La visualisation

Abstract

Inspired by Tristan Tzara's DaDa poetry, in which the words of a newspaper article are randomly reassembled to create an original poem, DaDa Visualisation is a whimsical interactive artwork producing dynamic generative visualisations based on a catalogue of poems. This paper outlines the work and examines the key issues and ideas to which it responds. It defines data visualisation as a lens that is increasingly applied to all aspects of our lives, and while typically heralded as a revelatory scientific instrument it shows data-vis as a creative cultural form. Fundamentally, DaDa Visualisation is an irreverent celebration of our fascination with data and data graphics but also provides a valuable critical perspective, reminding us that data visualisations are neither benign nor impartial but the product of authorial agency.