Making Data Visual

What comes to mind when you hear the word data? Maybe you think of strings of numbers on a computer screen, or graphs and charts in a textbook.

But data can also be the foundation for visual artworks that provoke deep thoughts for viewers. Art that involves data can help people engage with information that may otherwise be abstract or complicated. The three contemporary artists featured here incorporate technical information into their work. As you read, think about how they each make data both beautiful and accessible.

What does the word data make you think of? Is it numbers on a screen? Graphs and charts?

Those things are data. But data can also be part of art. Art can help people understand complicated ideas and information. The three artists featured here all use data in their work. As you read, think about how they make technical information both beautiful and clear.

Is the image you see above a line graph or a landscape? It’s both. Jill Pelto’s 2020 Currents is a prime example of data visualization, the practice of representing data in visual formats like charts and graphs.

“Behind a graph is a complex story about a change happening in the world,” Pelto explains. For this illustration, the Washington-based artist uses watercolors and color pencils to depict climate-related data over time. This includes data about changes in global temperatures and sea levels, among other topics.

Data visualization can make complicated ideas both understandable and exciting to a general audience. In Pelto’s landscape, distinct colors for each section of the graph make the data points pop. It’s no wonder the editors of Time used it for the cover of the magazine’s July 2020 climate-themed issue.

Look at the image above. Is it a line graph or a landscape? It’s both. Jill Pelto’s 2020 Currents is an example of data visualization. That’s when artists display data in visual formats, like charts and graphs. 

"Behind a graph is a complex story about a change happening in the world,” explains Pelto. For this illustration, she uses watercolors and color pencils to depict data about changes in global temperatures and sea levels.

Data visualization can make complicated ideas more interesting and accessible. That’s why Time magazine used Pelto’s work on the cover of a climate-themed issue. Different colors for each section of the graph make the data points stand out.

Italian designer Giorgia Lupi believes that all data can be related to human experiences. “Data can become something physical,” she says, “something you live with and walk across.”

For her 2023 series, Unraveling Stories, above, Lupi created rugs using data about ancient textiles from UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage lists. Each color on Lupi’s rugs corresponds to information about 59 weaving traditions, including how old they are and where they began. The rugs’ geometric patterns refer to the structure of a loom, a frame used for weaving. At the same time, the pattern organizes large amounts of data into clean, easy-to-read lines.

“My hope is that people first fall for the rug as a beautiful object,” Lupi says. “Then one day, they’ll get curious, flip it over, find the key on the back, and realize every bar is a real textile tradition from somewhere in the world.”

Giorgia Lupi is an Italian designer. She says that “data can become something physical” that people can relate to.

Lupi made her textile series Unraveling Stories, above, in 2023. She started with United Nations data about ancient weaving traditions. She collected information about 59 weaving styles. The colors on her rugs correspond to data, such as how old each technique is and where it began. The geometric patterns reflect the structure of a loom, or a frame used for weaving.

“My hope is that people first fall for the rug as a beautiful object,” says Lupi. “Then one day, they’ll get curious . . . and realize every bar is a real [weaving] tradition from somewhere in the world.”

After studying chemistry in college, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer began incorporating scientific techniques and ideas into his artistic practice. Today the Mexican Canadian artist is known for creating interactive, immersive displays involving technology and data.

In his 2018-19 Pulse Room, below, a large-scale installation, Lozano- Hemmer visualizes a participant’s individual heart rate, a type of biometric data. Visitors stand in a large, dark room, where hundreds of light bulbs hang from the ceiling. When a person places their hands onto a heart rate sensor in the room, their pulse is transmitted to one of the bulbs as a flashing pattern.

In time, the pulses of multiple visitors light up the entire room. All the bulbs flash with the rhythms of hundreds of unique heartbeats. Lozano-Hemmer says he wanted to create an artwork that would allow viewers to “participate in a collective experience.”

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is a Mexican-Canadian artist. He studied chemistry in college. Today he’s known for creating interactive displays using data.

His 2019 work Pulse Room, below, is an installation. Hundreds of light bulbs hang from the ceiling in a dark room where there is a heart rate sensor. When someone puts their hands on the sensor, a light bulb flashes to show their pulse.

Eventually, the pulses of multiple visitors light up the entire room. All the bulbs flash with hundreds of unique heartbeats. Lozano-Hemmer says he wanted to create an artwork that lets viewers “participate in a collective experience.”