Data as an Art Material. Case study: The Open Data Institute

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Julie Freeman@misslakeODI Art AssociateSenior TED FellowSchool of Electronic Engineering & Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London

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Sir Tim Berners-LeeSir Tim Berners-Lee

Sir Nigel ShadboltSir Nigel Shadbolt

Gavin Starks CEO18+ years startup experience20+ years science, web, media, and data

Jeni Tennison CTOWorld-leader in open data and linked dataW3C, legislation.gov.uk and data.gov.uk architect

Stuart Coleman VP Market Development15+ years in commercial tech space Formerly HP, CA, and AMEE

Who? — Leadership Team

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A privately owned not-for-profit,a convening point for:

PublicPrivate

Academia

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Catalyse the evolution of open data cultureto create economic, environmental, and social

value

Mission statement

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Training Research

Development Start-up incubator

Art programme

How? — Communication

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Data as an art material– used by artists & creative practitioners

Data that IS cultural media– moving image, photos, audio, BBC archives, Europeana,

etc

Data about the cultural sector– museums, galleries, audiences

Cultural data

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- agenda-free experimentation

- innovation

- constant failure and iteration

- expose what data and data science means and it’s impact on society

- as more data is opened up, the information it holds must be reflected back to us from many angles

Artists explore and expose processes...and understanding process leads to progress

Data as an art material

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- Open call for artists: 89 respondents from 20 countries in 2 weeks

- Global coverage (WSJ, main TED conference in LA)

- 3,000+ visitors to the ODI London space

- Significant response from cultural leaders

“You’ve set the agenda for data as culture—so what’s next?”

Honor Harger, Creative Director, Lighthouse Digital Agency

Launch of Data as Culture

Three flames ate the sun, and big stars were seen – Phil Archer ©

Metrography – Bertrand Clerk & Benedikt Groß ©

Body 01000010011011110110010001111001 – Stanza ©

The SKOR Codex – La Société Anonyme ©

20hz – Semiconductor ©

The Obelisk – Fabio Lattanzi Antinori ©

Text Trends – Martin John Callanan ©

Still Lifes and Oscillators 1 – Ben Garrod

Vending Machine – Ellie Harrison ©

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theodi.org

Julie Freeman@misslakejulie.freeman@theodi.orgwww.translatingnature.org