019_mets_ scarf_done_info_in_comments/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

2

u/shmajent. “2019 Mets Scarf DONE. (Info in Comments.)” Reddit, 11 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/NewYorkMets/comments/dgemm9/2019_mets_ scarf_done_info_in_comments/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

3

u/shmajent. “2019 Mets Scarf DONE. (Info in Comments.)” Reddit, 11 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/NewYorkMets/comments/dgemm9/2019_mets_ scarf_done_info_in_comments/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamericangirls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

21

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamericangirls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

24

4

Emotional Labor Apron Kretz, Kate. “Emotional Labor Apron”, 2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. Facebook, 21 Aug. 2019, 4:18 a.m., www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1015 6341800631356&set=pcb.10156341800736356&type=3&theater.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

1

Kretz, Kate. “Emotional Labor Apron”, 2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. Facebook, 21 Aug. 2019, 4:18 a.m., www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1015 6341800631356&set=pcb.10156341800736356&type=3&theater.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

2

Kretz, Kate. “Emotional Labor Apron”, 2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. Facebook, 21 Aug. 2019, 4:18 a.m., www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1015 6341800631356&set=pcb.10156341800736356&type=3&theater.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

3

Kretz, Kate. “Emotional Labor Apron”, 2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. Facebook, 21 Aug. 2019, 4:18 a.m., www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1015 6341800631356&set=pcb.10156341800736356&type=3&theater.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

4

Kretz, Kate. “Emotional Labor Apron”, 2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. Facebook, 21 Aug. 2019, 4:18 a.m., www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1015 6341800631356&set=pcb.10156341800736356&type=3&theater.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

5

All-American Girls Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamerican-girls.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

1

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamerican-girls.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

2

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamerican-girls.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

3

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamerican-girls.

Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

4

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

5

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

6

Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

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Vasudevan, Roopa. Personal interview, 18 Nov. 2019.

12

Vasudevan, Roopa. All-American Girls, 2012, rouxpz.com/allamericangirls. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

25

139 Years of Global Temperature Change u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

1

u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

2

u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

3

u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

4

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

5

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

6

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

7

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

10

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

12

u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

13

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

14

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

20

u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

21

u/littlejellyrobot. “[FO] 139 years of global temperatures.” Reddit, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/dkyluj/fo_139_years_of_ global_temperatures/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2019.

22

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

23

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

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Crafting the Human Experience Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

Engaging the Community

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

1

Jones, Hannah. Personal interview, 12 Nov. 2019.

2

26 27 28

Moraru, Marina. Personal communication, 22 Dec. 2019.

Moraru, Marina. Personal communication, 22 Dec. 2019.

Moraru, Marina. Personal communication, 22 Dec. 2019.

3

Train Delay Scarf Karasz, Palko. “Rail-delay scarf: Commuter project fetches €7,550 on eBay.” The Irish Times, 16 Jan. 2019, www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/ rail-delay-scarf-commuter-project-fetches-7-550-on-ebay-1.3760577.

Accessed 5 Jan. 2019.

1

@sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “Bahn-Verspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/sara__weber/ status/1081950904671240192.

2

@sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “Bahn-Verspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/sara__weber/ status/1081950904671240192.

3

@sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “Bahn-Verspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/sara__weber/ status/1081950904671240192.

Moraru, Marina. Personal communication, 22 Dec. 2019.

4

Moraru, Marina. Personal communication, 22 Dec. 2019.

5

Moraru, Marina. Personal communication, 22 Dec. 2019.

6

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

7

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

8

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

9

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

10

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

11

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

12

4

@sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “Bahn-Verspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/sara__weber/ status/1081950904671240192.

5

Brady, Alice. “Re: Dublin Sewcial Club Description.” Received by Madison Snell, 16 Dec. 2019.

13

Workshop Outline Ohrenstein, Dora. “Granny-A-Go-Go: History of Crochet Granny Squares.”

Interweave, 22 Apr. 2017, www.interweave.com/article/crochet/ history-of-crochet-granny-squares/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

1

Ohrenstein, Dora. “Granny-A-Go-Go: History of Crochet Granny Squares.”

Interweave, 22 Apr. 2017, www.interweave.com/article/crochet/ history-of-crochet-granny-squares/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

2

u/quantum-kate. “[FO] it turned out to be much bigger than anticipated but, I finished my sister’s temperature blanket just in time!” Reddit, 21 Dec. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/edrxoh/fo_it_turned_ out_to_be_much_bigger_than/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2019.

3

City Council Scarf @MontgomerySue. “I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate.

Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results. #reclaiminghertime #women power #listen.” 14 May 2019, 1:19 a.m., twitter.com/montgomerysue/ status/1128092422314123265?lang=en.

1

@MontgomerySue. “I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate.

Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results. #reclaiminghertime #women power #listen.” 14 May 2019, 1:19 a.m., twitter.com/montgomerysue/ status/1128092422314123265?lang=en.

Conclusion

2

The Next String Revolution Corrigan, Vawn. Irish Aran: History, Tradition, Fashion. O’Brien Press LTD, 2019.

1

@MontgomerySue. “I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate.

Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results. #reclaiminghertime #women power #listen.” 14 May 2019, 1:19 a.m., twitter.com/montgomerysue/ status/1128092422314123265?lang=en.

3

@MontgomerySue. “I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate.

Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results. #reclaiminghertime #women power #listen.” 14 May 2019, 1:19 a.m., twitter.com/montgomerysue/ status/1128092422314123265?lang=en.

4

@MontgomerySue. “I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate.

Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results. #reclaiminghertime #women power #listen.” 14 May 2019, 1:19 a.m., twitter.com/montgomerysue/ status/1128092422314123265?lang=en.

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Appendices

Appendix A – Thesis Proposal Thesis Proposal – Draft

DL914 MA in Interdisciplinary Design Strategies—Draft Project Proposal 2019/20

Exploring women’s relationship with data visualization and the added value of physical data visualization through craft.

Madison Snell

Information designer + strategist IwB class of 2019

background Our knowledge of history is derived from a carefully curated collection of men’s work.

In terms of data visualization, the one standout woman’s name is Florence Nightingale.

Not only did she develop a new kind of visualization, but she also used her work to demonstrate the importance of proper sanitation to help her superiors understand why and how their soldiers were dying. Her work lives on today and is used as a prime (read: only) historical example of women’s contributions in the realm of data visualization. In a sea of men playing with numbers throughout history, Florence Nightingale certainly stands out.

Dear Data

Today, women in data visualization are taking the world by storm—something Florence Nightingale would no doubt be proud of. The women behind the viral project Dear Data—Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec—use visualization methods to humanize data. Mona Chalabi creates striking data illustrations to highlight the inequities of our society, such as the gender and race pay gap. Anna Powell-Smith poked fun at the ridiculousness of unstandardized women’s clothing sizes by creating a portal where women can find out which size they are at different stores. Women in data visualization are using their skills and knowledge to convey data through a human-centred lens, expose inequities in approachable ways, and clarify complex topics with simple and beautiful visualization methods.

context So, where does craft fit into the discussion of women and data visualization? Take a moment to search the hashtag #temperatureblanket on Instagram. Your feed will no doubt be filled with an explosion of colour. Crocheters and knitters around the world are using temperature data to create beautifully rainbow-coloured blankets, scarves and tapestries. It’s simple—pick a year (maybe the first year of your child’s life or as a married couple), find temperature data for it, create a legend, and start stitching. At the end, you’re left with a tangible representation of that data. It becomes a physical object of your memories. Swaths of red stitches remind you of that too-hot summer when your AC broke. Stripes of blues and violets spark thoughts of cold winters that kept you inside for days at a time. Temperature blankets keep memories alive long after the year has ended.

Lara Cooper

The rise in popularity of temperature blankets has lead to other experimentations with data and craft. Rather than using temperature data to create artifacts of personal value, many crafters are creating tapestries, blankets and scarves to visualize the reality of our changing climate. Biologist Lara Cooper created a climate change temperature blanket by using data for midcentury averages from 1887 to 2016—highlighting a significant temperature increase over the 130-year period. Dr. Laura Guertin combined her love of science with her love of craft and created three small tapestries to show the changes in climate between 1917, 1967 and 2017. The Tempestry Project began in January 2017

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by Emily McNeil, Marissa Connelly and Justin Connelly as a response to climate change deniers. As of last December, submissions have been created in nearly every US state and in 20 other countries.

Sarah Weber

Lindsay Obermeyer

A tweet by Sarah Weber, journalist and editor for LinkedIn, went viral at the beginning of 2019 when she posted a photo of a “rail delay scarf” knitted by her mother—“Two rows per day: gray at less than 5 minutes, pink at 5 to 30 minutes delay, red at delay on both trips or once more than 30 minutes.” A large stretch of red indicated weeks of construction delays. After the tweet went viral, Sarah and her mother put the scarf up for auction and raised almost €8,000 for a German charity.

Another example of data and craft comes from data artist Lindsay Obermeyer. In 2015, Lindsay took patient data from heart and stroke researcher Dr. Amar Dhand and set out to create 1600 mandalas. Her project’s aim was to highlight the importance of social networks in the recovery process for stroke patients. Lindsay sought out the help of a global network of crocheters to help her create the 1600 mandalas. She wanted the data to become physical to reduce its complexity and provide people with a tangibility that digital data visualization just can’t reproduce.

Craft as an art form has been heavily devalued because of its association with femininity and traditional female activities. The combination of craft and data visualization flips tradition on its head. The traditionally male-dominated field of data visualization has been disrupted by the addition of craft and physical data representation. Data visualization through craft adds new value to the stories data have to tell. Not every story needs flashy graphics and musical interludes. Sometimes, all a compelling story needs is a grounding in reality and an approachable storytelling method. Craft can be that approachable storytelling method.

objectives I am interested in exploring this relationship between craft and data visualization further. I want to understand how craft can be taken seriously as an art form, and to investigate the connections between art and science—so, in this case, art and data.

There is potential to examine the history of women’s participation in the workforce, such as the history of women in STEM. I am also curious to look at men’s involvement with traditionally feminine craft activities, such as crochet, knitting, embroidery, needlepoint and cross stitch.

This research area also poses an opportunity to explore which kinds of data can and are being visualized through craft, and for what purpose. Another area that could be interesting to explore is personal data visualization, such as the work done by the Quantified Self project, given that the origin of the temperature blanket is in capturing data that has some level of personal value to the stitcher. Considering everything I have come across thus far, the research area of craft and data is ripe for exploration.

methodologies + strategies • Surveys and interviews with women in data visualization, people who have created physical data visualizations through craft, and men who craft.

• Co-creation session with people to create a physical data visualization through craft together.

• Historical analysis of data visualization methods, women in data visualization, STEM and the workforce, and the four waves of feminism.

• General analysis of craftivism, men as crafters, data art and handmade versus machine physical data visualization.

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potential outcomes • Timeline of women’s role in data visualization and work through history • Understanding of craft as a valid output for data visualization • Toolkit to teach others how to create a craft data visualization • A craft visualization of data collected through primary and secondary research

ethical considerations For this project, I aim to follow IADT’s research ethics procedures, particularly when conducting primary research and in the development of any tools.

resources @sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen "Bahn-Verspätungsschal" gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/ sara__weber/status/1081950904671240192.

[Infogram]. “Key Figures in the History of Data Visualization.” Medium, 14 Jun. 2016, www.medium.com/@Infogram/key-figures-in-the-history-of-data-visualization30486681844c. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Bituin Callanta. “9 Inspiring Females in Data Visualization.” Medium, 30 Mar. 2018, www. medium.com/@bituin/9-inspiring-females-in-data-visualization-6bf332185556. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

FlowingData. “Rail delay scarf goes for $8,500 on eBay.” FlowingData, www.flowingdata. com/2019/01/24/rail-delay-scarf-goes-for-8500-on-ebay/. Accessed 10 April 2019.

Jon Hazell. “A Brief History of Data Visualization.” Dundas BI Support, 15 Oct. 2013, www. dundas.com/support/blog/a-brief-history-of-data-visualization. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Laura Guertin. “Dr. G’s #AGU17 Spotlight – Crocheted temperature tapestries to communicate climate data.” AGU Blogosphere, 15 Dec. 2017, blogs.agu.org/ geoedtrek/2017/12/15/dr-gs-agu17-spotlight-crocheted-temperature-tapestriescommunicate-climate-data/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Lindsay Obermeyer. “Crocheted Tree Ring Social Network Diagrams.” Social Network and Stroke Recovery Project, 4 Dec. 2015, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/ crochet/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Quantified Self. What is Quantified Self? www.quantifiedself.com/about/what-isquantified-self/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Sarah Vitak. “Crochet Your Own Climate Change Data Visualization Blanket.” Make: We Are All Makers, 18 Oct. 2017, www.makezine.com/2017/10/18/crochet-climate-changedata-visualization-blanket/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Stephanie Evergreen. “An Incomplete List of Females in Data Visualization.” Evergreen Data, 20 Nov. 2014, www.stephanieevergreen.com/females-in-dataviz/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. "The Tempestry Project." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Mar. 2019. Web. 10 Apr. 2019.

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Thesis Proposal – Final

DL914 MA in Interdisciplinary Design Strategies—Draft Project Proposal 2019/20

Exploring the textile and fibre arts as a valid output for data physicalization.

Madison Snell

Information designer + strategist IwB class of 2019

background Take a moment to search the hashtag #temperatureblanket on Instagram. Your feed will no doubt be filled with an explosion of colour. Crocheters and knitters around the world are using temperature data to create beautifully rainbow-coloured blankets, scarves and tapestries. It’s simple - pick a year (maybe the first year of your child’s life or as a married couple), find temperature data for it, create a legend, and start stitching.

At the end, you’re left with a tangible representation of that data. It becomes a physical object of your memories. Swaths of red stitches remind you of that too-hot summer when your AC broke. Stripes of blues and violets spark thoughts of cold winters that kept you inside for days at a time. Temperature blankets keep memories alive long after the year has happened.

This is just one example of making data - and memories - into tangible, physical objects.

In other words, temperature blankets are an example of data physicalization. Jansen et al. define data physicalization as “a physical artifact whose geometry or material properties encode data.” In the case of temperature blankets, the material properties would be the colours of yarn that encode temperature data for a given time and place.

One form of data physicalization is data craft. Researchers Alice Thudt, Uta Hinrichs and Sheelagh Carpendale suggest the use of data craft as a way to “create meaningful physical mementos based on digital records of personal and shared experiences.”

Thudt, Hinrichs and Carpendale advocate for the creation of data crafts as a method of storytelling and sharing. Thus, the temperature blanket phenomenon discussed above falls neatly into the category of data craft.

Data craft remains somewhat separate from other discussions of data physicalization.

Numerous examples of the latter use technologies such as 3D printing or other forms of mechanized fabrication. The point of data craft is less about interacting with the completed piece of physicalized data and more about the act of crafting the piece and sharing it with others. As in the aforementioned temperature blanket example, a parent can share stories related to the blanket with the child as the child grows, and the blanket acts as a physical repository for those memories.

context

Lara Cooper

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Experimentations with data craft using the textile and fibre arts appear to be on the rise. People’s projects often go viral online, and are causing quite the stir. Rather than using temperature data to create artifacts of personal value, many crafters are choosing to create tapestries, blankets and scarves to visualize the reality of our changing climate.

Dr. Laura Guertin combined her love of science with her love of craft and created three small tapestries to show the changes in climate between 1917, 1967 and 2017.

Biologist Lara Cooper created a climate change temperature blanket by using data for midcentury averages from 1887 to 2016 - highlighting a significant temperature increase over the 130-year period. The Tempestry Project began in January 2017 by Emily McNeil, Marissa Connelly and Justin Connelly as a response to climate change deniers. As of last December, submissions have been created in nearly every US state and in 20 other countries.

Sarah Weber

Seung Lee

It’s not just temperature data that data crafters are using. A tweet by Sarah Weber, journalist and editor for LinkedIn, went viral at the beginning of 2019 when she posted a photo of a “rail delay scarf” knitted by her mother - “Two rows per day: gray at less than 5 minutes, pink at 5 to 30 minutes delay, red at delay on both trips or once more than 30 minutes.” A large stretch of red indicated weeks of construction delays. After the tweet went viral, Sarah and her mother put the scarf up for auction and raised almost 8,000 euros for a German charity.

In yet another example of a viral tweet, artist and parent Seung Lee shared his knitted blanket that captured the sleep data of his son’s first year of life. Seung used the BabyConnect app to track his son’s sleeping patterns, and made use of coding programs to create the knitting pattern. At one point of the blanket, Seung notes, “The shift in sleep at the end of the year was a trip across the country to visit family and celebrate his first birthday. I considered adjusting the timestamps but I decided to leave it as is because it’s part of the story.” This element of memory-keeping and storytelling is an important aspect of using the textile and fibre arts as a method of data craft.

aims + objectives How might we use the textile and fibre arts to create meaningful data physicalizations, and is the meaning added from the resulting object, or from the act of making the object? It is questions such as these that I hope to examine further. Data craft can be a way to explore the individual and personal meaning in data that the digital landscape cannot capture. The physical act of making a data craft object requires reflection and contemplation. There may not be any further objective analysis conducted on the resulting data craft, but the aesthetic qualities could drive subjective analysis in the form of storytelling and sharing once the object has been made.

Examining the application of textile and fibre arts as an output for data physicalization also invites an investigation into the association of femininity with the textile and fibre arts. Throughout history, the textile and fibre arts have served as a necessary backbone to society (our world would look a whole lot different if we had never invented the needle or the spindle - probably a lot more naked). Women have used the textile and fibre arts to subvert its staunchly feminine association, which has spawned a revolution in the form of craftivism - or, using craft as a form of activism (such as the aforementioned Tempestry Project that began as a response to climate change deniers). The intersection of data physicalization, data craft using the textile and fibre arts, and craftivism is ripe for exploration.

methodologies + strategies Primary research can be conducted through interviews with people who have created some kind of data craft object, as well as with those who are also researching the realm of data physicalization. There is also the potential for conducting a co-creation session that would result in a handcrafted data object by the participants. This would enable me to see and hear how people feel about using the textile and fibre arts to create a datadriven object. There is also potential for conducting a survey for those engaged in the textile and fibre arts, separate from the use of the arts in data physicalization.

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potential outcomes It would be remiss to research this subject and not actually create a data craft myself.

I’m an avid crocheter and cross stitcher, and taking the time each day to add to my data craft will create a moment of mindfulness for me to reflect on my research and next steps. I would also be interested in creating a repository of data craft ideas to help expand the notion beyond numbers-based data, such as temperature, sports scores and sleep patterns.

ethical considerations For this project, I aim to follow IADT’s research ethics procedures, particularly when conducting primary research and in the development of any tools.

resources Web @sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “Bahn-Verspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/ sara__weber/status/1081950904671240192. @seunglee. “The Sleep Blanket A visualization of my son’s sleep pattern from birth to his first birthday. Crochet border surrounding a double knit body. Each row represents a single day. Each stitch represents 6 minutes of time spent awake or asleep #knitting #crochet #datavisualization.” 12 Jul. 2019, 12:57 p.m., twitter.com/Lagomorpho/ status/1149754592579600384.

[Infogram]. “Key Figures in the History of Data Visualization.” Medium, 14 Jun. 2016, www.medium.com/@Infogram/key-figures-in-the-history-of-data-visualization30486681844c. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Bituin Callanta. “9 Inspiring Females in Data Visualization.” Medium, 30 Mar. 2018, www. medium.com/@bituin/9-inspiring-females-in-data-visualization-6bf332185556. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

FlowingData. “Rail delay scarf goes for $8,500 on eBay.” FlowingData, www.flowingdata. com/2019/01/24/rail-delay-scarf-goes-for-8500-on-ebay/. Accessed 10 April 2019.

Jon Hazell. “A Brief History of Data Visualization.” Dundas BI Support, 15 Oct. 2013, www. dundas.com/support/blog/a-brief-history-of-data-visualization. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Laura Guertin. “Dr. G’s #AGU17 Spotlight – Crocheted temperature tapestries to communicate climate data.” AGU Blogosphere, 15 Dec. 2017, blogs.agu.org/ geoedtrek/2017/12/15/dr-gs-agu17-spotlight-crocheted-temperature-tapestriescommunicate-climate-data/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Lindsay Obermeyer. “Crocheted Tree Ring Social Network Diagrams.” Social Network and Stroke Recovery Project, 4 Dec. 2015, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_stroke/ crochet/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Quantified Self. What is Quantified Self? www.quantifiedself.com/about/what-isquantified-self/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Sarah Vitak. “Crochet Your Own Climate Change Data Visualization Blanket.” Make: We Are All Makers, 18 Oct. 2017, www.makezine.com/2017/10/18/crochet-climate-changedata-visualization-blanket/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

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Stephanie Evergreen. “An Incomplete List of Females in Data Visualization.” Evergreen Data, 20 Nov. 2014, www.stephanieevergreen.com/females-in-dataviz/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. “The Tempestry Project.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Mar. 2019. Web. 10 Apr. 2019.

