Rhizome.org is a highly regarded database of new media art work, constantly updating and evolving its collection. It continually adds new artists and their work, each one tagged by keywords, terms, and genres. This project is an attempt to visualize the associations between artists work utilizing the very keywords, terms, and genres applied by the artists themselves.
Users can navigate the database of artwork by exploring the different relationships, or simply by browsing the works by date they were added. This is a useful navigation technique for people seeking work of a similar nature, work done within a particular timeframe, or artists seeking collaborations on a particular subject.
Concept:
Rhizome is a constantly active and evolving portal for the display of new media art works. Rhizome maintains a list of the latest posted projects with summaries and keywords associated to each. Visual Rhizome will display these projects in a radial chronological fashion and draw connections between projects that share descriptive keywords.
Inspiration:
There are two seperate sources of inspiration for the creation of this project: analytical design in general, and moderation of emerging/contemporary artworks.
Analytical design is the process of designing visual translations of datasets in the most minimalist manner possible to ensure (1) the greatest ratio of data ink to non-data ink, (2) the highest density of information for the given area, (3) the opportunity for multiple data correlations to appear, and (4) the clear translation of cognitive understanding to visual understanding. The purpose is to create a more intuitive information insemination process, putting less cognitive strain on the viewer and hopefully improving the capability of understanding.
Rhizome is a moderated institution, meaning that they only accept projects to their artbase after strict scrutiny. By comparing accepted submissions and the keywords affiliated within them, we may begin to view trends in the moderators choice of projects.
This moderation could be good in maintaining a level of quality of work for presentation, or it could be recognized as a negative aspect since the filtering of projects may create an illusion of what is good and what is not, and influence the direction of future art projects.
I personally see a certain level of moderation as necessary for an institution such as this, strictly for limiting the amount of content that will be stored. Judging the quality of a work folksonomically would provide a form of social justice for the work submitted and the viewers of the project.
Visual Description:
The placement of nodes will occur along a linear calendar, aligning each project with the date it was posted. This may reveal trends in the reviewing and posting schedule of the moderators.
Lines are connected between items with the same keyword. The opacity of the line is dependent on the number of projects share the same keyword. The tint of a certain line will show the prevelence of a certain keyword.
Technical Description:
Rhizome provides an rss feed of the most recent projects. Each item entry contains the link of the project page, date/time it was posted, title, description, keywords, and an image. The flash visualization engine can import this as an xml document and parse it for visualization. Each item entry is represented as a dot on the stage. The left of the stage represents today, and the distance from the left is calculated by multipyling an increment by the number of days it's been since the project was posted.
Each item entry is analyzed for its keywords, and any matching keywords between items are visualized with a translucent line. Once the initial items and associations are drawn, the viewer/user can navigate the content by clicking on each dot, and reading the title, author, date/time, and description. They can also choose to expand the content based upon the artists other works or by keyword entries within that item. When expanding the contents, an xml.loadandsend() request is sent to a python server script to retrieve the requested information as xml (since it's held on html pages and not within rss feeds).
Presentation:
This will be totally web presentable, but I would like to install it in a physical space (the white gallery would be suitable) using a digital projector. There is minimal interface, requiring only a mouse and a pedastol for it to rest upon in the middle of the room. I plan to use sound elements on various parts of the interface, so I can use my computer speakers in each corner of the room for that.
November 2005:
- reading of rss feed into flash
- parsing of xml data structure within flash
- object oriented nodes inheriting xml data
December 2005:
- reading of rss feed into python
- parsing of xml data structure within python
January 2006:
- html page parsing/xml structure return
- xml.sendandload data reading
- extended content visualization
February 2006:
- relationship curve drawing
- data interaction elements
March 2006:
- finalize design
- finalize documentation
BFA Show: March 20-24, Black Gallery
Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 21st, 6pm
Python
newart.py - parses new art rss feed and saves as xml.
findkeys.py - finds keywords used to describe projects.
keyword.py - queries rhizome for projects by keyword.
Flash
01 - title and fullscreen.
02 - xml parsed into list of art objects.
03 - art title drawing.
04 - alphanumeric sorting and dot placement.
05 - vertical stage resizing.
06 - dots spaced chronologically.
07 - animated node movement.
08 - calendar drawing, full width usage.
09 - animated title text movement.
10 - horizontal stage resizing, improved source code legibility.
11 - horizontal calendar resizing.
12 - cursor and numerical day integration.
13 - rollover node interaction, title text fading.
14 - submenu drawing.
15 - tag menu drawing, improved submenu placement.
16 - new engine for data requests.
17 - entirely new engine for data requests, complete mysql storage of art objects.
18 - movieclips referenced by art object id, sql retreivel brilliance.
19 - node expansion from key selection.
20 - improved calendar performance.
21 - slider changes chronological focus.
22 - improved calendar adjustments.
23 - corrected scaling bug, improved slider control/adjustments.
24 - menu dragbar and close button implemented.
25 - flash 8 switch and partial wedge drawing.
26 - smooth wedge drawing.
27 - initial line drawing for keys.
28 - chronological line drawing for keys, genres, and types.
29 - improved text coloring, added scaling and depth adjustment.
30 - info panel implemented.
31 - opens link to art object page on rhizome.
32 - improved depth placement, prevents addition of same project entry.
33 - improved title fonts, eliminated projects in the future.
34 - improved slider adjustments, improved title fade in, added status bar.
35 - added badly needed refresh button.
36 - added screensaver for gallery presentation.
37 - temporary fix to prevent projects with dates earlier than 1900 from showing up.
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The spider doing its magic. (2.4mb avi) |
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Demonstration of the interface. (12.7mb avi) (2.4mb mov) |
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Visual Rhizome projected onto the wall of the black gallery. |
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A query for both genre and term. |
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Browsing by keyword. |
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Pictorial arts students enjoy overwhelming the screen with data to create expressionistic abstractions. |
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A group of visitors spectating a student navigating the interface. |
Aaron Siegel
asiegel[at]datadreamer.com
AIM: alt4ir
[web site]
[rhizome entry]