The Fine Artof

Data GardeningI.C.E. Summer School

July 5, 2013

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they

know they shall never sit in.

greek proverb

Carolus Linnaeus, 1732

1 , 9 0 0 , 0 0 0(number of identified species as of 2010)

data gardeneravant la lettre

(1)

Digital Universe Study, 2012

The global data supply reached 2.8 zettabytes, or 2.8 trillion GB in 2012. Just 0.5% of this is used for analysis.

“If you asked me to describe the rising philosophy of the day, I’d say it is data-ism.”

We now have the ability to gather huge amounts of data.

This ability seems to carry with it certain cultural assumptions: that everything that can be measured should be measured;

that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology; that data will help us do remarkable things.

David Brooks / The Philosophy of Data

emotionalism and ideology...

Technology is the most powerful force on the planet. In fact, humanity is a tool itself, and, like all living things, technology evolves, demonstrating certain unconscious “urges” and “wants” in the process. Technology cannot be held back. But we can try to optimize its benefits for human culture, even while potentially trying to limit the amount of technology in our own lives. kevin kelly

data gardeneravant la lettre

(2)

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schul thess(1901-1972)

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schulthess(legend written byIngeborg Lüscher)

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schulthess

Armand Schulthess

InfoArcadia, Stroom Den Haag, 2000

Thomas Malthus

data gardeneravant la lettre

(3)

shades of the malthusian catastrophe

nouns

Brandon Martin-Anderson et al, (MIT) - Interactive Census Dotmap with 454,064,098 dots - one for each person in North America, using 2010 census data

nouns wi th behavior

Brandon Martin-Anderson et al, (MIT) - Interactive Census Dotmap with 454,064,098 dots - one for each person in North America, using 2010 census data

0

ronald van tienhoven - commemorative euro coin ‘400 years Netherlands-Manhattan’ (2009) - verso

ronald van tienhoven - commemorative euro coin ‘400 years Netherlands-Manhattan’ (2009) - recto

evocat ive nouns

Edward Rolf Tuftefrom: Envisioning Information

data- ink rat io

(coined by Edward Rolf Tufte)

data-p ixe l rat io

Sergey Semonov - multi-stichted ultra-high resolution aerial panorama of Central Park and environs

"The most interesting aspect for me, composing exclusively with patterns, is that there is not one organizational procedure more

advantageous than another, perhaps because no one pattern ever takes precedence over the others. The compositional concentration is solely on which pattern should be reiterated and for how long."

Morton Feldman / Why Patterns?

1923 2008

4535 Time magazine covers, 1923-2008 - Lev Manovich and Jeremy Douglass / Software Studies Initiative (softwarestudies.com) / 2009-2010

Lev Manovich et al - Mapping Time: 4535 Time magazine covers, 1923-2009

what > i f

(means o f ident i f i cat ion)

i f > then

(means o f empowerment )

f in

© ronald van t ienhoven 2013