Texts Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: the First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

Dragicevic, Pierre, et al. “Data Physicalization.” Springer Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, edited by Jean Vanderdonckt, Springer, 2019.

Hunter, Clare. Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle.

Sceptre, 2019.

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine.

1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

Other Jansen, Yvonne et al. Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization. Presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, United States, 2015.

Thudt, Alice, Uta Hinrichs and Sheelagh Carpendale. Data craft: integrating data into daily practices and shared reflections. Paper presented at CHI 2017 Workshop on Quantified Data & Social Relationships, Denver, United States, 2017.

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Appendix B – Data Physicalization Charrette Charrette Brief

IADT Data Physicalization Charrette

Has the pen or the pencil dipped so deep in the blood of the human race as the needle?

Understanding the potential of the textile and fibre arts to create data physicalizations.

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— Olive Schreiner, From Man to Man (1926)

introduction

making data physical

data craft

Take a moment to search the hashtag #temperatureblanket on Instagram. Your feed will no doubt be filled with an explosion of colour. Crocheters and knitters around the world are using temperature data to create beautifully rainbow-coloured blankets, scarves and tapestries. It’s simple — pick a year (maybe the first year of your child’s life or as a married couple), find temperature data for it, create a legend, and start stitching.

One form of data physicalization is data craft. Researchers Alice Thudt, Uta Hinrichs and Sheelagh Carpendale suggest the use of data craft as a way to “create meaningful physical mementos based on digital records of personal and shared experiences.” Thudt, Hinrichs and Carpendale advocate for the creation of data crafts as a method of storytelling and sharing. Thus, the temperature blanket phenomenon discussed previously falls neatly into the category of data craft.

At the end, you’re left with a tangible representation of that data. It becomes a physical object of your memories. Swaths of red stitches remind you of that too-hot summer when your AC broke. Stripes of blues and violets spark thoughts of cold winters that kept you inside for days at a time. Temperature blankets keep memories alive long after the year has happened.

Data craft remains somewhat separate from other discussions of data physicalization. Numerous examples of the latter use technologies such as 3D printing or other forms of mechanized fabrication. The point of data craft is less about interacting with the completed piece of physicalized data and more about the act of crafting the piece and sharing it with others. As in the aforementioned temperature blanket example, a parent can share stories related to the blanket with the child as the child grows, and the blanket acts as a physical repository for those memories.

This is just one example of making data — and memories — into tangible, physical objects. In other words, temperature blankets are an example of data physicalization.

Jansen et al. define data physicalization as “a physical artifact whose geometry or material properties encode data.” In the case of temperature blankets, the material properties would be the colours of yarn that encode temperature data for a given time and place.

Data craft can be a way to explore the individual and personal meaning in data that the digital landscape cannot capture. The physical act of making a data craft object requires reflection and contemplation. There may not be any further objective analysis conducted on the resulting data craft, but the aesthetic qualities could drive subjective analysis in the form of storytelling and sharing once the object has been made.

feminist lens Examining the application of textile and fibre arts as an output for data physicalization also invites an investigation into the association of femininity with the textile and fibre arts. The textile and fibre arts have served as a necessary backbone to society (our world would look very different if we had never invented the needle or the spindle — probably a lot more naked). Women have also used the textile and fibre arts to subvert its staunchly feminine association, which has spawned a revolution in the form of craftivism — or, using craft as a form of activism.

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examples of data craft

hospital visitors

construction delays

baby sleep patterns

craftivism

climate change

Data artist Lindsay Obermeyer took patient data from heart and stroke researcher Dr. Amar Dhand and set out to create 1600 mandalas, a form of circular crochet. Her project’s aim was to highlight the importance of social networks in the recovery process for stroke patients.

A tweet by journalist Sarah Weber went viral at the beginning of 2019 when she posted a photo of a “rail delay scarf” knitted by her mother — “Two rows per day: gray at less than 5 minutes, pink at 5 to 30 minutes delay, red at delay on both trips or once more than 30 minutes.” A large stretch of red indicated weeks of construction delays. After the tweet went viral, Sarah and her mother put the scarf up for auction and raised almost 8,000 euro for a German charity.

Artist Seung Lee used the BabyConnect app to track his son’s sleeping patterns for his first year of life, and an extensive coding exercise created the knitting pattern. At one point of the blanket, Seung notes, “The shift in sleep at the end of the year was a trip across the country to visit family and celebrate his first birthday. I considered adjusting the timestamps but I decided to leave it as is because it’s part of the story.”

The Tempestry Project began in January 2017 by Emily McNeil, Marissa Connelly and Justin Connelly as a response to climate change deniers.

As of December 2018, submissions have been created in nearly every US state and in twenty other countries.

Dr. Laura Guertin combined her love of science with her love of craft and created three small tapestries to show the changes in climate between 1917, 1967 and 2017.

key definitions data physicalization A physical artifact that encodes data through its shape or other physical properties, such as colour. These are often created to enhance the understanding of data by increasing engagement, or for accessibility purposes, such as physical bar charts for the visually impaired.

data craft The combination of visualizing personal data through crafting by hand as a way to create long-lasting functional objects for memory-keeping and storytelling. These objects can be created using the textile and fibre arts, or from other handcrafts such as woodwork and pottery.

textile and fibre arts A subsection of the arts that uses techniques such as sewing, quilting, weaving, macramé, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, spinning, knitting, and more to create wearable and displayable objects.

self-tracking Keeping tabs on data about yourself, such as your sleep patterns or the number of steps you take in a day. Often collected through the use of technologies like FitBits and Apple Watches.

quantified self The name for the community who engage in the recent phenomenon of tracking data about oneself, either for more personal understanding or for a greater understanding of humanity.

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charrette projects

Project 1

Precedent scan of data physicalizations description Five examples of data physicalizations are already included in this charrette brief.

However, as the field continues to develop and grow, more and more samples can be found. Examples can come from people with data, design, science, fine art and communication backgrounds, or from the average crafter with yarn or fabric to spare.

This project will send you into the depths of the internet to find examples of data craft and data physicalizations, with a particular emphasis on projects that use the textile and fibre arts. The types of data may seem repetitive (you’re going to find a lot of temperature blankets) but each example is unique in its own right because of the meaning behind the chosen data set or the type of craft or physicalization method being used.

considerations + guiding questions • How are computer-generated data physicalizations different from craft-based or hand-produced physicalizations? Do they carry different meanings?

• Is the meaning or value derived from the resulting object, or from the act of making the object?

• What are the most common data sets used? Least common?

• In which ways are data encoded in the data physicalizations, such as colour, texture, or size? How does that impact or affect the interpretation of the data?

• How can data physicalization elevate or detract from the interpretation of data?

• How might self-tracking or the quantified self movement play a role in the development of data physicalizations?

• What data about ourselves can be transformed into a physical object?

• If the example is found on a forum-based website, what are people commenting or writing in response to the example?

deliverables Precedent scan form: Fill out the precedent scan form [bit.ly/2keJal4] for each example that you find. Submissions will appear in a Google Sheet in the Project 1 folder on Google Drive. If you wish to add to any submission, do so from the Google Sheet. Remember to keep track of your sources and be as thorough as possible.

Persona or user journey map: Develop 2-3 personas based on your precedent scan. Who makes data crafts or data physicalizations and why? What are their motivations? Based on one persona, develop a user journey map. How does this person settle on the kind of data they want to physicalize? What are their pain points?

What do they do with the finished object?

resources www.ravelry.com

www.dataphys.org/wiki/Terminology

www.reddit.com/r/crochet

www.dataphys.org/list/

www.reddit.com/r/knitting

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantified_self

www.reddit.com/r/crossstitch

www.tempestryproject.com/

www.reddit.com/r/mathstextiles

www.facebook.com/TempestryProject/

www.reddit.com/r/crafts

www.instagram.com

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Project 2

Timeline of data collection and communication description How did humans keep track of data before computers did it for us, and how did the field of data visualization come about? This project will allow you to jump headfirst into historical ways of data collection and communication, including the development of chart types and visualization methods. Your timeline doesn’t have to include absolutely every single development in the history of data collection and communication, but the timeline should cover, at minimum, the most significant, controversial, impactful or interesting moments.

considerations + guiding questions • Who are the famous names in data collection and communication? What role did they play, and how are they remembered in our modern understanding of data visualization?

• In particular, how did women play a role in data collection and communication?

• How might AI impact the collection of data?

• How has the phenomenon of self-tracking (such as through a FitBit) disrupted the field of data collection and communication?

• Are new types of visualization methods still being developed today?

• Who are the current leaders in data collection and communication?

• Has social media impacted the way we consume data visualizations?

deliverables Research sheet: Keep track of your timeline entries in the provided Google Sheet in the Project 2 folder. Fill out the template as you find new entries. Please be mindful of plagiarism — any direct lines of text from sources should be in quotations.

Timeline: Use the research you enter into your research sheet to create a timeline.

There are no size, colour or visual restrictions. Keep track of your process work, including any sketches and rough drafts, in the Project 2 folder.

resources www.dataphys.org/list/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantified_self www.dundas.com/support/blog/a-brief-history-of-data-visualization www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/milestone/Visualization_Milestones.pdf www.visual.ly/m/history-of-data-visualization/ www.stephanieevergreen.com/females-in-dataviz/

Project 3

Infographic about handicrafts and making in the digital age description Using one’s hands to create can be extremely satisfying. Hard work and effort with a little elbow grease can lead to beautiful final outcomes. Whether it’s baking, cooking, sewing or woodwork, handicrafts are a source of immense pride for many. This project invites you to explore what it means to create, why we use our hands to create when a plethora of technologies are available to us, and what happens to our brain when we create with our hands. Feel free to fall down a rabbit hole of weird tangents and sidebars. Find some unique research studies and interesting statistics.

considerations + guiding questions • What has the rise of sites such as Pinterest and Etsy done for the world of crafting and making by hand?

• In what ways has technology advanced the way we create by hand?

• What happens to our brain when we create? Which chemicals are released during and after we partake in a handicraft?

• How might the field of data visualization benefit from data physicalization?

• Does turning data into physical objects make data easier or harder to comprehend or retain?

• Why has the handicrafts and handmade movement seen such a resurgence as of late?

deliverables Research sheet: Keep track of your findings in the provided Google Sheet in the Project 3 folder. Fill out the template as you find new entries. Please be mindful of plagiarism — any direct lines of text from sources should be in quotations.

Infographic: Use the research you enter into your research sheet to create an infographic. There are no size, colour or visual restrictions. Keep track of your process work, including sketches and rough drafts, in the Project 3 folder.

resources www.dataphys.org/list/ www.ravelry.com en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinterest www.etsy.com en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftivism

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charrette schedule

monday, september 16

tuesday, september 17

wednesday, september 18

thursday, september 19

friday, september 20

2:00 p.m.

Introduction from Clyde and Shirley about the charrette.

10:00 a.m.

Group check-in.

10:00 a.m.

Group check-in.

10:00 a.m.

Group check-in.

10:00 a.m.

Group check-in.

2:20 p.m.

Introduction to the topic of data physicalization and the three projects.

10:15 a.m.

Brainstorming session about types of datasets that could be used to create data physicalizations and data craft.

10:15 a.m.

Research and project time.

10:15 a.m.

Begin to digitize rough sketches and visualizing of research. Begin user journey map development.

10:15 a.m.

Presenters determine which elements will be in the presentation.

2:30 p.m.

Team icebreaker challenge.

10:45 a.m.

Project assignments.

2:45 p.m.

Complete the informational survey [bit.ly/2mcMv4M].

11:00 a.m.

Research and project time.

1:30 p.m.

Begin rough sketching and visualizing of research. Begin persona development.

12:30 p.m.

Break for lunch.

3:00 p.m.

Group check-in and sharing session.

1:30 p.m.

Resume research and project time.

3:30 p.m.

Determine who will be presenting.

Homework Once you have access to the charrette Google Drive, please review the documents and links in the Resources and Readings folder.

3:00 p.m.

Group check-in and sharing session.

3:30 p.m.

Prepare for advisor session.

4:00 p.m.

Advisor session.

Homework Continue to add to your research sheet as desired. You will have time on Wednesday morning to continue your research, but by Wednesday afternoon you should be prepared to start visualizing what you have uncovered.

12:30 p.m.

Break for lunch.

Homework Continue to refine designs as desired.

By Thursday morning, you should be ready to begin digitizing and refining your design. For those working on the precedent scan, begin developing personas based on your research.

12:00 p.m.

Break for off-campus lunch.

2:00 p.m.

Group feedback and critique.

3:00 p.m.

Group sharing session about key insights from each project.

3:30 p.m.

Preparation for advisor session.

4:00 p.m.

Advisor session.

Homework Refine designs as much as possible based on the advisor feedback. Designs should be wrapping up at this stage.

Remember to upload all your process work and packaged design files as the project wraps up.

10:45 a.m.

Acquire key assets to create presentation and review key insights from projects.

11:00 a.m.

Create presentation and script. Begin to practice the presentation as needed.

12:30 p.m.

Break for lunch.

1:00 p.m.

Continue to practice the presentation as needed. Upload all final assets and process work to the project folders.

2:00 p.m.

Presentations begin.

Homework Complete the anonymous post-charrette debrief survey [bit.ly/2mipHkp]. Ensure that you have uploaded all your project files and assets in the Google Drive.

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Charrette Presentation

What is Data Physicalization? ‘Data physicalization aims to help people explore, understand, and communicate data using computer-supported physical data representations.’ - dataphys.org

Examples we found through research

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Ireland’s Relationship with Data Collection -

-

An estimate was conducted by Sir William Betty in 1672 that estimated the population to be 1,100,000 and started the journey in Data Collection of Ireland's population.

The first ever census was conducted on the Irish population in 1821. A physical census form was filled in by the members of each household, and occupation, acreage of land and how many children were in the house were examples of questions.

The census was planned to be taken every ten years, and was sped up to every five years after the founding of the Central Statistics Office in 1951. Irish Citizens can access these census records.

The Battle of Dublin that kicked off the Irish Civil War in 1922 lead to the public records office in the Four Courts being destroyed by a fire. All public records prior to this date are sparse.

The census was taken manually and still is but the introduction of computers and artificial intelligence along with social media has meant that data collection in Ireland is easier than it ever has been and this is the case worldwide.

A census example from 1911

The Four Courts fire

Google’s HQ in Dublin

Events in Ireland and Worldwide that affected data and brought about the advancement of data collection -

-

The Great Famine of 1845 - 1849 lead to a drastic drop in the Irish population, one that can be seen in the census records. The population fell by what is estimated to be 20-25% due to death and emigration.

WW1 and the Civil War were times of hardship for Ireland, with thousands of irish enlisting to fight in Europe and the previously mentioned fire of the four courts mean that data in this time period is relatively askew.

Electricity arrives in Ireland and thus the country is connected more by this new technology - quality of life is better.

Fast forward many years, Tim Berners Lee sets up the World Wide Web in 1991 on the new internet technology.

Lou Montull proposes the idea of ‘cookies’ to be used to store unique user info that increases ease of access. These cookies are integrated into internet explorer. This data collection leads to the Children’s Privacy Protection act being enabled that prevents children’s data being collected without parents consent in 1997.

Following 9/11, there is an increase in collection of personal data alongside background checks, and in 2005 there is a major data breach in the bank of America with 1.2 million data records stolen.

Data protection regulation is brought in in 2016 following the revelation that Cambridge Analytica sold data of Facebook users to advertisers and political parties. This can be said to have swayed the 2016 election of Donald Trump as well as the referendum in The UK to leave the EU.(Brexit)

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User Journey: Bob Heimer Name: Bob Heimer Age: 29 Profession: Set-maker/ Set-designer Hobbie: Pottery making and data physicalization Summary: Injured his ankle after a run and mentally healed by creating and collecting data to then incorporate in to his pottery making by tracking his heartbeat by using his Fit-Bit to represent key moments in his life. Using different patterns and colours he was able to create unique pottery pieces and began selling them on Etsy as a form of income. After his ankle healed he got a job as a setdesigner for a major motion picture.

User Journey: Interview with Bob Heimer Sketches of Bob’s work

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Charrette Report

IADT Data Physicalization Charrette

Charrette report

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introduction

charrette brief summary

What does it mean to turn data into an object with a story to tell? In the IADT Data Physicalization Charrette, we explored just that. The field of data physicalization is on the rise. Borne on the heels of explorations into data art and data objects, data physicalization is an extension of data visualization. Not only is the data visualized, it is transformed into a physical objects - wherein the physical properties of the objects encode the data. The field also finds its roots in the accessibility of data visualizations for the visually impaired. Data physicalization is a novel way to experience data and embed context into the presentation of the data.

The charrette brief included a summary of my thesis proposal, examples of data physicalizations, and details regarding the three sub-projects in the charrette.

The thesis proposal summary highlighted what it means to make data physical, introduced the topic of ‘data craft,’ and included a note about the thesis having a feminist lens and approach. To supplement this summary, the brief also included a ‘Key Definitions’ page that defined phrases such as data craft, textile and fibre arts, and quantified self. The five examples of data physicalizations included were chosen because of the breadth of datasets they used - from sleep patterns to climate change to traffic delays. The charrette brief also included morning brainstorm topics that would engage the entire team and get them working together to ideate.

This charrette served three primary goals. One, to explore the world of data physicalization and understand its intricacies, justifications and future uses.

Two, to expose undergrad students to a range of design strategy tools, such as brainstorming, personas and journey mapping. Three, to engage the variety of skill sets held by the undergrad students in conducting and communicating their charrette work.

The three sub-projects of the charrette were intended to engage the students’ various skill sets in different ways, and to get them familiar not only with the charrette subject of data physicalization, but also to expose them to the variety of charrette tools and methods.

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project outlines

project 1: precedent scan of data physicalizations

project 3: handicrafts in the digital age

Goals:

Goals:

• To scour the internet for examples of data physicalizations and record which kinds of datasets are used, how the data is encoded in the physical objects, and note down which elements of the physicalization make it unique.

• To investigate the rise of handicrafts in the digital age, including the impact of Etsy and Pinterest.

• To understand the reasons why people still craft by hand in spite of the technology available to us.

• To use the information gathered in the precedent scan to develop 2-3 user personas for people who create data physicalizations, including details such as motivations, desires, frustrations and family life.

• To communicate the findings in a creative, comprehensive manner.

Skills required:

• To develop journey maps based on the developed personas, paying special attention to the personas’ motivations behind creating a data physicalization, and considering any pain points they might have come across during the development of the physicalization.

• Research and synthesis • Creative writing • Storyboarding

Skills required:

• Visual thinking

• Research and synthesis • Creative writing • Target audience marketing

project 2: timeline of data collection and communication Goals: • To research the history of data collection and communication, including methods of visualization, disruptions and famous names.

• To communicate the findings alongside historical events to give the audience context, such as world wars or seemingly unrelated inventions.

• To futurecast the field of data collection and communication into 2020.

Skills required: • Research and synthesis • Understanding of communication hierarchies • Visual thinking

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charrette team

by school program Animation: Alex Judge, Eimear Young, Deither Kriby Jay, Jessie Lopez II Business: Alan Keane, Aurelie Kpako, Joseph Kelly, Seán Kestell New Media Studies: Aidan Kelly, Ali Pierse, Sean Kavanagh, Wynette Aplasen

by charrette project Project 1: Alan Keane, Aurelie Kpako, Joseph Kelly, Wynette Aplasen Project 2: Aidan Kelly, Alex Judge, Sean Kavanagh, Seán Kestell Project 3: Ali Pierse, Deither Kriby Jay, Eimear Young, Jessie Lopez II

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morning brainstorms tuesday These brainstorms were a way to get the team thinking about the subject of data physicalization. By sharing and re-clustering the brainstorms, the team understood how vastly different and yet strikingly similar all their ideas were. Submissions included here have been edited for clarity and length, and all duplicate or similar responses have been left in.

