Frame That Spam! Data-Crunching Artists Transform the World of Information, an interactive piece on wired.com, showcases several beautiful examples of art generated from data. The usual crew are well-represented — Aaron Koblin, Casey Reas — plus some names that were new to me.

Many of the pieces are more artsy and less “design-y” than the work we do at DMI, simply because the visualizations are intended to be more emotional than practical. I define practical as interpretable, meaning the data values could be extracted from the visual elements. A bar chart is easily interpretable: the height of each bar (y) represents a number, and its horizontal position (x) reflects another value (time or some other grouping). Waves and waves of technicolor text, in contrast, may be beautiful and evoke a general sense of the data involved, but is probably not easily interpreted, except by the algorithm that drew it.

I keep struggling with this artificial distinction between art and design, wondering why emotional pieces are labeled art, while more ostensibly functional pieces are considered design. Doesn’t good design evoke an emotional response? And can’t artwork be functional, too? I usually identify more as a designer than an artist, but I am beginning to question the usefulness of both of those terms. Traditionally, art was more purely expressive, and design more data-driven, but now that we have “fine artists” doing intensively data-driven work, the distinction is starting to feel outdated.

Image credit: Detail from Textour by Tim Walter.

I’ve officially submitted my Search Explorer project to Rhizome’s 2009 commissions process! Watch the demo, and if you like what you see, I’d appreciate your vote!

Okay, so everyone in the type world has already posted a link to this, but go ahead — try your hand at The Rather Difficult Font Game. (I scored a 28 on my first try.)

We reviewed our “gesture” projects in class last night, and while I think we all had some interesting ideas, no one envisioned an interface where your entire body could provide the input.

I just found out about this project called “You Move You Interact,” described as:

…an interactive installation, where one is supposed to build up a body language dialogue with an artificial system so as to effectively achieve a synchronized performance between the real user’s body and the virtual object itself. The project aims at exploring a spatial sphere, where the user/performer is invited to develop his own creative inspiration based on his own body gestures and movements. [ymyi.org]

Also interesting: It’s done using Processing.

An innovative use of motion sensors and a familiar video game encourages coordinated action on the part of otherwise non-connected individuals.