Computational visualization for critical thinking

Abstract

This paper looks at several historical precedents for how computational systems and ideas have been visualized, both as a means of access to and engagement with a broader audience, and to develop a more tangible language to address abstraction. Such precedents share a subversive ground in using a visual language to provoke ways of engaging with complex ideas. The author proposes two approaches to visualizing algorithmic systems for the emerging context of algorithmic ethics in society, looking at prototypical algorithms in computer vision and machine learning systems, to think through the meaning created by algorithmic structure and process. The aim is to use visual design to provoke different kinds of thinking and criticality to address algorithms in their increasingly more politicized role today. The two proposed approaches are developed from an arts research perspective to support critical thinking and arts knowledge through creative coding and interactive design.