What datasets can be used in data physicalization? Many of these responses involved some kind of comparison or contrast of two datasets. In conducting this brainstorm exercise, students seemed to express an interest in using data physicalization as a way to shock or inform audiences. Some of these ideas are borne out of pure curiosity into what the data might look like in physical form.

• Android vs. Apple users

• Heartbeats when you listen to music

• People with coloured hair at IADT

• Your eyes expansion when you see something you like

• Christian church spending • Facebook vs. Instagram users • Astronomical data, like star patterns • Plant and garden yields • Habit tracking • Calories consumed • Population changes

• Number of phone calls • Prison population per country • Wildfire trends • Drug overdose

• DART busy periods

• How many people recycle now vs. 10 years ago

• Telegram vs. WhatsApp messages sent per day

• Percentage of people in manual vs. administrative jobs

• Irish temperature 1919 vs. 2019

• Rate of people emigrating

• Children’s milestones

• Election results

• Election outcomes

• Passengers who use the train vs. bus

• Manual cars vs. Automatic cars 1999 to 2019

• Heart rate

• Newspaper sales vs. “Clicks” on online news articles

• Hair length

• Album streaming in 2010s vs.

Album sales in 1990s

• Commute lengths • Water usage • Plant growth

• Polling results

• Changing colour schemes in a film

• Number of college students 1999 vs. 2019

• Plastic bag waste

• Birth and death rates

• Salmon numbers

• Obesity rates by location • Cigarette data in IADT by measuring butts • Birth and death rate over the course of 10 years

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• Number of plane departures a day vs. 30 years ago

• Sugar content in cafeteria food • Social media usage • Alcohol • Water bottles being used • Eye colour

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wednesday Why do people create data physicalizations? Much of these responses revolved around the emotional, memory-keeping aspect of data physicalization. The students latched on to the idea of using physical data as a way to tell stories. Other responses revolved around the use of data physicalization as a provocation for change.

The students seemed keen on the idea of physical data being in-your-face and unavoidable.

• Improve health standards • Emotional response • To visualize the data • To have a keepsake

• To compare data sets

• Sentimental value

• Just for fun

• Document a year

• For enjoyment

• To illustrate a point

• Learn a new skill

• Creative

• Hobby

• To make studying the data look fun and interesting

• Unique

• To make people pay more attention to a problem/data

• To convey a new outlook

• To make a bigger impact in how people will take information being given to them • To make something easier to explain/ show to others • Compare/contrast • A visual data piece communicates to most people since it is not written data

• To be unique • To attract the abstract • As a gift • For artistic reasons • To have a consistent activity every day • To improve a skill • Coping mechanism • Aesthetic curiosity

• To keep a historical item/record

• They work/teach in a data-heavy field

• Culture

• For the impaired

• Social commentary

• Storytelling

• More memorable

• To aid learning

• Can display data in a more clearer light

• Create a gift

• More enjoyable

• Inspired by others/online

• Create realization

• A getaway

• To gain funding from college/ business to carry out the study

• Boredom

• Money

• To share

• Love

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Thursday If you could make a data physicalization, what would it be? These responses showed careful consideration of the context that the data physicalization would be in. The way the data is encoded in the idealized physical object is closely related to what the data represents. The students really grasped on to the idea of data physicalizations being a way to put the data in a proper context for audiences.

• Amount of charity donations, encoded through the number of roses planted as a way to encourage donations through the reward of seeing a beautiful garden of roses • Number of concussions in American football, encoded through the colours of a high school teams’ jerseys as a way to get people to take the statistics seriously by using the innocence of high schoolers • Number of DSPCA adoptions, encoded through hand-drawn pictures of each animal adopted

• Types of coffee sold at a coffee shop, encoded in coloured lollipops, purely out of curiosity of which drink is most popular • Memories and family history, encoded in a short animated film or painting, encoded through characterization • Domestic violence report rates, encoded in sound waves • Number of bike accidents, encoded in broken bikes welded and stacked together to create shock value

• Lifespan of boy bands vs. girl bands, encoded in music sheet symbols

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project development

project 1: precedent scan of data physicalizations The students dove head-first into an exploration of data physicalization examples.

They used Twitter as their primary source of discovery. The students found projects that used a wide range of datasets and encoded the data in creatively physical ways. Many of the projects uncovered were created with the intention of sparking conversations, challenging assumptions and provoking change. These projects were often created by teams of people rather than individual crafters or makers.

The team used two of the three personas developed after the precedent scan to create journey maps, focusing on the pain points and frustrations the personas may feel in their journey to develop their data physicalizations. The personas and journey maps were heavily informed by the precedent scan research.

project 2: timeline of data collection and communication The timeline took on an Irish context early in its development. The students were particularly interested in Ireland’s relationship with data collection and the development of government agencies that controlled and mandated census data.

Through the development of the timeline, the students uncovered aspects of Ireland’s history that were entirely unknown to them. By placing these events on a timeline and compared to historical events such as inventions and wars, the students were able to draw key insights about Ireland’s relationship with data collection.

project 3: handicrafts in the digital age Through their extensive research, the students uncovered valuable information about the so-called new Renaissance of arts and crafts, the benefits of kinesthetic learning, and how technology has aided the craft of stop-motion animation. The students felt that their learnings were disconnected from each other, and struggled to see how they could combine their learnings in a cohesive manner.

Once it came time to work on personas, Project 1 joined forces with Project 3 to develop three personas. This helped Project 3 contextualize their research in terms of data physicalization. The three personas combined the research done by both groups and built on the morning brainstorm sessions discussed on page XX. The two teams collaborated on the building of personas, and Project 3 took one of the personas to use in the development of their final product to communicate their research findings. Grounding the research done by the Project 3 team in a human persona enabled them to channel their research in the persona’s voice.

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outcomes

timeline The final timeline of Ireland’s complicated history with data collection revealed the extent to which the government has been involved with personal data collection over the centuries. The team uncovered that national events were more likely to disrupt the process of collecting census data, as the uprisings of the 1910s and 1920s resulted in a loss of census data. This struck the team as particularly interesting, because they went into their research process under the assumption that events on a larger, global scale would have a greater impact on data collection. As the timeline moved into the present day, the team uncovered that the rise of the internet lead people to more willingly, and perhaps unknowingly, give up their personal data at a higher rate - especially considering Ireland’s historical reluctance to participate in mandated census collections. The resulting timeline informed the overarching topic of data physicalization by demonstrating that data physicalization can be a way for people to reclaim the personal data that is collected through the internet without their consent.

audio interview The persona of Bob was fully fleshed out to communicate the research conducted

by Project 1 and Project 3’s students. The students imagined Bob as clearly as they could and gave him a voice through an audio interview. In writing the interview questions and answers, the students were able to seamlessly integrate their research in a way that felt familiar. The script felt real and had a natural flow. The use of creative writing was key here. Not only did Bob had to feel like a real person, but his answers also had to communicate the wide variety of research conducted over the course of the charrette. Writing answers in Bob’s place gave the students a deeper understanding of people’s motivations behind creating data physicalizations, particularly ones with such a deep personal meaning like Bob’s. In Bob’s use of FitBit data, he exemplifies the insight from the timeline project - Bob is reclaiming personal data that a company collected about him to create a deeply and personally meaningful data physicalization.

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conclusion This charrette built on initial understandings of data physicalizations and provided a stronger base of research on which to stand going forward. The personas developed in the charrette provide a backbone from which further studies can be conducted, such as developing systems diagrams and generalized journey maps for the production of data physicalizations. The morning brainstorms produced a wide variety of responses that will be most helpful in future research stages. Working with twelve undergrad students on the topic of data physicalization demonstrated the value of the topic a hundredfold. Hearing their excited discussions and reading out their own ideas on data physicalizations they would like to make just shows how much of an impact the field of data physicalization can have on getting non-designers interested in data visualization. One of the key benefits of data physicalization is bringing complex or uninteresting datasets into the “real world,� and there’s nothing more real than a group of excited young university students.

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references

web Sarah Vitak. “Crochet Your Own Climate Change Data Visualization Blanket.” Make: We Are All Makers, 18 Oct. 2017, www.makezine.com/2017/10/18/crochet-climatechange-data-visualization-blanket/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

@sara__weber. “Meine Mutter ist Pendlerin im Münchner Umland. Und begeisterte Strickerin. 2018 hat sie einen “Bahn-Verspätungsschal” gestrickt. Pro Tag zwei Reihen: Grau bei unter 5 Minuten, rosa bei 5 bis 30 Minuten Verspätung, rot bei Verspätung auf beiden Fahrten oder einmal über 30 Minuten.” 6 Jan. 2019, 8:29 a.m., twitter.com/ sara__weber/status/1081950904671240192.

Stephanie Evergreen. “An Incomplete List of Females in Data Visualization.” Evergreen Data, 20 Nov. 2014, www.stephanieevergreen.com/females-in-dataviz/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

@seunglee. “The Sleep Blanket A visualization of my son’s sleep pattern from birth to his first birthday. Crochet border surrounding a double knit body. Each row represents a single day. Each stitch represents 6 minutes of time spent awake or asleep #knitting #crochet #datavisualization.” 12 Jul. 2019, 12:57 p.m., twitter.com/ Lagomorpho/status/1149754592579600384.

Wikipedia contributors. “The Tempestry Project.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Mar. 2019. Web. 10 Apr. 2019.

texts

[Infogram]. “Key Figures in the History of Data Visualization.” Medium, 14 Jun. 2016, www.medium.com/@Infogram/key-figures-in-the-history-of-data-visualization30486681844c. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. Womens Work: the First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. Norton, 1995.

Bituin Callanta. “9 Inspiring Females in Data Visualization.” Medium, 30 Mar. 2018, www.medium.com/@bituin/9-inspiring-females-in-data-visualization-6bf332185556.

Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Dragicevic, Pierre, et al. “Data Physicalization.” Springer Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, edited by Jean Vanderdonckt, Springer, 2019.

Hunter, Clare. Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle.

Sceptre, 2019.

FlowingData. “Rail delay scarf goes for $8,500 on eBay.” FlowingData, www. flowingdata.com/2019/01/24/rail-delay-scarf-goes-for-8500-on-ebay/. Accessed 10 April 2019.

Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

Jon Hazell. “A Brief History of Data Visualization.” Dundas BI Support, 15 Oct. 2013, www.dundas.com/support/blog/a-brief-history-of-data-visualization. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine.

1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

Laura Guertin. “Dr. G’s #AGU17 Spotlight – Crocheted temperature tapestries to communicate climate data.” AGU Blogosphere, 15 Dec. 2017, blogs.agu.org/ geoedtrek/2017/12/15/dr-gs-agu17-spotlight-crocheted-temperature-tapestriescommunicate-climate-data/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

other Jansen, Yvonne et al. Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization.

Presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, United States, 2015.

Lindsay Obermeyer. “Crocheted Tree Ring Social Network Diagrams.” Social Network and Stroke Recovery Project, 4 Dec. 2015, loops.typepad.com/social_network_and_ stroke/crochet/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

Thudt, Alice, Uta Hinrichs and Sheelagh Carpendale. Data craft: integrating data into daily practices and shared reflections. Paper presented at CHI 2017 Workshop on Quantified Data & Social Relationships, Denver, United States, 2017.

Quantified Self. What is Quantified Self? www.quantifiedself.com/about/what-isquantified-self/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

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appendix

thesis proposal charrette brief precedent scan form precedent scan form responses personas audio interview transcript final presentation post-charrette debrief responses

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31

46

47

precedent scan form

129

precedent scan form responses

What material What material or or How was How thewas datathe data When was When thewas datathe data Name orName title of or title ofName (or Name username) (or username) was used was used physicalization processprocess physicalization physicalization project project of the maker of theor maker or physicalization to create tothe create datathe data created?created? created?created? designerdesigner physicalization? physicalization?

What would Whatyou would consider you consider to be unique to be about unique about the is the Type(s) of Type(s) dataset(s) of dataset(s) How is the How data is the data What is What this particular this particular data physicalization? data physicalization? purpose of the data of the data used used being encoded being encoded in the in the purpose physicalization? physicalization? data physicalization? data physicalization?

Country stress Country stress

Data streamers Data streamers

06/12/2016 06/12/2016

Data physicalization Data physicalizationChercheurs Chercheurs

By hand By hand

Pottery, Blue Pottery, tack Blue tack

Standard Standard of living of living Colour, Size, Colour, Design Size, DesignCompare/contrast Compare/contrast The country’s The country’s chosen and chosen also the anddesign also the in design which they in which they are layed are ourlayed our

By hand By hand

LEGO

Alcahol consumption Alcahol consumption Colour, Size, Colour, Height Size, HeightCompare/contrast Compare/contrast This shows This meshows big county’s me bigin county’s the world. in the How world. much How much alcahol they alcahol consume they consume in the year in the year

LEGO

MazametMazamet Ville Morte Ville Morte Michel Tauriac Michel Tauriac

1972

1972

The French The town French town Inhabitants Inhabitants lying on the lying roads on the roads of Mazamet of Mazamet had a had a population population that closely that closely matched matched the nationwide the nationwide number of number motor of vehicle motor vehicle deaths across deaths theacross the previous year previous so Michel year so Michel Tauriac decided Tauriacto decided show to show all inhabitants all inhabitants lying on the lying on the floor to symbolize floor to symbolize these these deaths. deaths.

number of number road death of road death Number Number accidentsaccidents in France in France

to make people to make aware people of aware Theof use of The physical use ofbodies physical and bodies comparing and comparing the number the number the extensive the extensive number of number of deaths of of todeaths the population to the population of a townof is a town helpful is way a helpful way people killed people because killed of because for of peoplefor topeople get a visual to getsense a visual of the sense significance of the significance of the of the road accidents road accidents number of number the road of deaths the road that deaths occurred that occurred on that specific on that specific year year

Warning: Warning: Real TimeReal Global TimePold Global Pold Air QualityAir Display Quality Display

2011

2011

Computer-generated Computer-generated LED

Global AirGlobal QualityAir Quality Colour

Colour

Compare/contrast Compare/contrast not only isnot it an only example is it an of example data physicalization, of data physicalization, it is also ait is also a form of digital form art of digital art

Dorota Grabkowska Dorota Grabkowska and 2012 and Kuba Kolec Kuba Kolec

2012

By hand By hand

Strings and Strings nails and nails

Mood

Mood

Colour

Colour

Storytelling Storytelling

DepictionDepiction of loneliness of loneliness @verbeeldingskr8 @verbeeldingskr8 June 14thJune 201814th 2018 over timeover among time people among people in Amsterdam in Amsterdam

By hand By hand

Candles Candles

Mood

Mood

Lit and non-lit Lit and candles non-lit candles Compare/contrast Compare/contrast I find the Imethod find theused method unique used asunique candles asseem candles practical seem practical were used were to show used to show since lightsince and darkness light and darkness are great are examples great examples of contrast of contrast percentage percentage over timeover time

Hostile Terrain Hostile94: Terrain Deaths 94: Deaths Coordinated Coordinated by the by the2019 at the US/Mexico at the US/Mexico Border Border Undocumented Undocumented MigrationMigration Project and Project curated andby curated by Jason De Jason Leon De Leon

By hand By hand

Toe tags Toe tags

Deaths atDeaths the US/Mexico at the US/Mexico Number Number Border between Border the between mid the mid 1990s and 1990s 2019and 2019

Guitar Plectrum Guitar Plectrum (Nylon, Delrin, (Nylon, Delrin, Celluloid) Celluloid)

HeartbeatHeartbeat Data Data

HeartbeatHeartbeat data of the data of the It was a gift It was a gift musician musician is carved is into carved into the guitarthe plectrum guitar plectrum Size, Height Size, Height

What made What memade me

2019

LED

It is very personal It is very personal and it tellsand a story it tells about a story an about individual an individual

Storytelling, Storytelling, To have aTo haveIt ais a relevant It is adata relevant to have dataespecially to have especially in today'sincurrent today's current visual awareness visual awareness of the ofaffairs the affairs significantsignificant number of number of people who people havewho diedhave at died at the US/Mexican the US/Mexican border border

HeartbeatHeartbeat Data (Data Data Gift)(Data datagifts Gift) datagifts

14 October 14 2017 October 2017 By hand By hand

ContrastsContrasts of housing of housing @ainvienna @ainvienna prices in San prices Francisco in San Francisco

August 15August 2016 15 2016

Computer-generated Computer-generated 3D printing 3D printing

Housing Prices Housing Prices

Sports Teams Sports Teams

2008

By hand By hand

colour, Paper colour, Paper

favourite favourite sports teams sports teams Colour, Size Colour, Size

Compare/contrast Compare/contrast colour and colour design and used design to represent used to represent the data the data

By hand By hand

Gum ballsGum balls

Mood

Compare/contrast Compare/contrast

landry frances landry frances

2008

How happy How arehappy you? are you?

Stefan Sagmeister Stefan Sagmeister

48

Mood

Height

Height

It was interesting It was interesting as it was the as itheartbeat was the heartbeat data recorded data recorded from a performer from a performer in a concert, in ausually concert, the usually audience the audience is is focused on focused for thisontype for of this data type soofit data was interesting so it was interesting to see to see information information about theabout performers the performers instead. instead.

Compare/contrast Compare/contrast It is an interesting It is an interesting way to compare way to compare housing prices housing in prices in different social different classes socialofclasses areas rather of areas than rather the traditional than the traditional way of using waybar of using chartsbar and charts pie charts and pie etc.charts etc.

49

What material What material or or How was How thewas datathe data When was When thewas datathe data Name or Name title of or title of Name (or Name username) (or username) was used was used physicalization processprocess physicalization physicalization project project of the maker of theor maker or physicalization to create tothe create datathe data created?created? created?created? designer designer physicalization? physicalization?

What would Whatyou would consider you consider to be unique to be unique about about the is the Type(s) Type(s) of dataset(s) of dataset(s) How is the Howdata is the data What is What this particular this particular data physicalization? data physicalization? purpose of the data of the data used used being encoded being encoded in the in the purpose physicalization? physicalization? data physicalization? data physicalization?

Of All theOf People All theinPeople All the in Stan's All theCafe Stan's Cafe World World

Population Population

Size

votes

Colour, Size Colour, Size

2004

2004

By hand By hand

Rice

Rice

After andrew Afteryang andrew whoyang who yang gangyang wisdom gang wisdom september september 16th 2019 16th 2019 By hand By hand will get the willsecond get thespot second in spot in the democratic the democratic candidatecandidate 2020 2020

votes

Size

to show who to show is clear who is clear favourite favourite

When Women When&Women men & men sue montgomery sue montgomery 14 may 2019 14 may 2019 spoke spoke

By hand By hand

Textiles Textiles

speach from speach menfrom and men and Colour women women

3D Interest 3DRate Interest Surface Rate Surface Richard Brath Richard Brath

Woodwork Woodwork

Interest Rates Interest ForRates 1 For 1 Month out Month to 120 out Months to 120 Months

To Show interest To ShowRates interest Rates The Gridlines The Gridlines were Created wereUsing Created a Laser UsingCut a Laser Box with Cut Box with Over Time Over Time Light Inside, Light I Found Inside,This I Found to beThis an Interesting to be an Interesting Design Design

Mood, World Mood, Happiness World Happiness Colour, Height Colour, Height Map Map

Compare/contrast Compare/contrast

2014

2014

By hand By hand

Data Physicalization Data Physicalization of Matilda of Whitemore, Matilda Whitemore, Ben 2017 Ben World Happiness World Happiness Galassi, Daniel Galassi, Frost, Daniel Frost, Adam Siekfas Adamand Siekfas Lila and Lila Finch Finch

2017

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Chris Burden Chris Burden

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personas

audio interview transcript

Occupation

Artist

Brain surgeon

Parent with an engineering degree

Name

Bob

Ross

Julie

Age

29

42

30

Education

NYU

NCS

UCD

Family

Single

2 kids, Married

2 kids, Married

Passion

His job

Weaving

Her kids

Hobby

Running

Fishing

Swimming

Frustration

Low income

Works to much

No personal time

Motivation

Wants art to be personal

Spend my quality time with family

Wants to get back in to compeditive swimming

What is their data physicalization?

Sculpting

Day in life weaving

Blanket reflecting last competitions

Social media

Instgram

Facebook

All

What is your craft?

