R1 Reading Responses

Data Culture

If the quantification of society fails to address the more nuanced areas of human life, could the production of data itself ever be considered a creative act? Can data ever be…artistic? This is a valid question because as Schmidt has explained, our willingness to provide the government and companies our personal data is almost an act of surrender on our freewill. We willingly allow bureaucracies to use our personal data in order to manipulate our very ways of life. However, in the process, we fall into the easy life. We allow for bureaucracy to continually shape our modes of thought and determine our actions based on previous data acquired from our personal lives. We as humans are essentially whittled down to mere amounts of data. If such is the case, in that the quantification of society involves the brutal surrender of free expression, what is the legitimacy of data art? How does one escape the manipulative vision bureaucracies have placed onto us, and consciously approach data in an act of free expression? Such are the dilemmas Schmidt has placed onto artists of the 21st century. To wear a conscious eye wary of the imminent quantification of society, without being subject to this trip. The artist must consciously approach society while continually acting as the outcast.

Micro Stories and Mega Stores

Stanley poses an interesting approach on the value that storytelling has on data. To reiterate, he essential argues that stories are nothing but mindless data if we don’t organise this data and provide a proper narrative. A successful storyteller is crucial to providing the necessary “glue” that makes data come to life.

Now an interesting question I hope to raise: how much of this storytelling, or what Slaney terms as microblogging is any more than an act of narcissism? The humorous excerpt he inserts on page 87, titled Social Media Explained, poses an interesting perspective: in documenting micro stories, capturing mini snippets of our personal lives, it all amounts to a level of self-assurance, a marking of one’s existence and arguably, importance in the world. These social media outlets, Stanley humorously summaries, do no more to society than act as personal reassurance. Slaney’s introduction of mega stories or big data, however, is particularly interesting. If micro stories are the necessary evils of the data revolution, when mega stories are perhaps the saving graces. With this newfound and unlimited access to micro stories, there is also a huge potential for epic stories, compelling narratives that can alter society’s understanding of various life functions coupled by the assistance of real-time data. One effective example Slaney uses is Hans Rosling and his data narration of the correlation between per capita income and life expectancy over time. Hans has not found new data, but his narration of this data is compelling and eye-opening, opening the world to a new revelation that without data accessibility, could never be understood.

As we have seen, data has the ability to reveal human society’s innermost flaws – our innate narcissism. At the same time, data has a enormous potential to drive social change. If used for good, we can use data to create compelling mega stories that continue to open society to multiple perspectives. If data can be used for social good, is that enough justification to acquire personal data from individuals? How can the demise of individual freewill through data sourcing(as explained in data culture) consequently be a step towards social good? It surely puts artists in a terribly paradoxical situation…