A 12-week project documenting a slow down movement in a fast-paced world dominated by screens – by using data as a medium.
INTRODUCTIONS
Every day, we wake up to a bombardment of news about the latest happenings around the world. It’s not just about fashion trends and new iphones, but also constant social media updates across our tiny screens. Or notifications of artificial intelligence (A.I.) having a breakthrough and talks of jobs being replaced. Everything around us is accelerating and we are feeling more behind and more anxious than ever.
How much faster do we need to be, to catch up with the world? The relentless chase through our screens can make it increasingly difficult to find peace. For aspiring designers, having that mental capacity to think about what, why and how we want to create is a critical part of the making process. The slow-building of meaning in works is particularly relevant in an industry that’s getting increasingly saturated with fast, generative artworks and designs. Hence, I felt drawn to create data visualizations surrounding the topic of screen overconsumption.
METHODOLOGY
Over the course of seven weeks, individuals were asked to carry out weekly prompts related to various impacts of screen overconsumption on their wellbeing. Underlying these questions were a range of topics such as social connection, sleep deprivation, creativity decline. Participants recorded the contextual information behind these entries, so as to retain the richness of the data. Forms and suggested questions were provided as a guideline during the tracking process.
Upon receiving the responses, I processed the data carefully and created organic drawings that reflect the data stories behind each.
Analog Processing of Data through Writing & Sketching
Collection of Data Drawings in Week 1: Pen & Paper
Dataset from Week 1 - "Time Tracks"
Week 2: Moments of Laughter - How does my data exist within the larger context?
Dataset from Week 2 - "May Flowers 2"
Week 3: Long-Format Content Consumed
Dataset from Week 3 - "Urban Living"
Dataset from Week 3 - "Fiction"
Final Notes
During the data collection period, most participants reported an increase in awareness about digital distractions in their daily activities (as well as lowered phone usage towards the end of the project). Some noted a desire to pick up past interests in activities like reading physical books, exercising, while others shared that the prompts were beneficial in revealing that off-screen activities often inspired their work more.