I enjoy sculpture, particularly pottery making. Personally, I find that there’s a certain peace in moulding and smoothing out the edges of something that’s imperfect. In my designs, I discretely add statistics of personal events in my life, my best-selling one being a tracked meter of my heart beat during my first run after I badly injured my ankle.

How does pottery help you?

I think that, for me, focusing on one material at a time promotes mindfulness which helps with my mental health and wellbeing. According to studies, our brain has an imagination network which doctors believe improves our ability to perform in crucial situations and releases dopamine.

Do you think it could help others?

I actually have a large following on social media, Instagram in particular, where I create time lapses of the pottery I make.I then created an Etsy account and started selling my pottery, as I was unemployed at the time.

How else has handicraft helped you physically and mentally?

For me, I find it easy to learn by doing practical assignments. I found out that this was called kinaesthetic learning, which basically means that some people are able to retain more information when using their hands. At the time, I was listening to audiobooks to learn Spanish and found that it really improved my memory of the vocabulary if I was doing pottery at the same time.

What job could these skills be applied to?

Actually, recently, I’ve been hired as a set designer for a new major motion picture coming out in 2020. They found my model-making and sculpting incredible, and I’ve been hired to make props for the set.

What do you love most about pottery making?

I love that each piece I’ve made is a centre piece around a pivotal time in my life. Even though some of the moments were sad, it’s the journey that makes up my adult life.

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post-charrette debrief responses

How would you rate your charrette experience on a scale of 1 to 7?

What was your favourite part about your charrette experience?

What was your least favourite part about your charrette experience?

Which tools or methodologies do you see yourself using in a future project?

If you could change one thing about your charrette experience, what would it be and why?

7

Getting to collaborate with other creative minds and solving problems in that environment

None

Brainstorming, Personas, Physical data craft

None

7

Working in a collective

The growing period of the first two days of not fully comprehending what we're doing

Brainstorming, Timeline, Precedent scan and tangent research, Personas, Journey mapping

None

5

Working and learning how a group reach project functions

Researching a topic I don't have any experience or massive interest in

Brainstorming, Timeline to have a better understanding of what we needed to achieve

4

Mingling with other courses

The tight restrictions on Personas time for something so expansive

Possibly have other courses join in. Tailor the groups to fit the topic a little more.

6

Working with other people in groups

Research was boring some time

Brainstorming, Timeline, Journey mapping

Longer time so we could actually create something

6

Enjoyed discussing the idea of making data into more meaningful/memorable physicalizations, and also learning new material on how data collection in Ireland has progressed throughout history.

The time constraint was frustrating, and also trying to represent all our research in a clear and optimum manner also.

Brainstorming, Timeline, Precedent scan and tangent research, Personas, Journey mapping

More time and more resources to create an even better physicalization for our project

5

Meeting new people and trying to apply my skills to an unfamiliar problem

I found it difficult to work towards something when we didn’t know what the end product should be

Brainstorming, Personas

I didn’t like that we got split into smaller groups as I would have liked to have worked more closely with everyone on one topic

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Appendix C – Literature Review

Understanding data physicalization Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization | ​Jansen, Yvonne et al. Opportunities and Challenges for Data Physicalization. Presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, United States, 2015.

Jansen et al. define ‘data physicalization’ as “a physical artifact whose geometry or material properties encode data.” This definition separates it from its ‘data visualization’ relative, a form of data representation primarily in the digital sphere. The idea of physical data is not novel. In fact, we have only been visualizing data in the digital sphere for merely a handful of decades since the advent of the computer. This paper by Jansen et al. begins by outlining the ways we have physicalized data in the past, such as in ancient Incan times and before the development of writing systems.

Data physicalization is not a reversion to the pre-digital era, but rather an embracement of the benefits granted from experiences that use all of our senses. Data physicalization offers opportunities for making data more accessible to the visually impaired and kinesthetic learners. Physicalization can bring complex topics into the so-called “real world” by making them approachable and engaging, rather than existing as merely numbers or lines on a screen. Physicalization can also give the data situational context. In an unapologetically in-your-face way that screens may fail to achieve, physical data makes people pay attention.

The current field of data physicalization is faced with technological and social challenges. Firstly, the field must continually make a case for its existence by always having to provide proof that it is worthy to be researched in the first place. Secondly, the field is plagued by limitations that prevent the more complex ways of encoding data in a physical manner from being executed. For instance, the paper identifies that “more work is needed before we can “actuate” a range of physical variables such as reflectivity, porosity, rugosity or taste.” Thirdly, the paper identifies the need for people to build and improve their “physicalization literacy” in much the same way we have had to improve our visualization literacy. For example, when first faced with pie charts, we had to learn that the bigger the chunk, the bigger the percentage. The same principle will need to be applied in data physicalization so that less time is devoted to the explanation and contextualization of the physicalization. Lastly, the paper identifies “the importance of making the value of physicalizations greater than their construction cost” - as of now, making data physicalizations is a costly adventure with regards to time and money.

The paper briefly touches on handmade data physicalizations, but only in a historical context - as in, before technological advancements stepped in to automate certain procedures. The paper primarily focuses on how technology can be implemented to create data physicalizations, from conceptualization to fabrication. The paper sees data physicalization as an extension of the data itself, and does not consider the human element in its fabrication. The paper makes a great case for the importance of data physicalization for the experience of the audience, but fails to acknowledge how the actual fabrication would impact the maker. Upon finishing the paper, I am left wondering: can all datasets be physicalized? Why or why not? Are some datasets more important to physicalize? Which methods of physicalization would be most beneficial to which datasets? Are some datasets too large to physicalize?

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Understanding self-tracking Self-Tracking | ​Neff, Gina, and Dawn Nafus. Self-Tracking. The MIT Press, 2016.

Neff and Nafus describe self-tracking as an inherently “human activity.” The authors compare modern, technology-driven self-tracking methodologies with those of the past, such as handwritten diaries or logs. They also identify a concern from social scientists and philosophers that self-tracking poses a risk of reducing “human life to numbers.” Neff and Nafus pose that self-tracking leads to either active behavioural changes or to passive, personal reflections on one’s habits.

Technologies like the FitBit and built-in smartphone sensors have made tracking easier in some regards. Now, instead of noting down kilometres walked or calories consumed, the apps do it for us with sensors and pre-installed libraries of caloric information. The completely arbitrary ‘10,000 steps a day’ has lead to feelings of inadequacy if that threshold is not met. The implementation of social media networks into tracking apps has introduced gamification and competition. Now, you can earn badges for meeting certain thresholds, post your workout data for all your social network to see, and watch as your friends compare their data to yours.

The availability of this technology brings data collection out of the laboratory and into the hands of the people - at least, for those who can afford the technology. Neff and Nafus are wary of the branding of self-tracking tools as luxury items, and how this can - and in many ways already is - leading to “class and identity distinctions.” Undertones of ‘if you don’t have the latest FitBit, or even any FitBit at all, then you don’t care about your health’ are seeping into the self-tracking community, and even just the world at large.

Neff and Nafus identify “five common styles or purposes for self-tracking.” They are as follows: (1) Monitoring and evalutating This style is borne from the biomedicalization intents behind self-tracking. For instance, you may decide to track your daily steps. You track your steps for a week and identify what you did on the days you did not reach your target step count. You would then seek changes in your life to ensure that you meet your step goal every day.

(2) Eliciting sensations This style comes from the passive, self-reflection motivator behind self-tracking. For example, noting down your changes in mood and then reflecting on the data may reveal how certain actions or environments impact your mood, which in turn puts your mind more in tune with your body. You can then start to anticipate changes in your mood based on how your body is feeling.

(3) Aesthetic curiosity This style was identified because of a handful of self-trackers who also happen to be artists. The data collected from self-tracking becomes inspiration for artistic projects. It is also inspired by attitudes of collecting data on oneself just for fun and to see what happens. Neff and Nafus write, “Even if there is nothing particularly visually compelling, visualizations of data might become interesting as a way of narrating personal biographies.”

(4) Debugging a problem Again, this style of self-tracking has its roots in biomedicalization. For example, you may track problems with your allergy medication by noting down every time you feel a symptom. As you track, you may start to notice patterns that prompt you to show your doctor and perhaps get your dosage changed.

(5) Cultivating a habit This purpose for self-tracking stems from the gamification and competition elements in today’s app-driven self-tracking methodology. If you want to start going to sleep earlier, then your self-tracking sleep app will reward you for logging earlier and earlier bedtimes. The gamification and competition elements inspire the building of habits through rewards and by holding the self-tracker accountable to their goals.

Self-tracking is a way of taking back the power of one’s personal data. Yes, companies are collecting our data if we engage with these self-tracking apps and technologies, and yes, they are using it to target us with ads and to shape our behaviour, but an individual’s intent and purpose behind self-tracking gives that individual back some of that power.

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Understanding women’s association with the textile and fibre arts The Subversive Stitch | ​Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine.

1984. I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2017.

Parker uses historical and psychoanalytical evidence to break down the construction of femininity in relation to the textile and fibre arts - namely, in this instance, embroidery. She carefully outlines the historical roots of embroidery through the ages, and how the tools of this art form simultaneously “promoted submission to the norms of feminine obedience and offered both psychological and practical means to independence.”

For centuries, the act of embroidery by women was a double-edged sword. It was seen as a way to confine women to the home - their “nimble fingers” are, of course, biologically suited to embroidery - but in many instances it became a way for women to earn a living. The addition of music and embroidery to school curriculums made it socially acceptable for girls to go to school, and thus earn an education. When embroidered goods were in demand, some women were even paid for their skills. Embroidery was also simultaneously seen as an act of devotion to loved ones and as an act of laziness. It was lovely that she stayed home embroidering a handkerchief for her beau, but isn’t it terrible that all she did was stay home and embroider? Parker also covers the changing nature of embroidery subjects over the centuries. Maternity, childbirth, motherhood, nature, Biblical scenes - the times at which these subjects were prevalant were often a reflection of the Church’s involvement in what was ‘appropriate’ to be stitched.

The growing division of arts and crafts left embroidery squarely in the middle for a long while. It was not a craft that created usable objects - such as a woodworker making beautiful chairs - rather, it was seen as often unneccesary embellishment on existing objects. It was also too deeply entrenched in the feminine ideal and stereotype to truly be taken seriously as an art form for centuries. The rise of patterns and kits stripped women of any creative expression in their embroidery, but also made the practice cheaper and widely available to more classes. A handful of plucky women instituted needlework programs in art schools, such as Jessie Newbury and her work behind the Royal School of Needlwork. This, however, increasingly lead to a class division among the women and girls learning needlework. The “working-class girls” learned the activity “in preparation for their future as wives, mothers or domestic servants,” while “middle-class girls” learned needlework as an art form.

Embroidery was taken up and wielded as a tool in the suffrage movement of the 1900s. Women skilled in embroidery were ready to take their rightful places as citizens with the same rights as men. Beautifully embroidered banners, handkerchiefs and other mementoes are the lasting objects of the suffrage movement. The time taken to produce these mementoes served as visual reminders of women’s dedication to the movement, and was a way of reclaiming the femininity seen to be lacking in the stereotype of the ‘sexless feminist.’ The British suffragists were at odds with Russian constructivists, the latter of whom viewed embroidery as a symbol of the bourgeois, while the former reclaimed the activity as a symbol of feminine strength.

Feminists are left with a funny dilemma. Do we forgo embroidery because of its staunch association with the weak feminine stereotype, or do we claim it as an activity that is solely in the realm of the women? Parker advocates for neither approach. It does embroidery a disservice to only be associated with women and femininity - it cannot be truly recognized as a valid art form. However, to reject the act of embroidery and needlework solely on the grounds of its association with femininity and the feminine stereotype is to give in to centuries of our patriarchal society imposing these stereotypes on embroidery. Parker cites the feminist movements of the 1970s as a time where “artists who swapped their paint brushes for a needle and thread were making a feminist statement.” The word ‘feminist’ connoted - and still connotes - a “stitch-hating, sad, ugly” woman, so for feminist artists Judy Chicago, Tracey Emin and Louise Bourgeois to use needlework as their primarly tool of feminist artwork was a way to flip the stitch-hating stereotype on its head. The projects done by these women “showed that the personal was the political” - the act of embroidery, often contained to the home, was being used to make strong political statements about the rights of women.

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Appendix D – Interviews and Questionnaires Interview Transcripts

Interview Transcript - Clare Hunter Okay. I came across your book over the summer when I was doing my initial round of research and got the eBook of it because it wasn't out in physical copy in Canada at the time. I read it over the summer and thought it was just really powerful and had some really good messages that related to the themes that I have been exploring. First, I just want to say thank you for taking the time out to speak to me, I appreciate it. My first question is mostly out of personal interest. How did you arrive at the chapter headings and the divisions in your book? I thought they were really interesting and powerful.

Well, I arrived at them because originally, I just used it as a way to organize my material. I had created those one-word titles because obviously with the range of textiles and range of practices behind them that I was dealing with, they could fit into different categories. So I wanted to find some way to really decide which category particular stories fitted into best. To do that, I set out those one-word chapter headings. Once I did that, I thought, “Actually, that is the structure for the book and I will keep those headings as the book.” Obviously, the headings changed over time. There are other headings. I had headings like "Home." I had different kinds of headings. I played around with the 14 themes and they became the chapter titles. And it just allowed me to really give a focus to each of the different themes I wanted to cover.

Right. My research has progressed to the point where I'm exploring the human experience, what it means to be human, what it means to be human while crafting, while making, while using your hands. So those kinds of headings really resonate with what it means to be human. I think dividing the book like that was a really interesting and powerful way to set the reader up for what they're about to get into.

There's a difference between "Protect" and "Loss." They are different emotions.

Yeah, exactly.

Whatever somebody is making or experiencing within those particular things, there's a variance. What I wanted to show was that whole diversity within sewing itself.

Right, exactly. Over the course of your research and the writing, which of the stories do you think resonated with you the most?

For me personally while reading it, it was the part about the foundling hospital books where the mothers would leave behind scraps of their clothing when they dropped the babies off. And then the AIDS Memorial quilt was something I hadn't really known much about and found it a very powerful section of your book. So for you, what were the most important stories that you wanted to make sure that you captured?

Well, some were important because they had personal resonance. For instance, finding the Changi prison signature cloths with a friend of mine, John Cumming - finding his mother’s name, which I didn't expect. The embroidery that had been done by the prisoners of war in Changi prison was very moving. I knew she had sewn a small square on one of the three quilts that were made in that prison camp, but I had no idea - and neither did John - that she had embroidered her name over and over on other kinds of textiles. That discovery and then having to think about what that meant for her. Why was she repetitively sewing her name down? Why was she saying yes to any opportunity to mark down her presence and what did that feel like when you're a prisoner of war who thought you had been forgotten about by the rest of the world? So that was very moving.

The AIDS Memorial quilt laid out in Washington DC Mall was just extraordinary in terms of its exuberant colour and texture as a piece of mourning - that contrast. And I think the textiles that most engrossed me are those that had that contrast, like the Chilean patchworks. Poor, very impoverished women in the shantytowns of Santiago creating mostly out of worn pieces of clothing. These incredibly, again, very colourful patchwork pictures that told of real suffering. I find that interesting because you think of suffering as something that is dark, that is grey. And so often I discovered that in their sewing, what women were using was that array of colours, similar to the patchwork quilts they made. And when I went to see it - and I think I say it in the book - I had expected something darker. But no, I was faced with something that was very delicate, very pretty, and was very beautiful.

And I pictured what it was like to make something so exquisite in such terrible circumstances.

The other things that really caught at my heart were the simplest of the textiles that were made. So the small handkerchief that Jan Ruff-O'Herne made - she was made a sexual slave by the Japanese in the Second World War - which is just simply the embroidery of her name and those of the several girls that she was incarcerated with, in partly as a document of their ordeal, in their names and the date of when they arrived at that brothel, but also as a talisman for her to help her survive through life. And similar to that was the work by anti-apartheid activist Ruth First when she was imprisoned under the Detention Law in South Africa. She took to just embroidering in black - six vertical lines, and then one line crossed through to mark her time when she had no control over her own life. I find that keeps you moving. It's the simplicity of it.

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Right. You've touched on it a little bit, but what do you think it is about textiles and fibre arts and just working with our hands and using these materials that makes us want to capture parts of our lives and make records out of these objects that take so much time and effort to create? What do you think it is that keeps us coming back to that?

Well, I think probably the greatest sense is of touch - that when we're sewing, we're constantly touching the cloths that we're working on, and by transmitting our touch into that piece, we feel as if we're putting part of ourselves into it. In some ways we are, because as I say, even pieces that I've kept from my grandmother, I sense that I'm touching where she touched. It gives me a tactile connection through generations. And I think that's one of the most potent forms for many people, when particularly they're making something as a gift to others or something that they want to be remembered by, that all those hours they spend doing it are times in which they are transmitting their touch.

Second to that is when you're sewing, if it's a gift or if it's for public view, you're thinking about that audience. Again, as I say in the book, sewing isn't just an object. It is also a correspondence. Through sewing, we're trying to communicate with other people - visually, obviously, but also texturally. And I think that's another really important part of why we spend so much time working with our hands, our hearts and our thoughts – to have all those things in the finished pieces.

Yeah, definitely. So speaking of that, are you familiar with the concept of the temperature blanket that I'd mentioned in my email? Have you seen these kinds of projects before?

I'm imagining what you're meaning by the temperature blankets is blankets that have been produced through technology to then respond to the temperature of the body. Is that right?

Well, that's actually an interesting way to view it, but it's not quite what it is. So if you go to a weather network or meteorological society, and they'll usually have downloadable spreadsheets for the average daily temperature for a year. People will assign a colour palette to ranges of temperatures - blues and violets would be colder temperatures going into the oranges, yellows, reds for warmer temperatures. Then they get their yarn or whatever they're going to use to make these beautiful textiles - often blankets or scarves or just tapestries - out of these colour choices. They end up with a beautifully rainbowed representation of the year.

That's it. No, I didn't know about that.

Yes. It's a really fascinating concept. It became a trend for a while of people doing that, or they would start in January where every day they would do one row of stitches based on the day’s temperature. But then, through my research I found some different examples. There's one mother who's taking her daughter's blood glucose levels from her type one diabetes blood sugar monitoring device, and is creating a blanket to reflect the highs and lows of those numbers. Then there was a father who did the sleeping patterns for his son's first year of life - every six minutes he was asleep and every six minutes he was awake each became a stitch. It became this beautiful blue and white tracking of every time his son was awake and asleep for a year.

It's just a different way of tracking our experience. Some of the things that you're saying about that tactility, that ability to touch and feel moments of your life that are captured and reduced to numbers. But then through the act of making, you're adding more meaning into it and creating physical scrapbooks where you can say, “That big block of red stitches right there, that's when our air conditioner broke and it was so hot out that summer,” or, “That big block of blue stitches was where it was so cold, we couldn't leave the house for three days.” So it just becomes an act of storytelling.

A lot of your examples in the book stuck out to me where they don't necessarily use data or numbers as the driving factor behind their creation, but they all have the same purpose of just tracking and recording and becoming objects of the human experience. We think of data as numbers, facts, percentages, things like that, but I've opened it up more broadly to really anything that can be tracked or measured or accounted for that ends up telling a story. So for me, the AIDS Memorial quilt is data - each of those squares represents the loss of one person, the mourning, the grief behind losing that person. Each block represents that loss of life. And then when you see all of the blocks together, that's where the increased meaning comes from.

Can you think of any other historical examples where things are tracked and measured and then translated into a tactile or textile form?

There's some interesting maps - the map of Ukraine, which has then been represented in the traditional stitching of each of its regions. And there's also been some mapping done of the election results in the United States where people have taken the election results across the States and then put them, as you say, into colour-coded embroidered tapestry. So I've seen those kinds of data. Obviously in terms of the nineteenth century, map samplers in Britain and America are a form of mapping through stitches.

Right.

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But they are mainly a stitched version of our traditional map. I have to think if I know of other textiles of the area that you're describing - which is very interesting - but I haven't got anything immediately.

That's okay. Yeah, the mapping parts are definitely something that I've seen come up quite often. But I haven't seen the one for Ukraine, so I'll have to look into that one.

All right. If I can find something about that, I'll send it to you.

Yeah, that would be great. I think that's all I've got in terms of questions.

And where's your own research at the moment?

Physically or next steps in my research?

Next steps in your research.

