A DAY OF _____
The Quantified Self movement is about gaining self-knowledge through numbers. We engage in the act of self-tracking every day, sometimes unknowingly, and make meaning of our lives through numbers that tell us how much we ate, how many steps we took, and how many emails we received. We reduce our being, and subsequently our worth, into numbers to make them easier to understand, but what do we lose in the process?
"A Day Of _____" is the expression of personal self-tracking data collected daily. By turning the visualisation into a physical object, the personal narrative of the subject and data is experienced both visually and physically by the viewer.
The project is part of my 4th year thesis work at OCADU, a year-long self-directed study on making data more human.
Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5". Materials: wood, acrylic, acetate, thread.
Unfounded anxiety about the mundane are juxtaposed here with the heavy layers of acrylic, jarringly disjointed type, and messes of tangled thread encased in between.
Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5". Materials: wood, styrofoam, crepe paper.
Positive thoughts create a literal blooming garden in this day's visualisation. Size, colour and position indicate joy from different sources and of different intensities. What the garden lacks in functional labelling, it makes up for in aesthetics and emotions evoked.
Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5". Materials: wood, acetate, gold leaf.
Sheets of acetate and gold leaf are layered to create a sense of floating, shimmering rays of sunlight.
Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5". Materials: wood, acrylic, acetate.
A calm exterior hides the inner turmoil of this day. Reflections sometimes catch me off guard, and the image I see is often warped by insecurity and a history of changing body shapes.
Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5". Materials: wood, acrylic, stones.
Negative thoughts hide beneath the weight of heavy stones. The viewer must tilt and shake the frame to uncover all the negative thoughts that go unvoiced.
For more information on my process for this project, please visit my website.
This project received an honourable mention for the RGD Student Awards 2017.
