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Martin Wattenberg: Turning Words into Pictures
October 30, 2008
Martin Wattenberg new media artist

Martin Wattenberg describes his work in transforming data into evocative charts and graphs that are as informative as they are arresting.

He explains his Map of the Market, created for SmartMoney.com, and which offers a graphic representation that allows users to track the progress of hundreds of company stocks at once. Baby Names, his online visualization of baby name trends over the past century, has become a popular site for bloggers and online forums. Fleshmap is the study of desire, with one chart tracking the use of body parts in song lyrics, separated into various musical genres.

In his current research and in his artwork he focuses on interactive opportunities for collaboration. Many Eyes is an interactive website that he calls a YouTube for data, where users can upload information on almost any topic and then have a conversation among online readers.

This lecture is part of the 2008 IDEAS Boston conference.

Art & Architecture | Business & Economics | Media & Technology
baby names | Charts | Graphs | statistics | visual representation | Family Issues | Design | Lifestyle
WGBH
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There are no books associated with this lecture.

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