Developing Online Images. From Visual Traces to Public Voices

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Published: Sep 1, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.19.Article.2
Keywords:
Transformación de imágenes en línea, Visualización de datos para asuntos públicos, Métodos inventivos, Diseño participativo, Enfoques no representativos Transformation of online images, Data visualization for public issues, Inventive methods, Participatory design, Non-representational approaches

Main Article Content

Donato Ricci
SciencesPo médialab
_ Calibro
Independent Research Group
Duncan Evennou
Independent Researcher
Benoît Verjat
CNRS - Université Paris Nanterre, Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative

Abstract


Online images could be considered as traces of the dynamics of social issues. Concurrently, the same images are enrolled in vast algorithmic infrastructures. Specific research registers have been devised to account for, and experience, one or the other of such specificities. The scope of the present contribution is to introduce a possible crossing of the existing registers and to further the role of large image corpora visualizations beyond pure analytical or critical purposes. To this extent, the ʽDEPT.ʼ project is described. A series of visual artifacts —data- and media- visualizations, catalogs, tableaux, and scores― were conceived during the project in order to progressively bring online images to public and participatory settings so as to inquire into situated issues. The paper details the needs, intellectual frameworks, and methodological choices, along with the visual artifacts conceived in the project to develop online images as shared and collective expressions of the issues under inquiry.

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How to Cite
Ricci, D., Calibro, _, Evennou, D. ., & Verjat, B. . (2021). Developing Online Images. From Visual Traces to Public Voices. Diseña, (19), Article.2. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.19.Article.2
Issue
No. 19 (2021): Visual Methods for Online Images: Collection, Circulation, and Machine Co-Creation
Section
Original Articles (part 1)

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Author Biographies

Donato Ricci, SciencesPo médialab

Industrial Designer and Ph.D. in Industrial Design and Multimedia Communication, Politecnico di Milano. Researcher at Sciences Po médialab, he uses experimental Design Methods in Human and Social Sciences. He is Assistant Profes­sor of ‘Knowledge and Representation’ at Universidade de Aveiro and part of the Experimental Program in Political Arts (SPEAP) at Sciences Po. He is the guest-editor, along with Jamie Allen, of ‘Testing Against The World: What do tools do (for you) in Experi­mental Knowledge Infrastructures and Practices?´, a special issue of Diseña that enquires into the ways in which tools, mediations, and protocols have become precursors to the activities and the testing of design, art and media research. Some of his latest pu­blications are: ‘Mettre en forme l’enquêteʼ (with R. de Mourat; in Controverses mode d’emploi; Presses de Sciences Po, 2020); ‘How Does a Format Make a Public?ʼ (with R. de Mourat and B. Latour; in Reassembling Scholarly Communications: Histories, Infrastruc­tures, and Global Politics of Open Access; MIT Press, 2020); and ‘Les glitchs, ces moments où les algorithmes tremblentʼ (with A. Meunier, D. Cardon, and M. Crépel, Techniques Culture, Issue 72).

_ Calibro, Independent Research Group

Calibro is a design studio based in Milan focused on tailored data driven research and projects. It was founded by Matteo Azzi (M.Sc. in Communication Design, Politecnico di Milano) and Giorgio Uboldi (B.Sc and M.Sc in Communication Design, Politecnico di Milano). Calibro aims at exploring new pathways at the intersection between design, data visualization, and humanities by designing tools and interfaces to access and vi­sualize complex data and digital archives. Some of the latest publications of the studio include ‘Cozy/Flatʼ (with D. Ricci and Óbelo; In City Killers. Per una critica del turismo; Libria, 2020); ‘Digital Trips—A data driven anthropological research on drugsʼ (in Visualized Conference Milan, 2018); and ‘RAWGraphs: A Visualisation Platform to Create Open Outputsʼ (with M. Mauri, T. Elli, G. Caviglia, G. Uboldi, and M. Azzi; in Proceedings of the 12th Biannual Conference on Italian SIGCHI Chapter, ACM, 2017).

Duncan Evennou, Independent Researcher

Performer and director, graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieur d’Art Dramatique du Théâtre National de Bretagne. Having completed the Experimental Program in Po­litical Arts (SPEAP) at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques, he is now focusing on interdisciplinary work at the interface of drama, socio­logy, and visual art involving the three key dynamics of creation, research, and pedagogy. He co-founded The Lighthouse Company (with L. Hamelin) with the aim of exploring the creation of artistic performances, contemporary writings, and scientific research through theatrical means. Some of his latest works with The Lighthouse Company include the research-based performance ‘MississippiSʼ (performed with D. Andjembé, text and research di­rection by C. Hallé, 2021); the direction of ‘Tesbah Ala Kheirʼ (au­thored by L. Hamelin, 2019); and the solo performance ‘Mattersʼ, which gives form and body to the archives of the inaugural mee­ting of the Anthropocene Working Group (conceived with C. Hallé and B. Verjat, 2018). Recently, he collaborated with the visual ar­tist Ulla Von Brandenburg and the director Frédérique Aït-Touati.

Benoît Verjat, CNRS - Université Paris Nanterre, Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative

Designer, École Supérieure des Arts décoratifs Strasbourg. Research designer working inside and outside academia with scientists, artists, public institutions, grass­roots collectives, or performers on their investigations, action research, or inquiry-based projects. He aims to expand what can be expected from information and documents in the context of public knowledge production by taking care of and injecting ‘ways of doing’, instruments, performance, or collective dynamics. He is co-author of the experimentation ‘Wolves, Visual, Political and Embodied Representationʼ (with J.-M. Landry and B. Nordmann; 2019); the exhibition ‘Faire assemblée, Concours Étudiant.e.s tou.te.s à Chaumont!ʼ (with N. Couturier, T. Wermelinger, and A. Ostinelli; Biennale internationale de design graphique 2019); and the documentary ‘GR92ʼ (with A. de Raphelis; 2017).

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