I'm planning a workshop with a local stitching group on Sunday to introduce them to the topic of using data to create textile and fibre art pieces. So I'm preparing a whole bunch of granny squares right now in a bunch of different colours and then we'll do a participation activity - almost a voting type with the colours of granny squares - so they can see what it means to create a data visualization out of physical materials. I'm running that on Sunday, and then it's just a matter of wrapping up my research putting it all down into words and explaining it - and preparing for my thesis defense in January.

Another one you might be interested in is Irene McWilliams, who's a quilter in Belfast. She created a series of quilts through The Troubles - the war in Northern Ireland. As part of those, one was basically a quilt of over 3000 small red squares asked to be donated from different people around the world to represent one of the victims who died in The Troubles. It appears like an abstract piece but in fact each of those small squares represents a person.

Right.

And there was also - again in Northern Ireland - a project called The Linen Project. I can't remember the artist's name, but she used white handkerchiefs, which are a traditional form of farewell in Ireland. Each of those handkerchiefs represented somebody who died during The Troubles. The handkerchiefs that they're currently embroidering in Mexico are a simple example of using a piece of fabric as a representation of a person - they're actually embroidering the names of people who've died during the war on drugs and hanging them up like prayer flags, again to change the idea of those people from being statistics to being personalized through a piece of cloth.

Yeah, yeah. Those are all perfect examples for the kinds of things that I'm trying to communicate and demonstrate. The reason why we put so much time and effort into these objects is to humanize the numbers, right? The human experience gets reduced to these numbers, but then through the act of making, we're putting the human experience back into the numbers. So those are great examples. Thank you very much.

And there's another one, an artist in Mexico who's basically collecting fragments that she's found on the border between Mexico and America, and using what she can find to create textiles that tell of the people who have died or have become ill through trying to make that journey to freedom across the border.

That's really powerful.

Very powerful. Translated into textiles. So you have to look that one up.

Yeah, I'll definitely have to look that one up. That's all I've got, but if you think of anything else that you think I might be interested in reading or if you come across anything, just send me an email. I'd love to hear from you. Just one last thank-you for writing your book. I found it really, really interesting and it sparked a lot of ideas. Thank you for that.

Well, thank you. Very good luck with your thesis and let me know how it goes. And I'd like to see a copy obviously when you're done.

Yeah, definitely. I'll send one along for sure.

That'd be lovely. Madison. All right then, lovely talking to you. Bye now.

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Interview Transcript - Hannah Jones Okay. So I'm a master's student studying here in Ireland and I'm from Canada. My topic is about the intersection of data and craft, so obviously temperature blankets were the inspiration for that. I've been pretty active on Reddit in those communities and came across your post of the “139 years of global temperatures blanket.” It was super interesting to me. I've just been reaching out to different people who have done these kinds of projects to learn a little bit more about them. If you're ready to go then we can just jump into the questions. Is that good?

Yeah, yeah.

Okay. Tell me a bit about yourself - how you got into knitting and what you do for work.

My work has nothing to do with anything creative. I work in pensions, so finance stuff. I only started knitting in the last few months to give me something to do on the train because I had, like, a four-hour commute every day.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to knit something for a friend who is very eco-aware. She's kind of a hippie. And I saw this project that a professor at the University of Reading had done called Warming Stripes.

Right, right, right. Yeah, I've seen that.

Yeah. Yeah. I just thought, “That looks nice and it's like a good knitting pattern.” There's a bit of a dubious in-joke about it as well, because I personally am not having kids - my husband and I are child-free. One of the reasons for that is environmental concerns. So giving a baby blanket with a climate change warning has a double meaning. Well, I haven't told her that's one of the reasons that we gave it to them. So yeah, I quite liked it. I think I'm going to do more data knitting because I found it more personal than just following a pattern.

Had you seen other kinds of temperature blankets before you started doing this one? Or was it just the Warming Stripes that inspired you right away?

It was literally just that picture. I hadn't seen them before, but then when I put that post up, loads of people sent me links to them and I saw that people had done all sorts of different things which looked amazing.

Mhm. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Could you expand a little bit more on why it was so important to you to create a tangible physical object that communicated that data?

Possibly just because it gets more exposure, I guess. It's something that someone carries around with them all the time. You see it all the time. I did obviously explain to the recipient what it was about, and so now every time she uses it, I guess it will be sitting there in her mind. I just liked the idea of being able to carry it around with you in a physical way that isn't too preachy, like carrying a poster around with you.

Right, totally. From where did you get your data from and how did you assign your colour scale? Was it pretty much directly inspired by the Warming Stripes?

Yeah, it was literally direct. It wasn't very sophisticated. I took a printscreen of the image, I dropped it into Excel, and lined it up so I could figure out how many years’ worth for each colour and then just bought the yarn in the colours that were in the scale.

It's just 16 colours.

Did you find that you had trouble finding enough colours?

Yes. Yeah?

I was pretty limited by the yarn, especially as, given the subject matter, I really didn't want to use anything synthetic. I had to find cotton yarn. I didn't want it to be too thin because I'm a lazy knitter. It had to be something that was 100% cotton or another natural fibre and come in 16 shades of reds and blues and isn't massively fine. That was quite limiting. But yeah, I've found a couple of brands that were quite good and I'll probably be using them for several things in the future where I'll be limited on colour schemes.

Right. What made you decide to alter the pattern to include the hearts? I thought that was a really interesting detail.

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It was a baby blanket and I didn't want it to appear too in-your-face. I just wanted to make it a bit more cozy because it is for a baby.

Mhm. Yeah, I really love that juxtaposition. It's like the doom and gloom of climate change, but maybe things are going to be okay.

Exactly.

What did you learn the most during the designing and stitching process, either about yourself or the experience or the dataset?

It kind of brings it home a little bit when you find that you get to the end of a certain colour and you think, “Oh God, I'm not going to be using that again.” And I now have lots of scraps of colours left over from it that I can look at and be like, “Oh God, we really did use a lot of blue and then a lot of very, very strong reds and almost nothing in between.” It kind of makes you really think about everything that you're showing because you spend hours - I think I spent like 70 hours on that thing. So every single moment, every single kind of temperature, it's really ingrained in my mind now.

Yeah. That time commitment is also something that I'm interested in. The fact that the data visualization can happen by typing a few numbers in a computer and boop, there it goes. And then so many people out there, yourself included, sit down and spend so many hours creating something out of it. That's definitely a connection and something really interesting that I'm looking at the ‘why’ of it all. What, if anything, would you have done differently if you could go back in time when doing this project?

I might have made it a bit smaller. It ended up being a little bit bigger than I predicted it was going to be. I was obviously limited by the number of years I had to do. I did two rows for each year because one row would have been too small. So I was massively limited on the length of the blanket, but it did actually end up being quite a lot wider than I originally anticipated. Apart from that, not much. I need to learn some faster knitting techniques. That would have cut it down quite a bit. I use English knitting. I've never done continental, so that probably would have helped. No, I don't think I would've done very much differently. I'm having a look at some more patterns at the moment. And again, because I'm quite a new knitter, I'm looking at incorporating more textures and trying to make sure that that fits the theme of what I want to do as well.

Right.

Yeah.

Awesome. I think you mentioned it a little bit at the beginning. Do you foresee yourself doing other projects that incorporate data? If so, what kind of data sets are you thinking about?

Yeah. I mean, like you say it's a massive time commitment, so anything I do has to be something that I think is either an interesting representation, or it's really important, or it's just something personal to me. So one thing I wanted to do - I follow Formula One racing, and I want to make some shawls out of the championship points. I think that would be nice. A sort of nice little souvenir of each season, which is not very high-minded, but it's just a personal interest. At the moment I'm planning out a scarf for my mother-in-law on deforestation.

Hmm. And mostly I'm doing that one because it's something that you can represent in a different way from just using different colours.

Yeah.

I was going to do the rugby world cup again because I follow that. I don't know if you follow rugby - England was in the final and we lost, so I don't have the impetus to do that now. I have an Australian friend who is starting up a green marketing company and he's very concerned about the destruction of the coral reef in Australia. So I'm trying to figure out a way to do something about that as well.

Mhm. So yeah, I've got lots of projects on my list now.

Yeah, that's really exciting. It kind of opens up a whole new world of knowing what the final form is going to look like, but still letting the numbers take you there. It's really interesting. With the deforestation one, you said a representation in a way that's not just colour. What did you mean by that?

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I'm planning to use lacework to show the holes in coverage. So I'll be starting from – I can't remember how many years ago it is. I think it's about maybe 80 to a hundred years ago to current day. And that's about pointing out the Amazon specifically. There's about 20 percent loss in coverage. So by the end of it, 20 percent holes through the work.

Oh yeah. I'm sure that'll be a beautiful project. I look forward to seeing it if you eventually post it on Reddit. Okay. That also answers what other ways data can be incorporated – using lacework and things like that. Yeah, that's pretty much all I have for you. I just wanted to have a little pick-your-brain kind of session. Your responses were everything I was looking for and more, so I really appreciate that. You're my first interview I've done for this project, so that's super exciting. Thank you. Do you have any questions for me at all or anything?

What other kind of work are you looking at?

I'm in a couple of crafting Facebook groups and one person there is tracking her 13-year-old type one diabetic daughter’s blood glucose levels. She has a blood glucose monitor. They chose the colour palette not in, like, a red is bad, green is good kind of way, but they chose her favourite colours and her daughter is super excited for it. Even though some days are bad and some days they're in the hospital, she's just hoping that it can be, like you were saying, a conversation starter to get people more aware about the disease. So that one is really interesting. And then there was one dad who tracked his son's sleeping patterns for his first year. Every six minutes he was awake and asleep. He did this beautiful knitted blanket that was really cool.

Oh, I saw that one. It was amazing.

Yeah. It's so cool. I can't remember the links that people were giving you on that post, but there's the Tempestry Project in the States.

Yes. I had a quick look at that. I didn't spend a lot of time on it yet.

Yeah. So their mission is to contextualize climate change for people, particularly in the States because that's where they're based and that's where they're getting their data from. People say, “Well, where I'm from, it's not happening here because we still get our regular seasons.” But then they're showing these tapestries and its like, “You may not think it's changing, but look at how it's changed.” So they're doing some really cool work there too. Yeah. I've jumped into this whole weird world that seemed so small at the beginning, and it's just snowballed from there.

Yeah.

Yeah. I'll keep you updated as I progress and I should be able to send the completed thesis document once it's all said and done

by January.

Brilliant.

Yeah. This was super easy. Super quick. Which is good because I can jump right into analyzing everything that you just told me, which is great. So thank you. Thanks for taking time to talk to me.

Yeah, no worries. If you need anything else just give me a shout.

Yeah, great. Thank you. Have a good night.

All right, cheers then. Bye.

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Interview Transcript - Roopa Vasudevan Okay. Tell me a bit about yourself and your background.

Yeah, sure. Oh God, where do I start? I am a new media slash conceptual artist. I'm currently based in Philadelphia, but I was based in New York for a long time. After I graduated from undergrad, I worked in broadcast television. Then I went back to graduate school at NYU's interactive telecommunications program because I really wanted to explore more digital and technologically advanced means of communication. I never really considered myself an artist before I went back to graduate school. Over the course of my master's degree, I started experimenting with programming. I really took to code and really loved making things happen generatively and through writing a program to execute a bunch of different things. It was really exciting for me. When I took a class on data representation, I really fell in love with taking large data sets and constructing something really beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, but also something that could add another dimension to the data that might not be readily apparent from visualizing it in standard ways.

Since I graduated, I have been exhibiting my work. I lived in China for about three years. I'm currently in Philly doing my PhD at the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania. My research focuses on the way that new media artists are bound by the constraints and restrictions that institutions place on them that control the technology that they're using for their work. So corporate institutions, state institutions that control data, ways that your artistic vision and approach aren't necessarily aligned with the priorities of the people who are controlling the technology that you're using to do your work.

I've done a lot of projects with really large data sets. I always defined myself as using data and technology to interrogate social and cultural practices. Lately I've been shifting to looking at data collection itself as a cultural practice and what that means about identity, how our human identities are lost or being shaped to fit the machine and algorithmically adjust ourselves to the machine, and the machine is more easily able to read us. I do screen-based work, but I also like working with more tactile materials - making more sculptural works or prints. I've been experimenting with print-making processes recently. I've done work in textiles and fabric and 3D printing, all that stuff. I really think that there is something to taking data that we see on the screen and translating it into a real-world format that makes it interesting and compelling and in a way that's different from what we're used to.

Yeah, totally. That's where what I'm studying as well is coming from. I came across your All-American Girls project from a few years ago. What was your inspiration behind turning that data set into a stitched object?

I think there were a couple of things that were just happening in my life at that time. Let me think back. So that was 2012. At that point I was starting to really get into cross stitch and embroidery, just for fun as a hobby. I did it quite a bit when I was younger and kind of let it go for a little bit, but I found it to be a really meditative, relaxing thing. I was also keeping track of the 2012 election. A lot of the discourse surrounding the 2012 election was about how women were the most important voting block and swung the election for Obama. Had Obama not had that much support from women as a cohesive unit, he might not have won in 2012. I thought it would be interesting to take that discussion and to take data that was related to that discussion and place it into a form that was very gendered. Needlepoint and embroidery are very gendered forms. We don't really talk about men doing it. We always associate it with women and domesticity and that it is something you have to be trained to do in order to be a good housewife or whatever. It’s a very antiquated version of what femininity actually means. I thought it was just interesting to place those two things in conversation.

You have this craft that has a lot of gender-conforming expectations surrounding it, and adherence to really strict and rigid gender roles around which our society is built. And then on the other hand, you have this evidence of women becoming a very important voting block and a very important population to be considered in elections - which if we're looking at the grand scheme of things, really hasn't been the case for a while, right? Women only got the right to vote very recently, if we're looking at it from a chronological perspective. And so I think that voice and that agency that women had in politics was really interesting to place in conversation with a form that is representative of women not having that much agency. And so that's what motivated putting those two together.

Yeah, totally. That's awesome. What would you say that you learned the most during the designing and stitching process? Either about yourself and the act of creating the project or about the data itself.

Yeah, that's a really good question. I knew I wanted to do a cross stitch project surrounding the election. Initially I wanted to make samplers of keywords that represented issues that were important to women state by state. That data ended up being very hard to find and then also it didn't really make sense in the cross stitch format. I was making connections there that were really tenuous and that fell apart when you poked at them a little bit. This was a project for a class at the time, and the teacher was a data artist named Jer Thorp. At that time, he was the data-artist-in-residence at the New York Times.

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It's interesting to think about cross stitch and pixels as being aligned, right? One stitch is equated to one pixel, so what can you do with that parallel and that information? And so from there it was then making that connection that was really productive for me because it enabled me to translate what I was doing on the screen to something that was occurring off of the screen, which is really the first time that I had made that happen. Until then, all of the work that I had done had really been screen-based or projection or things that required a computer in order to execute their final format. This is something that I've learned not while I was doing it, but in hindsight: that project really was just as much about the process of stitching as it was about actually designing the things. Once I had the code, it took me like two seconds to create a template for all of it. It's a very processional work and it required a lot of time and a lot of energy and labor on that part.

I think that's where I started branching into this kind of conceptual art realm. I only very recently started to define myself with that label. Thinking about how my work is really as much about the process as it is about whatever it is that I end up with at the end of the day – that, I think, has been really validating for me in thinking about my practice now. I don't know if that answers your question.

Yeah, no that was really good. What was the response like for your projects? Seven years later and it still seems like it lives on.

What was the initial reception like, and now?

Yeah, people were really excited about it. In all of this excitement surrounding the election, I think there was a real hunger for projects that were related to that kind of data and looking at data sets that were coming from that point in time. This is a thing that I'm kind of struggling against in the tech art world now too, but people really treated it with a sense of novelty - which is great because it means that you're doing something new, but at the same time, if that's really the only thing that people are taking away from it, that's kind of problematic. And that's something that I'm trying to address in my own research now, as well as where those inclinations come from in the new media art world that I think need to be picked apart a little bit more.

In the first exhibition, the pieces were hung on the wall and then I sat next to it stitching - emphasizing that whole process and how that was really important to the creation of that work. But I don't think that that's something people really took away from it. I think people were just like, “Oh, you're visualizing the data in this new form and you're using textiles and cross stitch or whatever to do this.” And so I think that there was that element of like, “Oh, this is new and shiny and a new way of approaching things” that I think drew people in a lot and still, I think, continues to draw people into that project to this day.

I think people are used to seeing data represented in certain ways, and that project was a really good example of taking data outside of a form that you're used to. You're used to seeing bar charts and exit polls and all of that stuff. And I think that that project was eye-opening for a lot of people because it really attacked it - not necessarily just from a numbers and stat side, it was from a cultural perspective as well. I think that at that point in the data art world, that's what a lot of artists were trying to do. It fell into a pattern of like, “Okay, how do I take these numbers and represent them in a way that actually speaks to the source and where it's coming from?”

Yeah, totally. How different do you think the project would look if it was done for the 2016 election and would it have a different meaning?

Yeah, well first of all Hillary Clinton was selling cross stitch pillows as part of her merchandise. I think that that really speaks to the fact that all of these stereotypical feminine activities have sort of been on this trajectory of being reclaimed with a really feminist, radical bent.

Right.

And although Hillary is not super radical obviously, but it's like using these really gendered forms of expression in order to convey something that is not so gendered or is breaking from the gender norms. I think that has been a trend that was really starting around the time that I did this project and it's escalated really exponentially. Had I done the same project today or back in 2016, I think that would have been the first reference that people would have made. I think it wouldn't have read as much of a novel project as much as trying to capitalize on a trend.

I toyed around with doing something similar for 2016 but ultimately I just scrapped it because I knew that a project like that was not going to have the same kind of resonance that it did back in 2012 just because of the way the conversation has shifted - the way that people have been working with really interesting materials within the technology art space now. Things have moved forward to the point where a project like that is really of its time and kind of lives in that time period and would not necessarily be recreated in a similar way today.

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I did work with election materials in the 2016 election as well, but that was dealing with campaign merchandise as a whole and looking at how we can use this design language of campaign merchandise to speak to public opinion, and what people are talking about regarding the candidate. I think this was a bigger story in 2016 certainly, particularly in dealing with social media.

After 2012, I think it became taken for granted that women are a very important voice in American politics. The project wouldn't have been speaking to something that seemed as fresh. It's old hat, it's taken for granted at this point.

So I think I put it in my initial email, but the inspiration for my project came from the idea of temperature blankets in the fibre arts. Are you familiar with that concept?

Yeah. Yeah.

Why do you think those kinds of projects - the idea of taking temperature data for a year in the past or starting in January and going forwards - why do you think those kinds of projects have taken a hold in the fibre community?

Yeah. Well I think in particular with this work, a lot of fibre artists are working around climate change right now. I don't know if you're familiar with Tali Weinberg and her work.

No. Yeah. You should really look into her because she's doing a lot with fibre art and climate change data. I don't know her personally, but I follow her on Instagram and I think she's a really great example of this. There is something really interesting about taking stats and numbers that exist on this abstract plane - that we can think about conceptually but don't really have any material relevance to our lives and are not affecting us on a day to day basis, and we think about it happening far away or as being unrelated to what we're doing at this point in time - and making them material and making them physical. I think fibre is a really great way to do that because fibre is very different from doing something in a fine art context.

A craft context really brings it home to a greater number of people. It's much closer to populations. It's less elite. It's a thing that exists in a lot of cultures, and that many cultures have based their own traditions around. I think it resonates with a lot more people in that context than it would if you were doing an oil painting or a, I don't know, a weird metal sculpture or whatever. I think that there is something really interesting about taking these folk traditions and craft traditions that have existed for a long time and using them in this way. You can do craft and not call yourself an artist. You can do craft in your spare time, and I think that there's something really interesting about putting this really abstract data in conversation with that. It lends a sense of urgency and it lends a sense of real world-ness to that data that I don't think would be evident otherwise.

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Those are all themes that I'm really interested in. The sense of urgency - that part in particular stands out from what you said because some of the things I’m exploring take so long to make, but they have such an important message of like, “Pay attention because I spent so much time making this thing to tell you this.”

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And again, having the process really be a part of what you were building. When you weave something, it's not just about the thing that is woven, it's about the act and the process of putting it on a loom and that really complex manner of getting your final piece together. And I think anybody who looks at a piece like that, you understand what it took to get to that point. That labour and that time the artist spent makes you pay a little bit closer attention to that piece. The time spent on it and the energy spent on it and the devotion that was paid to creating this final thing.

