Diaries to Data

Project Description

The Diaries to Data project was submitted in partial fulfillment of the MS in Integrated Digital Media at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.

Diaries to Data deals with the ways data and visualization are employed to understand human lives, and what can be gained through applying humanistic theory to those practices. It views data creation and visualization as cyclic close-reading processes that can be used to develop interpretation on and engagement with the other. In particular, this project aims to engage these practices to look into the loose-leaf archival objects collected by Katherine Bradley (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper (1862-1913), the aunt and niece (lovers, poets, and diarists) who wrote and lived together as Michael Field. The outputs consist of an exploratory and experimental take on a network graph that examines the topics and sentiments of correspondence and epistolary relationships documented in the Michaels’ loose-leaf letters, as well as an open dataset through which viewers might understand how the loose-leaf objects have been classified.

The visualization is an experimental take on a network graph; a product of my attempt to apply humanistic visual theory to the visualization process. It is an intentional departure from what is traditionally understood as data visualization. The language of flowers is employed in this work as an unfixed visual language through which viewers can explore my interpretation of the sentiments and topics included in the loose-leaf correspondence. It is also a visual language that was chosen for its particular ties to Michael Field, by their use of flower symbologies in their daily correspondence and in their writing. Viewers are provided with information about the letter-writers in aggregate, through the wreaths that surround their names, and through specific relationships on the vines that connecting two parties.