Yeah. Have you used data in other projects or do you foresee yourself, if you haven't, using data in more projects in the same way?

Yeah, so I did that election project. I scraped Twitter for a year for all of the candidates who were running in the 2016 election from the primaries. It started with the first Republican debate and then I stopped my server when Bernie endorsed Hillary for the nomination. So it was about a year that I was collecting this data, and I centered the project around data coming from Ohio because that's where it was going to be exhibited. It's also where I'm from, so I had a two-pronged interest in that. I basically saw how frequently certain words or phrases were being used in all of this data and then appropriated campaign materials to reflect - rather than the candidates’ curated messages - what was being said about them on Twitter, and displayed all of that stuff in a chronological timeline in the gallery. So I made things like campaign buttons and bumper stickers and rally signs and t-shirts and lawn signs and that stuff. There's lots of pictures on my website.

Ah, yeah. Yeah. I think I looked at that project. Yeah.

That, I think, was the biggest. For my master's thesis project at ITP, I scraped a week's worth of hate speech slurs against specific communities from Twitter, Reddit and YouTube. Then I printed them on fabric and worked with the members of the

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communities that were being attacked by the speech to create them into really cumbersome, uncomfortable couture garments and then had them modeled outside on the street. The garments represented not only the language itself within the fabric, but also what it does to people who are trying to just exist in everyday life with the weight of these words attacking them.

Lately I've been working on a more individual basis. I'm doing a project right now where I have a browser extension that people install and use for two weeks. It collects all of their browsing data, and then it generates a portrait of them based on the categories of the sites that they visit, as well as a picture of themselves that they upload - it warps and it alters it to make it more algorithmically acceptable by applying filters and reducing things down. So you end up with something that looks like you, but it's very flattened and not necessarily readable as of real life.

I'm really interested in the ways that humans bend themselves to algorithms in this day and age, and what the implications are for society when we start to lose our identities to the machine and when we start to change aspects of ourselves because of what the machine demands. So yeah. It's all working with data. I think I've moved away from this mass data collection that I was doing - running scrapers over long periods of time - and now I'm more interested in a granular, individual approach, which I think is another way of tackling the same problem, but that is something that I'm continuing to look at and be interested in for sure.

Very cool. Both of those projects sound really, really fascinating. Speaking from the individual level, in some of the projects that I've come across in my research, people are using self-tracking data to then create objects. There was a dad who tracked his new baby's sleeping patterns for a year and then knitted a blanket based on the data. I found a mom who was taking her daughter's blood glucose levels from her diabetes monitor and is also making a blanket off of that. So I guess with the rise of the Quantified Self movement, what is it that makes us want to quantify ourselves but then also do something with those numbers afterwards?

Yeah. It's so funny because there's a class that's being offered next semester in my department about quantification and how that has become such a trope. I think that that has a lot to do with the normalized opinions of what science is and this belief that numbers can reveal more about ourselves than we can understand on our own - which might be partially true, but at the same time it's like, those numbers are coming from somewhere. Somebody wrote the algorithms to collect those numbers. And so you have to always be critical of that kind of stuff whenever you're doing it because there is no such thing as objectivity, right?

Nobody's actually giving you an objective opinion of yourself. It's whatever Fitbit is telling you or whatever Google is telling you or whatever Apple is telling you.

As far as the impulse to make something from it, I think it also stems again from this idea of what we were talking about before.

So, okay, you have these numbers, but why? What are you going to do with it? How is it relevant? I think the driving force behind these companies that are allowing us to do this is this idea of behaviour change and like, “We can have people adapt their behavior if they just know about what their heart rate is or how far they walk every day” or whatever. Behaviour change is debatable, but when you have all of these numbers and this stockpile of data that's coming from yourself, I think people start to question like, “Okay, well, is that it? What else is going to come from it?” And I think the drive to make something from it is stemming from a place to make that data meaningful and to bring that into real life. Rather than just having it as data sitting on your computer and not doing anything, you're using it to actually do something productive or make something really beautiful that is coming from a very personal place as well.

That impulse, especially when it has to do with your child or whatever, I think that there's also a hope that somebody can look on years from now and be like, “Oh, this is like an encapsulation of what my life was like back then, and I have this as a tangible thing to remind me, or to let me know or make me aware of what was going on in my life at that given point in time or my mother's life” or whatever. I think all of those lead into that impulse and you start seeing people doing that stuff a lot lately.

Yeah, definitely. Another thing that I've been interested in is, with everything being so digital, what keeps us coming back to working with our hands and doing craft, doing art, just using our hands to create. What do you think brings us back to that?

Yeah, that's a really good question. Again, I think it has to do with just a desire for real-world, tactile experiences that are not so much mediated by technology like most of the stuff that we do every day. On a personal level, I really savour the time that I'm away from my screen. It's always a relief to just not be looking at a computer and not be looking at my phone. And I think engaging with craft and working with your hands really gives you an outlet to do that and to step away from the tech for a minute and do something that actually puts you in the moment and is very meditative.

A lot of these things like working with fibre is a very meditative process. Working with ceramics, working with your hands and doing this stuff is a very meditative process that forces you to be in the moment and to shut off your brain. I think technology really conditions us to be in 10 different places at once. And I think doing stuff with your hands and making is a great way to stop that for a second and be in a single place - be present and fully aware of your position in the world at this moment and what you can do and the things that you can accomplish being who you are at this moment.

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Yeah, that was great. Thank you. I just have one last question. Would you have done anything differently with the All-American Girls project looking back on it? Or are you completely happy with how it went?

Yeah, I'm happy with how it went. If I could just have the bandwidth to do it, I might've done more states. People kept asking when I was exhibiting the work, like, “Oh, are there more States, can you do this State.” And I just didn't have the time to actually stitch it. But one of the things that I was really proud of with that project is that I actually made the patterns open source and downloadable from my website so that people didn't have to wait for me to actually do something. They could just download them and make their own.

I got a lot of suggestions for like, “Oh, you should set up an Etsy site,” or, “You should sell these,” or whatever. I don't want to do that. To me, the important part is getting this out to people and enabling them to take it into their own hands, to have that process and be engaged with the material like I was, because I think that was such an important part of that work for me, and I wanted to share that more than anything with other people. So yeah, maybe publicizing that a little bit more or making it a little bit clearer that people could actually make their own - I think I could've done a better job with that. But overall, I'm really happy with the way that the project ended up.

That's awesome. I started looking into my thesis topic in May, and your project was one of the first things that I found and I was like, “Oh, there are other people who are doing these kinds of things.” And I was so excited.

Well, I'm glad to hear that.

Yeah. This has been a pleasure. That's all I have for you. I’ll send you some links and some books that I think you'd be really interested in.

Okay cool, that would be awesome. Yeah, I'd love that.

Okay. Yeah, that's all. Thank you so much.

Well, thank you. Good luck with everything.

Thank you. You too.

All right, bye.

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Interview Transcript - Tempestry Project Okay. Could you give me a background on the two of you and your work together? I've read your other interviews, so I didn't want to keep reiterating the same questions you guys get all the time, but maybe we'll just start off with an intro.

Sure. I'm Emily and this is Justin, and I am a knitter. I actually manage our local yarn shop here in Anacortes. I've been knitting for the last 10 or 15 years, and Justin is a numbers, statistics, data lover. And so we started the Tempestry Project back in 2017 - right around the inauguration - as a means of talking to people about climate data in a way that resonates with them on a more personal level. That's basically the gist of how we started. It took off from there. I have a pretty big knitting community in the area, so they were our first participants. They were really enthusiastic about the project and helped us start our first collection based on data for our specific area here in Washington. And then it's spread around the country and a bit around other places in the world now as well.

Yeah, we've done about 30 other countries, I think, at this point.

Something like that, yeah.

That's very impressive.

Thank you.

How did you determine the data source for your kits?

Right.

We use NOAA, and we use Wunderground, and there's a couple other ones that we use for European locations. And then we found during the government shutdown here, NOAA was down and we had no access to data. We had all these orders piling up around Christmas time and early January at the beginning of the year - when everybody wants to start their climate knitting stuff.

We started scrambling trying to find other data sources, using farmer's almanacs and agricultural recordkeeping and stuff like that. There was so much variation from source to source even for the same place and same time that trying to determine which was the 'correct' temperature is beyond our scope. And so we decided to just go with NOAA, and we trust that that's the gold standard - wherever it's available, anyway. Since then we've narrowed our scope to just NOAA data and are still using a few other sources for other countries when needed.

That's our main source for sure.

Right. I read on the website that sometimes the NOAA data is incomplete and you have to supplement it from other sources.

How does that incompleteness happen? What are the factors that would make that happen? [laughing] I have no idea. [laughing] They got bored one day?

There's suspicious discrepancies around holidays - the end of December, a lot of places are missing that. Sometimes I'll download the data for a place and it'll have all but two days and then I'll have to go to Wunderground or nearby weather stations or whatever to try to fill that in.

I think it also varies depending on where it is. We've noticed for more remote places, they'll miss a month or two of data sometimes, and it could be the weather station got shut down or there was a blizzard or something, so different things seem to prevent that. But the big cities are pretty consistent for the most part.

There was one for Medicine Hat in Canada, and That's close to where I'm from actually.

Yeah we saw, your Skype says Canada but you're in Ireland.

Yeah. [laughing].

I don't want to get the date wrong, but there was a missing day in the dataset. So I went to Wunderground to found the data for that day, and there was this spike and dip in the mid-afternoon where it went from like 70 to zero and then back up to 70 over the course of like an hour and a half. And I was like, “Well, is that just a broken weather station reading or do I go with what's the

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high temperature for the day, because this is really weird.” I Googled it and found that there had been a tornado that tore through town that day. There was video footage of people's trampolines wrapping around trees And the temperature had plummeted.

Yeah, it was interesting.

Yeah. That's part of the reason why you do these kinds of projects is because you find all those weird intricacies about the daily lives that were going on when that temperature was happening, right?

Yeah, exactly. And then the more other people are knitting their own tempestries, they remember all these things, too. We've had people say they forgot about this blizzard or they forgot about that tornado or whatever and re-experienced and reremembered it as they're working on their tempestries.

Right. That's a really interesting part of it. Why is it important to keep the Tempestry projects affordable - sourcing affordable yarn and things like that?

We want everyone to make them. We want as many people as possible making these for as many places as possible. We actually thought that people would just make them on their own so we put all the information online. Justin put together a how-to-getyour-data-from-NOAA tutorial, and we picked KnitPicks because it's cheap yarn, they use the same colours all the time, and everyone can get it. We really only started selling the kits when some of our early participants said they didn't want to buy all the yarn, they didn't want to do all the data research, can we just do that part for them?

We try to keep the kits down as much as possible, although yarn is getting more expensive. We still have all that information online for people to do it themselves instead, hoping that they'll stick with the right colours and right temperatures.

It's kind of fun, because every so often on Twitter, somebody will tag us and they will have completed like 10 tempestries to display at their work or the university.

And they're beautiful and we had no idea they were happening.

They didn't buy kits from us or anything. They just went and did it. It's great.

Yeah. That's really awesome. On the flip side, have you received any pushback or opposition to the project or anybody going, “What's the point?” or, “Why would you do this?”

We have not really. We were thinking about that as we were looking through your questions yesterday.

We did get one troll. I did an interview on a Sunday morning weather channel show Earlier this year.

And we got one troll that joined our Facebook group and tried to spout a bunch of climate denial stuff. We're like, “Oh, we've made it!”

“We've got our first troll!” But yeah, not much. I think people have just really taken to it and personalized it and brought it into classrooms and families - all sorts of places.

It's a subtle activism because you don't have to put it in people's face all the time and talk about climate change and the projections and how horrible everything is. You just give people their data for their hometown or where their child was born or when their parents were born or whatever it may be, and then they come to the realization on their own as they make it.

It's not an angry activism.

Yeah. And it's just a lot less direct persuasion as it is education - letting them come to it on their own terms and in their own time.

So why do you think temperature blankets and similar projects have taken the fibre community by storm?

I know the temperature blanket phenomenon has been around a few years now. I don't think it really started as a climate awareness project. It's very personal. People want to record their own information and their own data and turn it into something wearable or giftable. I think people are so concerned about recording their own experience in a way that is tangible - that's not

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just computer-related or online or something. I think the Tempestry Project resonates because it's still that very personal experience, but you know you're doing it as part of a larger project. It’s about belonging to something bigger.

Yeah, definitely. Have you seen the project that this father did of his son's sleeping patterns for his first year?

Yeah, I read about that a little while ago and I thought that was so beautiful.

What do you think it is that drives us to collect and capture this data about ourselves and then turn it into these physical objects?

I think data is very ephemeral. We forget it and it disappears. It gets deleted. And we have so much in our brains that these little moments get lost. So this father and his child's sleep patterns is just a way of commemorating something that you wouldn't remember in 10 years, or five years.

Yeah. And I think as an audience, seeing a piece that's been knitted or crocheted or handmade in that way is different than just scrolling through an article and seeing a chart or whatever. Those are there and gone and then you don't think about it again.

But with something tangible, you can hang it on a wall, you can see it tomorrow, it's there.

He can give it to his baby for high school graduation.

I think there is an inherent appreciation from an audience viewing something like that of the time it took to create it. And I think that causes people to slow down and appreciate it a little more than all the infographics and stuff that's constantly flashing in front of our eyes.

We were thinking that, too. I bet you've heard about the woman who in her town council meetings was knitting the time men spoke versus women speaking, and then there was the woman who knit the scarf about the train delays in Germany last year. It is amazing to me that you can take pretty dry data and just turn it into something that gets people talking about it in a way that wouldn't have happened if they were just looking at a timetable for delays.

Right. So okay, next question. We touched on it a bit. In today's fast paced digital era - the infographics flying by us - what keeps us drawn to working and creating with our hands?

I have this idea of writing something about slow activism versus ‘flash mob’ activism. I think that knitting and creating pieces that represent activism or represent data are a way of looking at it in the long-term. I haven't quite hashed out this idea yet, but I've been thinking about it more as we take our Tempestry banners to climate protests instead of taking signs with words and slogans and pictures of the planet on fire. We just take this data with us and it is amazing how people respond to it. We'll be using these same pieces probably at climate protests for the foreseeable future - however long we have. We can use the same pieces and invest time in making more for other people to take with them. So it's a slow-rolling idea of bringing this data with us not making signs that get thrown away after the protest, but using these things that, who knows, our eight-year-old might continue using it in protest in 20 years - well, she already goes with us and carries them now.

That's so awesome.

They're as big as her, but she'll walk around holding these banners and it's great.

Oh, that's so cute.

Yeah.

How can the textile and fibre arts tackle our shortening attention spans?

Right. I think it plays into that as well, that the process of creating something helps the information sink in as we're creating it.

We have these New Normal tempestries that we're focusing on now. I don't know if you know about those yet. They're a bit different. Each one of those is a history of climate change over the last hundred years or so, and you can do them for the planet or for - we only have data right now for the United States and then each state here, although we're hoping to be able to get data for other countries as well. This is one of them. [holds up a tempestry].

Oh, that's beautiful.

The process of knitting this was really strangely emotional for me. For this particular one, I put beads on it to mark the years that my family generations were born. So my grandparents in the 19-teens and then my parents in the forties and my brother and then his children way up in the red at the top. And it was just a very emotional way of connecting to data. That took about a week to make it, but I'll have this hanging on my wall and going to protests with me for the next, well, however long it lasts.

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We put historical tags on them for the end of World War One, World War Two, the moon landing, Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Accord To really give it a context as people look at it and experience it.

The invention of the automobile.

I'm putting two and two together now. You're in the Mildly Offensive Fibre Artists group on Facebook. Yeah, okay. I've seen your posts.

You probably see a lot of me there. I post Tempestry stuff there practically every week.

Yeah. It's all coming together. So what does the future of the Tempestry Project look like, two, five, 10 years from now? World apocalypse notwithstanding.

Right, the 12-year mark. Yeah. Well, we're making these New Normals to send to our government representatives and we are hoping to get more and more knitters - partly that's what I keep posting in the MOFAs group, to get people to send them to their representatives. We would love to see them in more and more classrooms. That started happening as well. Actually, there was a workshop at the Philadelphia Museum of Art the other night about Tempestries, and we were obviously thrilled about that. We were not there for it, but that was an offshoot of the Tempestry collection in Philadelphia that's coordinated by an environmental centre there. So that's what we're focusing on for the next two years, at least.

We're beginning to throw around the idea of developing our own line of yarn for Tempestries. We've been getting our yarn from KnitPicks, but they have discontinued some of them and aren't being hugely supportive, or understanding that we need these same yarns going forward. So we're beginning to throw around the idea of talking to people about milling our own yarn and bringing that in as a line. That's probably a few more years down the road, monetarily speaking and planning and all that stuff.

But ideally, we'd like to see that happen so that we can be doing it all under our own name. Yeah, we haven't really thought too much beyond that. We're stuck on the next presidential election and how that pans out. That will change the tenor of the project.

Either desperation or Slightly optimistic.

Yeah, yeah. It goes down two different paths: as an education tool or as an activism tool, and right now you're doing both, but the next election will determine the emphasis.

Exactly. That's such a good way of looking at it, too.

We've got Tempestries for kids, where instead of knitting you just cut lengths of yarn and then stick it on four-inch wide Velcro.

It’s really easy and quick to do as a classroom activity. That's what the workshop at the Philadelphia Museum of Art used, and people made a bunch of those. That was pretty cool to see.

That was a really neat way to bridge the gap between knitters and not knitters, or crocheters and not crocheters. It brought a lot of other people in who just are interested in the experience of it without knowing about the fibre art part. We have more weavers wanting to do it. We're excited to cross over into that. We're starting to branch out into cross stitching as well. We have some people working on cross stitch tapestries, and branching out into some other fibre arts.

We even had a San Juan textile guild make a display of a hundred years of data. Every fourth year they did a Tempestry, but then some of the people in the Guild who weren't really knitters did Tempestry baskets and stuff that were really, really pretty.

Beaded jewelry using Tempestry-recorded data.

Yeah. It's amazing what people come up with once that one idea sparks. It just all spirals from there.

We even had a glass artist reach out to us last year about using our colour chart to put together a glass equivalent. We haven't followed up with her. She was just beginning it a couple of months ago. We just love the idea of people taking our idea and then running with it and seeing it in all the different manifestations. It's just been great.

You asked us where we'll be in five years, but we wouldn't have guessed where we are now two years ago. It feels like we're just being pulled along.

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We just found out we're in a book that we didn't know about. Someone published an academic study of fibre - like yarn bombing and fibre activism - and apparently there's a little blurb in it about the Tempestry Project. We happened to Google Tempestry Project the other day and came across it.

That's so funny.

It was very strange, very surreal.

Yeah, definitely. Bouncing off of that, besides using temperature data, what are some other data sources that you'd like to include to your Tempestry Project round-up?

Funny you should ask. My next project, thanks to Justin, will be knitting 3,800 years of bristle cone pine temperature data.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah. So that'll be about 40 or 50 feet of knitting. We're going to use our New Normal colours for it. Do you know about the bristle cone pines?

No. They're one of the oldest tree species still living, and they're down in the Nevada, California areas. There's a chronology that I found going back 3,800 continuous years. It goes back even farther, but there start to be gaps too far back.

Scientists do core samples of these trees and can tell their temperature during the growth season - so basically summer temperatures. It would be pretty restricted in what it represents - it's just that area - but just to have that data over the course of three thousand years, and then putting historical markers along it for what went on in the world 3000 years ago and up to the present. It's going to be quite the project. We're not quite sure what to do with this, but we're going to make it.

I have the data ready. Yeah, the next step is undertaking the project.

So I'll be doing that for the next couple of years.

Yeah, that would be a beautiful gallery or museum exhibition.

We just bought an electric car recently and so we're now going on road trips and not feeling nearly as guilty about gas usage and all that stuff. There’s a national park or something down there. We want to go see their visitor centre and see if they have an art space or anything, and talk to them about having it there for a while. We’ll go once it's started and we have something to show them.

That would be amazing. Yeah. That's so cool.

Yeah. Justin's been looking into ocean temperature data and how to bring that into some of what we're knitting and presenting as well.

Sea ice extent, doing something with that. So yeah, there's all kinds of data out there.

He comes up with the data ideas and I knit them.

It's fitting them into the medium in a way that isn't too aggravating right now.

Are you a knitter or crocheter or a fibre Novice crocheter, but I cross stitch mostly.

Okay. Yeah, so we're doing more cross stitch.

Yeah. That's really exciting to hear. I just met up with a local cross stitch and embroidery group on Sunday. I ran a little workshop with them and I wish that I had more examples of what I'm talking about in cross stitch form. So yeah, that's really exciting to hear. I'll pass that along to the group to keep an eye out for that.

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Okay. We were even selling cross stitch kits for a little while, but then we were having trouble - neither of us are cross stitchers.

We did talk to cross stitchers and got a lot of advice, but we're still not quite getting the amount of thread necessary for them, so we've held back on that for the moment.

It's honestly dependent on the stitcher. I'm a very wasteful stitcher, but that comes from laziness of not wanting to change the thread as much. So there's some people who are very conservative with their floss usage and some people who are not. So I don't know if you'll ever hit a happy medium.

Yeah, that was part of the problem. With knitting, it's a little more consistent. I am such a loose knitter that I use a lot of yarn, so we do all of our calculations based on my knitting. We haven't had too many people run out of yarn with the kits. Every once in a while, we'll send them more yarn.

But we do have our colour palette in the files on the website with the DMC colours.

Okay, great.

So yeah, if you want you can download the That was the other thing we were discovering is we would offer kits to people but they would already have half of the threads that they needed and so then they would just need some of it. I think cross stitchers tend to have a lot more of that on-hand, and DMC is such a generic brand that people have better access to it, whereas the yarn, people didn't have as much. But yeah, that's on our Tempestry colour card in the file section of our website. It includes the yarn colours and the DMC colours.

Okay, good to know.

Not for the New Normals yet. We're working on one.

That's pretty cool. That's all I have for questions. This has been great. Do you have any questions for me at all or anything?

Well, your thesis sounds amazing. Can you tell us a little bit more about what other feminist fibre art stuff you are finding?

It started with the temperature blanket thing and just thinking about the ‘so what’ or the ‘why’ of it all - spending X number of hours creating this thing when you can just type it into a computer and spit out a visualization. So I’ve mostly just been finding different examples of projects and exploring the reasons why – for instance, your work is about education and activism and things like that, whereas the sleep blanket is about memory-keeping and storytelling.

I've been looking at different reasonings for that, and then thinking about how the human experience is translated and quantified and reduced to numbers and we just leave it as numbers, and we put a lot of faith in those numbers. We think that they're objective - that someone just handed us these numbers, that some godlike figure was just like, “These are the numbers, make decisions off of them.” We’re not remembering that humans created the numbers, that the human experience made those numbers. We only just decided to quantify them. Temperature is a great example of that. We only applied numbers to temperature because we needed to create a system of order, but temperature is so inherently human. It affects a good day, a bad day, what we wear, what we do, how we feel. Then, through the act of making these objects, we are putting the human experience back into the numbers. Like you were saying, people are saying, “Oh, I forgot that that blizzard happened,” or that there was a tornado. So going back through and making is putting that human experience back into the numbers.

So that's where I've landed with that, and doing that workshop on Sunday was just about talking to fellow crafters about thing like, what does the human experience mean to you and what does the human experience mean to you as a crafter, and how does the act of making enhance your experience? They talked a lot about using data, but they themselves had never used data.

Right. That's fascinating. I just had a thought about that too and now it's gone out on the other side of the head [laughing] That happens a lot for me. [laughing] Especially with this language of experiencing and remembering and creating - I think one of the things that appeals to people about the Tempestry Project is it bridges that gap between data and nerdy geekery that appeals to so many people, but then turning that into something beautiful and visual And ancestral.

And ancestral. You look back at what you've experienced and what your parents and grandparents have experienced -

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Using a technique that's been around for millennia to capture the data generated by our modern mechanations. There's a juxtaposition there that I think people just crave. It really keys into their brains. It's a novelty thing, almost. It just captures the imagination.

I was just thinking about a particular example. We're doing this national parks project, I don't know if you've read about that at all. We have volunteer knitters making pairs of Tempestries for different national parks around the country, and for a lot of them, the data that people first look at is just what was the highest temperature and the lowest temperature for this year versus this other year. And there was one particular example where the more recent year, the highest temperature was much colder than the one a hundred years ago.

And so we were thinking, “Oh God, that doesn't show climate change!� But obviously we leave the data as is, because that's the way it is. But it turned out that even though the more recent year didn't get as hot, there were like 20 percent more days above 90 degrees. It just was that one day didn't get as hot as the hottest day 20 years ago. In the act of knitting it and showing these colours, you could still tell that it was a lot warmer now even though that one day didn't hit that particular high number. The importance of data visualization - how you present that data versus numbers, the colour aspect of it and the percentage, that process of knitting. The way people see it resonates a lot. It's a more accurate presentation, rather than looking at these two numbers.

It's not fibre, but I'm also been working on audio Tempestries.

I forgot about that. This is really cool.

Taking our same colour temperature range, but assigning a pitch to it. Data visualization doesn't really work for people who can't see. It seems like people have their senses that they connect with the most. Some people are very visual, some people are very tactile, some people are very auditory. The more senses we can engage, the more people we can bring into our climate change concerns. We just want to share the misery. [laughing].

No, no! [laughing] The more people we can reach with data, the better. I can send you a file.

That'd be awesome. That would, yeah, it sounds beautiful. Yeah.

Yeah.

I think that's all we've got.

Yeah, I think that's all I've got, too. I'll send you a couple of books and a couple of links that I think you two would really appreciate. I'll send you my thesis when it's done in January, crossing my fingers. It will be done in January.

I worked in a university for 20 years, I feel your pain.

Thank you. Yes, thank you again for speaking with me. This has been great.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you.

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Subject Matter Expert Questionnaires

Dr. Joanna Boehnert - email, November 5 It seems to me that a big part of digital positivism is that audiences exposed to data visualizations take the number as the endall, be-all, and completely forget that metrics and study and analysis are the product of human thought and decision. [more importantly the result of institutional structures and the interests that direct institutional policies and cultures] What can those in the data visualization community do to remind audiences of the human experience and input behind the numbers? [e explicit contextual information on all datavis with links to data sets and information on the institutions involved with both the production of the work and the collection of the data).

In a world driven by clickbait headlines and short attention spans, what are some strategies that the data visualization community can implement to make audiences engage with data and information on a deeper level?

Knowledge visualisation and mapping strategies.

How important is it to increase people's data and visual literacy when it comes to needing audiences to effectively translate and analyze data visualizations and infographics?

Very important!

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Holly Oyster - email, November 7 Tell me a bit about yourself, and how you got into crochet.

I’m 49, married, with 1 biochild age 12, 1 stepchild age 19. my husband and I founded our industrial automation company in 2006 10 day after our wedding, when he had been laid off 10 days before our wedding. now are a more than $1million per year service company about to move into new offices.

I learned to crochet from my mom and a family friend when I was somewhere between 9 and 13. I promptly dropped it, and never did anything with it again for decades. When my now-husband and stepdaughter moved into my home before we got married, his ex wouldn’t permit my stepdaguther (then age 6) to bring her "blankie” that her great-grandmother had crocheted for her. My now-husband asked if I could maybe make her one for at our house. I contacted the same family friend who originally taught me, by now in her 80’s, and she helped me refresh my memory. From there, I started learning more and more different stitches and techniques, really enjoying the challenge.

From where did you find the inspiration to create a blanket for your daughter based on her blood glucose levels data?

I had made a temperature scarf many years ago, although I had never finished it. I decided this year (2019) that I wanted to do a full temperature blanket, mostly because the recent climate shifts have made the weather where I live particularly chaotic. It’s unfortunate, but that means the blanket will be particularly interesting as the temp changes lead to more variation in color. I head read an article about how knitting was used to record coded messages during World War II, and that it’s basically binary knit and purl stitches can be translated into 1’s and 0’s of binary code…or they can be used as dots and dashes of morse code.

EIther way, knitting was easily adaptable to record data.

I thought about that, and how pretty much any dataset can be recorded in ranges, and those ranges can be assigned to colors, or stitches, or textures, and you could then knit or crochet correspondingly, creating a fiber work out of ANY data set you so chose! I started thinking about my child’s height over time…but I didn't really record it that carefully. Or, her grades? but, with her medical issues, some years her grades are particularly bads. who wants to remember that??

THen the light dawned - my child is a type 1 diabetic, and her blood sugars are a daily recorded data point. it would be super easy to record that data into a table, assign ranges of colors to the various ranges of numbers, then crochet one row per day! this would create a work uniquely hers, that no one else would ever be able to duplicate…but at the same time, no one need ever know it was related to her health unless she chose to tell them.

Describe the design process for the project a bit, from data collection to execution.

I already knew basically what I was going to do - since I was already working on a temperature blanket, and I’d learned a lot from the scarf I’d done previously, I had 2 main concerns logistically: a) I use a compact stitch. and b) I divide the colors up aggressively. this may not be at ALL what you’re looking for but…. to clarify: Compact stitch. - when I did my temperature scarf, one of the many reasons that I never finished it was because I refused to use the simple single-crochet recommended for the project, because I felt I would get bored. instead, I decided to use a modified corner-to-corner stitch. unfortunately, this led to a “scarf” that was 6’ long after just 6 months. The way I hanlded that one was to divide the “scarf” into 2 halves, and I intended to stitch them together when I was done to create a double-thickness scarf. Like I said, I never finished it.

I knew the stitch I was probably going to use was the Moss Stitch (sc, ch 1, sk 1, sc; next row, sc in each ch1 sp, ch 1, sk sc). this allows the colors to be closely packed together, similar to the teeth of a zipper, resulting in more contrast. it also means it takes a LOT of rows to make any real length. I was using this stitch on my temperature blanket, but I wanted the BG blanket to be more interesting. I eventually found a pattern for a moss stitch ripple, which I modified for my purposes. the ripple was doubly appropriate, since it is more interesting, AND it accurately represents the wild fluxuations in blood sugar typical of an adolescent type 1 diabetic - hormones affect the adsorption of insulin rather sharply. as her hormones levels fluxuate, her blood sugars do too, then we adjust her insulin levels, and they calm down for a while…until the next hormone change. this can be once a year, or once a month. it’s exhausting. b) colors - I wanted there to be a lot of gradations of color. THis makes picking yarn difficult, since not many brands of yarn are made in multiple shades of the same color - i.e., there’s a light purple, and a dark purple, but not a lilac, lavender, true purple,

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eggplant, deep purple, and so on. I needed those multiple shades to do what I wanted. You also have to take into account affordability, and texture - I refuse to buy yarn that is coarse or harsh. I want this to be something you want to cuddle up in when it’s done.

In order ot have that many colors, I’d need to divide the data up in ways that allowed that…and in ways that would NOT leave the blanket too heavily using just one or two colors.

There’s more about color selection and reasoning in my one blog post - originally I had visualized shades of, say, Green for the blood glucose levels that were “good”, and shades of, say, purple for those that are not so good, and, say, red for those that were dangerous. However, after discussing the project with adult type 1 diabetics, I realized this would create a blanket that showcased every time she failed to manage her blood sugars well. The last thing I wanted was to make something that made her feel shame, or dislike, every time she looked at it. I wanted this to be something that made her illness a thing of beauty and comfort, that she was proud of, and she WANTED to use, and show off.

Once I settled those 2 issues, it was just about gathering the data. My daughter wears a CGM Continuous Glucose Monitor), which automatically reads her blood sugar levels ever 3 minutes, and sends them wirelessly to a receiver or a phone. That data can be uploaded to a website so that her caregivers can look for trends and help adjust her treatment. I simply opened the website, and starting on January 1, I read her BG from noon every day. I put it into a chart. After I had, say, 4 months’ worth of data, I did some rough calculations - I divied up the ranges into 9 sets. i took a guess at assigning those numbers, then I went thru my data set and calculated how many occurrences of each range there were. This way I confirmed that I would have a roughly equal number of occurrences of each color, except the 2 most extreme outliers, which would only occur very rarely. i had to do a little bit of shifting, but not much - they fell out pretty evenly already.

THen it was just a matter of selecting yarn, and colors. My daughter chose Purple as her “favorite” color, so i started there. It quickly became clear that I couldn't find a single brand/type of yarn that had enough gradations of “purple” to do what I wanted, so I needed to expand my palette a bit - we chose purple and teal, with a variegated in the middle that had both colors, to tie it all together. by the way, I forgot to include one change i made after my first conception of the project - I added the use of a textured yarn for those days she was in the hospital. I would still use the color as before, but I added a multi-colored eyelash yarn (not-so-fondly referred to as satan’s pubes in the online groups…) whenever she was in the emergency room or overnight in the hospital for any reason. this would be another subtle marker of the struggles a childhood type 1 diabetic goes through. (although most of her hospital stays actually had to do with her epilepsy, and her recent struggles with an as-yet-unidentified systemic dysfunction.)

What did you learn the most during the designing and stitching process, either about yourself or about the data set? what did i learn about myself…..that i’m a messy crafter. lol. that i don’t like to do small bits every day - I save it up, and do 10 to 30 rows at a time. it’s just not worth the bother of digging out a now-HUGE blanket, figure out what color I need, crochet for 10 minutes, then put it all away again. about the data set - that my daughter has a disturbing number of high blood sugars all the time.

What new skills or habits did you need to learn or strengthen in order to complete the project? hhmm….not really anything. I used skills I already had. I’ve been what I would consider an expert crocheter for several years - this pattern is super simple comparatively speaking. i can almost do it in my sleep. I also run a business, and i’m used to crunching numbers and using spreadsheets. I simply translated that skill into colors.

What has the response been for the project, online and in person? What made you decide to share it online and in blog posts?

In person - not very many people have seen it, since it’s in my house, and I don't take it anywhere anymore - it’s too big. But those that do basically love the colors.

Online - now that i’m actually creating it, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve only shared a couple of progress photos, since most groups i’m in have strict rules on sharing blog posts or multiple posts about thee same project. I’m super excited to finish it, put a border on it (I have a way cool idea for that, too!) My recent shares have resulted in quite a few fellow diabetics or parents of diabetics considering making one of their own. I haven’t seen any started yet, but I look forward to seeing them.

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Generally speaking, most fiber artists I believe share online for 2 reasons - 1. because we are proud of our work, and we want to let other people feed our pride. honestly. we are just like other artists - we create for ourselves, but most artists need the interactive nature of watching others value our work. fiber artists are no different. I shared the idea originally, when i first came up with it, because i was SO EXCITED by the idea….i wanted to see if other would be excited too. it really brought me up short when the response from adult diabetics was so negative. On the other hand, once I had time to think about it, i understood it, and it made me understand our peds endo team every better - here is living proof of the studies they told me about, the ones that say that shaming kids into taking better care of themselves doesn't work. that trying to scare them only makes them feel guilty for not being “better”. the other reason we share online is because we are scared our idea is stupid, or our color selections are ugly, and we need reassurance that what we’re putting soooo much time an effort into is worth the bother. as for why i put it into blog posts….well, if you read any of my other blog posts, you’ll see that I tend to get the writing bug once in a while for no apparent reason. Once in a while, i just decide, hey, i want to share this! I was super proud of my inspiration, and i wanted to create an article about it in a format that would be easily shared and accessible.

Why was it important to you to capture your daughter’s blood glucose levels data in a physical, tangible way?

Anyone who has ever had a close family member, especially a child, who has a chronic illness, will know the daily struggles to convince that person that their battle is worth waging; in an adolescent who is also dealing with puberty, peer pressure, climate change, racism, sexism, and a zillion other pressures, adding a chronic life-threatening illness like diabetes to the mix just adds insult to injury. My kid is pretty damn amazing - she definitely goes through days where she just wants to be “normal”, and pretend she doesn't have this illness. On the other hand, she takes pride in helping others understand it, and in standing up for her rights as a person with a medical disability. I saw this project as a way I could give her something completely, undeniably, uniquely hers, that was both functional AND beautiful, and that could not exist without her disease. I could make something similar representing some other number representation related to her life - maybe her height, as I stated before…but that would be sort of one-dimensional - she will only every grow taller…she won’t ever shrink. perhaps her disease is ugly at times….but it can be turned into something beautiful and comforting.

AND for those who do not understand how her disease works, it is a visual representation of the wild fluctuations typical of an adolescent with type 1. one look at the many fluctuations is a start indicator of how unpredictable it can be.

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Holly Oyster – email, December 12 Would you say that doing the project, from conception to completion, enhanced your life experience or relationships in any way?

Why or why not? enhance my life experience - I think working on the blanket did show me one bad thing - far too much of my daughter’s time is spent with high blood sugars. I was careful in my design to prevent it from being obvious, but knowing the data as well as I do, it was impossible not to realize it. It’s really hard to reconcile that fact with the results of her most recent A1C test results (a blood test that gives a benchmark for long-term blood glucose control) which showed marked improvement. How can she be showing long term improvement in blood glucose control when i see the data on a daily basis showing her numbers so high? relationship - I can’t say for certain, but I suspect that my daughter values the time i have invested in the project. I know she loves to use the blanket (it’s almost done) and that she has very strong opinions on it’s progress. 12 is a difficult age without a disease that requires your parent to be constantly monitoring you….she struggles to maintain and establish her independence in a situation where I HAVE to be involved in her life. I hope that this project will demonstrate to her that she’s more than a disease, and that even something as ugly as diabetes can be made into something beautiful and comforting.

What would you have done differently if you could go back in time in this project? hhmm. I think I might have used fewer colors. I also might have used thinner yarn, so that i wasn’t so HUGE…or crocheted tighter. otherwise…no it’s working up quite well.

Do you foresee yourself doing any other projects that incorporate data into its design and resulting look? Why or why not?

I intend to join the tempestry project, and do at least 1 wall-hanging of record high temps for the town i grew up in, and for some other location that is important to my family (for example, the village where my mom was born in former Czechoslovakia…but i haven’t decided). It’s a brilliant way to clearly show the startling trends of increasing temps being caused by climate change.

What advice would you give to anyone setting out to accomplish a similar project such as yours? hhmm……i’d say, most importantly, talk to the person involved, if it’s like mine and has to do with blood sugar numbers. Make sure they are involved in the process, and that they like the idea. if their BG numbers are a source of frustration and shame for them, make sure you do it in such a way that the end result doesn’t clearly show GOOD numbers and BAD numbers. It’s possibly some people may want that to show, but make sure so that they will use the gift when it’s finished.

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Joan Sheldon - email, November 25 You wrote in your blog post about the Globally Warm Scarf that you were inspired by Lea Redmond’s Sky Scarf. How did you feel about recording the colour of the sky in yarn? It seems a bit of an imperfect way of capturing data, and as a scientist, your job must often be pretty reliant on accuracy.

It is an imperfect way of capturing data, and when I was taking sky color observations for the sky scarf, I frequently felt like I was having to make decisions based on the limits of my yarn color palette. (I had two shades of blue and would have liked to have at least three, and I had to decide how much cloud cover (any tiny puff? 10%? 25%?) warranted using a strand of white to signify cloudiness.) This question actually brings up an important point about data recording for science, though, which is that it’s never perfect but we learn to assess what levels of accuracy and precision are good enough to address the question at hand. So, I could imagine different studies for which it would be acceptable to measure cloud cover as presence/absence, or visually estimated to the nearest 10%, or by digitizing a photo and measuring to the nearest 1%. If my sky observations had been for scientific study, I probably would have chosen a more precise method, but since they weren’t, the inaccuracy (or rather, the coarse level of precision) didn’t really bother me.

Why did you decide to create your Globally Warm Scarf? What were you hoping to achieve in the process of designing and making the scarf, and sharing it on your blog and on Ravelry?

There are a couple of aspects to how the Globally Warm Scarf came about. One is why I decided to base a scarf on the annual global temperature dataset as opposed to other datasets that I could have used for a fun visualization. As soon as I started thinking about converting numerical data to yarn colors, a few different datasets came to mind, but I also realized that this would be a time-consuming project and I probably won’t do all the datasets that I find interesting. For some reason I felt the need to choose a dataset that is not just personally interesting to me but really important for a lot of people to understand. The global temperature dataset seemed to me to be the most compelling choice, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s one of the defining scientific concepts of our time. The other aspect of how the scarf came about was that my estuarine science society decided to debut a new conference session topic on the intersection of science and art. Having a potential venue in mind helped move the scarf project from idea to reality. I was hoping to achieve a visualization that would help me explain to non-scientists that I know how important it is for them to understand what’s happening to global climate. In particular, we often hear that “the climate has always changed” and without a visualization it’s difficult to explain how the current situation is very different from the normal levels of variation of past centuries, but I think the scarf conveys that very well. (So does a graph, but many nonscientists balk at a presentation that they feel is “too technical”.) I put all my fiber projects on Ravelry so sharing the project there was just my normal practice. The blog post and releasing the pattern were a response to the feedback I got at my conference as well as from my friends who work in fiber: people requested the pattern and wanted to share it with their friends and family.

Based on my own reaction to the construction process (see below), I felt that if other people made their own temperature scarves, they’d be more likely to accept the scientific concepts that it conveys and pass the information along.

What did you learn the most during the designing and stitching process, either about yourself or about the data set?

I have never formally studied data visualization, and my usual audience is other scientists, so in my work I’m usually just considering how to make the best graph to convey my work to others with a similar background and level of knowledge.

Conveying the essence of the data in a non-numerical format is a stretch for me. I consider myself a very numbers-oriented person so I would have thought I could get anything I need to know out of the graphical presentation of these data, and I was surprised at how much more I got out of it during the process of data conversion and scarf construction. Having to characterize every data point made me really consider each one in context. Also, the time it took to crochet a row for a year gave me plenty of time to think about that year and its significance, especially when I got to years that I could relate to myself and my family.

What has the response been for your Scarf, from posting about it initially to providing updates? I see on Ravelry that you had to add two new shades of red in an update.

The responses to me have been consistently positive, in that both scientists and non-scientists have expressed that they understand what the scarf is meant to convey and think it is an interesting way to present the data. Several times I have had someone who has talked to me about the scarf bring someone else over to talk about it, or even explain it to their friend themselves, and that’s when I feel that the scarf is really having the effect I wanted it to have: it’s starting conversations about climate change. People don’t feel positive about the message, of course, and the news that the last few years have required that I add two darker shades of red is usually met with a look of shock. Weather organizations have, several times now, had to declare the “warmest year on record” but somehow it’s still a surprise.

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I see in your blog post that you make a specific point to acknowledge the source of your data, and to ask others who complete similar projects to credit the sources of their data. Why is this important to you?

Academic integrity is really important to me, and even though it’s enforced in science and other academic disciplines, I think it should extend to any situation where we build upon the work of others: give credit where credit is due. Before I undertook this project, I researched who else might have done similar things in the fiber community and I cited their work and showed how my project is related but has new and unique aspects. On the data side, I was reinterpreting a well-known published dataset that is not my own, and I am obligated as a scientist to cite it. That would have been sufficient, but I also did not want any ill will from its well-known author so I wrote to Dr. Michael Mann to ask if he minded if I made use of his data in this way. He was very gracious, and that’s an email that I will treasure!

The explanations for how and why you chose to create the colour palette and pattern in the way that you did is extensive. Why was it important for you to clarify the steps you took in creating the Globally Warm Scarf?

Even though this was a fun fiber project, it’s a scientific data visualization and it was first presented to scientists, so it was important to document the steps I took so that others could assess if I had created a product that fairly represented the data without exaggeration. Any scientific paper would include a Methods section for similar reasons.

Why do you think temperature blankets and similar projects have taken the fibre community by storm?

Other temperature visualization projects that I know of represent one location and one year that is significant in the maker’s or receiver’s life, such as the year they were born or married. I think the fiber community likes projects that can be personalized to become a unique keepsake. I am concerned, though, that some of these projects are described in connection with climate but they actually represent weather (a difference in scope), and the public is already having a hard enough time with that distinction.

When weather visualizations are described as climate, they distract from the larger scale and longer term effects of climate change.

In your opinion, what are some of the driving forces behind using something so stark and seemingly impersonal like data to create a usable or displayable textile or fibre object?

I can really only speak for myself, but in my case, it’s a reflection of my analytical approach to pretty much everything. I don’t do well with more abstract artistic expression and I have a hard time designing in more free-form ways. I also think that fiber art with countable units (stitches, rows) lends itself to representing mathematical concepts and bringing out the inherent beauty in them. For a great example, see the Crochet Coral Reef project: https://crochetcoralreef.org/.

In what other ways can the textile and fibre arts be combined with data to create usable or displayable objects?

See the Crochet Coral Reef (https://crochetcoralreef.org/) mentioned above. My quilting friend Sylvia Schaefer has made quite a few quilts that illustrate scientific ideas, including one that is a graph of the relationship between the brightness, temperature, and color of stars (https://flyingparrotquilts.com/2014/09/17/astronomy-quilt-finish/). My Ravelry group Data-Driven Fiber Art (https://www.ravelry.com/groups/data-driven-fiber-art) hasn’t seen much traffic in a while, but when it was active, it turned up quite a few interesting projects including such things as emissions spectra of elements (https://www.ravelry.com/designers/molly-kent) and team scores (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scoreboard).

I have noticed that projects like yours are causing people to pause and ask questions about the data and become more involved, whereas if they had seen similar statistics presented in a graph, they might have ignored them or taken the numbers at purely face value. What is it about data-driven textile and fibre arts projects that make people pause and pay attention?

I think one aspect is the novelty. Many people still haven’t encountered these types of projects and objects. I have noticed that a touchable object like a scarf seems to make the wearer (and the subject) more approachable. I usually start by telling someone about the scarf but when I take it off and hand it to them to inspect in more detail, the conversation usually becomes easier and more relaxed.

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Lindsay Obermeyer - email, November 6 What have been some of the responses to the Social Network and Stroke Recovery Project been over the years since its creation?

It was written up in our local newspaper, the doctor was then invited by the hospital to speak at Grand Rounds which is a HUGE deal for young doctors. The response to the lecture was positive. The initial article led to more marketing and more articles including the Washington Post. The art makes it easy for him to explain the research and is flashy enough to get everyone's attention.

What did you learn the most during the designing and stitching process for this project, either about yourself or about the data set?

I had to learn how to balance the research with my creative vision. I was working with Mandalas as a theme as they are viewed as a healing symbol in the medical field. The trick was figuring out how to show asymmetrical data within a symmetrical format. I depended on a tree ring graph to design it and show shifts in the research over time as I think social plot graphs areas are visually messy and hard to read.

How has working in the science communication world affected your crafting and artistic process?

I have always loved pattern and data viz is about pattern recognition. I am now moving toward designing patterns and licensing.

My research and use of a tree ring diagram were considered so unusual at the time that Washington University's top social network scientist invited me to his social network research lecture series. I am working with the local start-up community to visualize how everyone is interlinked, if at all. Though Dr. Dhand is now working at Harvard, I am still a member of his research team partially for my opinion as a stroke survivor and partially because artists provide different critical points of view. We are trained to think outside the box and work with less rules and structures.

In recent years, the textile and fibre arts community have been swept up in using temperature data to create blankets, scarves and other wearable and usable objects. Some of these projects are deeply personal and represent a year in one’s life, and some are more political and make use of climate change data on multiple scales. Why do you think these projects have become so popular in the fibre arts community?

Many, many knitters are scientists. They love the portability and the way it is so dependent on mathematics. Think hyperbolic geometry and the crochet coral reef project.

In what other ways can data be incorporated in textile and fibre arts projects? That is all dependent on the available data.

That is dependent on the available data. Do you know this site? Not everything will work in textiles.

What are your thoughts on the crafting and DIY “Renaissance,� what with the rise of places such as Etsy, Pinterest, and Ravelry?

Not to be rude but a DIY Renaissance is a Millennial perception (I am of course assuming you are young.). Crafting and selling crafts have always been around. Moving some of the structure to the internet allowed for more interaction which caught the attention of reporters. I sell on Etsy, I have a Ravelry account but rarely use it. I owned a yarn store in Chicago for 6 years pre internet and so I know most knitting designers and artists personally and dial direct rather than talk to them on Ravelry.

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Rachel Ivy Clarke - email, November 18 How has your background influenced the textile and fibre arts projects you do, and how did it inspire your quilt collection?

I think I mentioned that my background goes back to my childhood—I took quilting classes in elementary school and learned a lot of sewing from my mother & grandmother. So textiles have always been a kind of natural/default medium for me. But I think I also mentioned that my professional library work has influenced me—that’s where I drew on the principles of information visualization for the 2010 quilt series. I think I also mentioned being very interested in iconic information visualizations from a younger age, such as always being fascinated by the charts of the periodic table hanging in my chemistry class, etc.

Why do you think these kinds of data-driven projects have taken the community by storm? (this was where we talked about the metrics-driven nature of our world - you referred to the Information Age but said it really should be called a different Age but I can't remember what you said. This was also where you spoke about how numbers have value, we place value in numbers - like the number of citations a paper gets versus another one. Also about how this brings to light the invisible labour of craft/fibre art) Ah yes—I think that is a major reason these data-driven crafts/art are so popular currently—because our society currently values data (I think I said something like “instead of the information age, it should be called the data age”…and by the way, in my field (information studies) that’s a bit of a backhanded slight: we have a model called the DIKW pyramid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIKW_pyramid in which data is subservient/ “lesser” than information, so saying we are a “data age” vs. an “information age” implies a backwards shift. I’m not the first person to make this observation; many information schools (like the one in which I work) have been creating ‘data science’ degree programs and whatnot, and others have commented that this could be taken as a regression. But I digress…) I think that for a variety of reasons—the focus on the scientific paradigm in American education, the defunding of arts/humanities, etc., the capitalist interest in return on investment—these are all things that require and fundamentally rest on measurable numbers/data/metrics. So to make arts and crafts ‘valuable’ in the eyes of people/a society that functions in this numbers/metrics-driven paradigm, one way to do that is to make the arts & crafts speak that metric-based language. If what people/society value is numbers, then perhaps putting art & craft into numeric terms helps bridge a gap and lets numbers-based people better understand art & craft.

How does incorporating seemingly impersonal data into such handmade and personal projects affect the project?

I know I must have said something in response to this, but all I can remember talking about is how all my projects are personal, and thinking that all data is personal. For instance, thinking of the train delay scarf or the temperature scarves/blankets—all of these are in a certain local and personal context. A different person riding a different train would experience different delays and end up with a different scarf. People all over the world have made the temperature scarves and sky blankets with their own local temperatures—their own personal experiences. So I guess I don’t think of any of this data being ‘impersonal’ at all. In fact, as I reflect on it as I write this, I think this is a way of expressing one person’s personal experience and sharing it with others in a tangible, visceral way.

In other news, I was telling my partner about the interview this weekend and how I was talking about not having done any projects recently and trying to think of new projects. The Golden Snowball contest came up in conversation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Snowball_Award) and now I’ve been inspired to come up with a project based on the snowfall in Syracuse. So thanks for jump starting that inspiration!

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Shannon Downey, aka Badass Cross Stitch – email, December 9 Are you familiar with the rise of textile and fibre arts projects that incorporate data into their design and creation, such as temperature blankets and the craftivist initiative called The Tempestry Project? If so, why do you think these kinds of projects have taken the community by storm?

I actually have not heard of these projects. sorry.

For the purposes of my thesis, I have loosened the definition of “data” from its scientific and technological roots. I have defined it as, “Any qualitative or quantitative occurrence that can be tracked or measured to tell a story.” Your Badass HERstory project is an example of my loosened definition. Each of the 12x12 squares represents one person’s life, their story, their goals and dreams and troubles. Because of this, I would consider Badass HERstory to be a data-driven textile, fibre arts and mixed media project. Why is it important to you to capture the lived experience of people across the world in such an ambitious project?

I feel very passionately that one of the key ways that we are going to dismantle the patriarchy is to support women in centering themselves in their narrative. It is a very powerful way of moving through the world that men are taught since birth - they are the heroes of their own stories. Women are taught that they are supporting characters at best. Objects at worst. When women make the time and space to explore their voice and their story - everything changes. By centering ourselves in our own narratives and stories - we take control over that narrative...there is great power in that shift. For me, this is simply a tool to begin that process, that exploration, and to create communities where we support each other in that process. The textiles then become artifacts of that process and build a larger narrative that captures this moment in time for women on a more macro level.

In a world wrought with clickbait headlines and short attention spans, what is it about the handmade and DIY that makes people stop and pay attention?

It's juxtaposition to the digital world we live in. It represents slowing down, going analog, thinking, making, spending time creating. It goes against everything that exists in the digital space and that is attractive to us as we are drowning in digital noise.

In your October 16th Instagram post, you posted your piece entitled “White Feminism.” Where did you find your inspiration for this piece, and what has the response to it been?

I enjoy doing white on white embroidery and I found a beautiful antique textile that had a white on white border. I knew I was going to add something to it in white and as I started thinking about it - the irony of stitching something about white feminism in white work struck me as funny and powerful. I have used that particular stat in many of my talks because I think it says so much about the state of feminism and white supremacy in the US. The response was generally positive by my community. It will be in a national show for Women's Caucus for Art in February and I am really interested in seeing the response to it from that audience!

Would you consider incorporating more data into future pieces, such as your Badass HERstory project and White Feminism? Why or why not?

If it added value - sure. I love data but I also think we, as humans, put far too much value in data. As a Director of Development, who writes dozens of grants every year, I am often frustrated by foundations emphasis on data without context and/or without the narrative and interpretation of that data. It takes a lot of understanding and investment to properly interpret data - and even then - there are so many variables that it's hard to be sure exactly what is causal. Stats and data are helpful to a point but without careful critique or a nuanced understanding of how that data was acquired there is a lot of room for manipulation.

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Appendix E – Community Engagement Workshop Pitch

Hello!

My name is Madison Snell and I am a Master’s student at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design + Technology. For my thesis topic, I am exploring the intersection of data with the textile and fibre arts, evidenced in the trend of temperature blankets in the fibre community. This intersection is an example of data physicalization, where data is encoded through the materiality and physical properties of an object, such as colour or texture (as opposed to data visualization, where data is encoded digitally, such as in a pie chart). As both a crafter and a graphic designer, I have found this intersection where the digital meets the physical to be very intriguing.

Through my research, I have become interested in the idea of the human experience in relation to data. We make major decisions based on data, and we ourselves create data (think how we count calories consumed or steps taken). Data comes from the experience of being human and is reduced to numbers. The act of making a data physicalization using the slowed-down process of the textile and fibre arts means a whole other kind of human experience – an enhanced human experience.

I have created this short workshop as a way to invite other crafters into the conversation about how the act of crafting can enhance the human experience. The workshop will culminate in the participants creating a simple data physicalization out of pre-prepared materials.

This workshop will have five activities, as briefly outlined below.

1. A short get-to-know-you survey to establish the kinds of crafts participants engage in, and the reasons why the participants attend these social craft gatherings.

2. A mind-mapping activity about what it means to be human and how crafting and making things with our hands factor into what it means to be human.

3. A reflection activity where participants choose a recently completed craft project and reflect on the crafting process for that project, identifying unanticipated hiccups or issues and mood changes over the course of the project.

4. A data physicalization activity where participants choose three coloured granny squares that represent their favourite or most important experiences involved with crafting (sense of accomplishment, giving meaningful gifts, collaboration and knowledge-sharing, etc.) that are then combined with everyone else’s chosen granny squares to create a small tapestry that represents the group’s answers.

5. A short feedback form to identify the participant’s feelings about the workshop activities.

The workshop should not take longer than an hour and would be entirely optional. The results will be anonymous and only used to inform the next phase of my research.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Madison Snell MA candidate, January 2020 snell.madisont@gmail.com

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Worksheets – Blank

CRAFTING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE An exploration into how and why we craft

Introduction THE TOPIC

Introduction GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Take a moment to search the hashtag #temperatureblanket on Instagram. Your feed will be filled with an explosion of colour.

Crafters around the world are using temperature data to create beautifully rainbow-coloured blankets, scarves and tapestries.

It’s simple – pick a year (maybe the first year of your child’s life or as a married couple), find temperature data for it, create a legend, and start stitching. At the end, you’re left with a tangible representation of that data. Temperature blankets keep memories alive long after the year has happened.

Participation consent *please read carefully

This is just one example of making data – and memories – into tangible, physical objects. In other words, temperature blankets are an example of data physicalization. Data physicalizations encode data and numbers in their materiality. In the case of temperature blankets, the material properties would be the colours of yarn that encode temperature data for a given time and place. We can see, touch and surround ourselves in the numbers. Every stitch carries a greater understanding of the data. In spending time with the data, we create an enhanced human experience.

Behind every textile and fibre data physicalization is a story about its creation. A swath of red stitches meant a hot summer.

A dropped stitch meant a distraction when the dog suddenly barked at a passerby. In this way, the object acts as a memorykeeper and story prompt for others.

Today, we are going to explore what it means to be human, what the process of creating any wearable or displayable crafted object looks and feels like to different people, and understand the reasons people choose to craft. At the end, we will create a data physicalization as a group in the final activity.

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☐ I understand that my participation in these activities is entirely optional ☐ I understand that the results of these activities will be entirely anonymous and not identifiable to me as an individual ☐ I understand that I may withdraw from the activities at any point ☐ I understand that I may request to have my activity work removed at any point during or after the activities ☐ I understand that these activities are meant to inform research and that I am not being “tested” or “studied” ☐ I understand that photos will be taken over the course of the activities ☐ I provide my consent to participating in these activities

Which crafts, hobbies and art forms do you enjoy? *you may list as many as you want

Why do you attend these social craft gatherings? *you may check multiple boxes ☐ Make new friends ☐ Excuse to get out of the house ☐ Motivation to complete projects ☐ Learn new skills, techniques and hobbies ☐ Share my knowledge with others ☐ Other:

Activity 1 BEING HUMAN What does it mean to be human? What does the experience of being human look, feel, sound, smell and taste like? What does crafting and using the textile and fibre arts mean for the human experience? Use the mind map provided as a base to capture your thoughts.

Please free to draw more lines and add additional words or phrases as needed.

Activity 2 YOUR CRAFTING PROCESS Think about a crafting project you recently completed. Reflect on how you felt during each step.

Which parts of the crafting process changed your mood or affected your overall experience? Where did you experience unanticipated hiccups or issues? Were there any steps that ended up being easier or more difficult than you anticipated?

Use the box here to illustrate or describe your chosen project and the process behind its creation. Use the lines below the box to capture some thoughts about your crafting process.

Project:

Issue(s) encountered:

Time to complete: Easiest part(s): Material(s) used:

Most difficult part(s): Time(s) when mood changed:

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Activity 3 CRAFTING DATA TOGETHER What do you enjoy the most about the experience of crafting? Choose three colours of granny squares that match your favourite experiences from the piles provided. Don’t see an experience you identify with, or think one is missing? Grab a white granny square and a small slip of paper, write the experience on the paper, and pin it to the granny square.

After everyone has made their choices, we’ll craft a data physicalization of the results together.

Sense of accomplishment

Moments of selfreflection or mindfulness

Freedom of expression and creativity

Connection to ancestors and family

Giving meaningful gifts

Feelings of selfsufficiency or independence

Collaboration and knowledge-sharing

Learning new or challenging skills

Process of making tangible objects

Other

Conclusion FEEDBACK FORM

Conclusion LEARNING MORE

How would you rate your experience today? *please check one box

If you would like to learn more about these topics, I invite you to investigate the following resources.

⃝ 1 - Did not enjoy it ⃝2 ⃝ 3 - Neutral

Websites

⃝4

www.dataphys.org

⃝ 5 - Loved it

www.tempestryproject.com en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftivism

Which activity was your favourite? Least favourite?

www.dear-data.com www.life-in-clay.alicethudt.de/ Books Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle, by Clare Hunter Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map, By Jools Gilson and Nicola Moffat Knit the Sky: Cultivate Your Creativity with a Playful Way of Knitting, by Lea Redmond Self-Tracking , by Gina Neff and Dawn Nafus The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine, by Rozsika Parker Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years, by Elizabeth Wayland Barber Podcasts Data Pottery with Alice Thudt: Data Stories episode 112

What is your biggest takeaway from participating in these activities?

Dear Data with Giorgia Lupi & Stefanie Posavec: Data Stories episode 64

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, I invite you to get in contact with me.

Madison Snell, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design + Technology MA candidate, January 2020 snell.madisont@gmail.com

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Worksheets – Filled

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Appendix F – Crochet Pattern Development

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Appendix G – Additional Sketches and Notes

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[Textiles] are sensory and emotional triggers, too precious to throw away ... material evidence of where and who we have come from. – Clare Hunter, Threads of Life