A much belated post from me this week - apologies.  I'm blaming interference on the line.  That aside, I had a chance to reflect this week on the more artistic end of the visualisation of data, as I was able to get up close and personal with an artwork created by Chris Jordan.

Warren has introduced Chris's work previously on this blog. Chris himself says:

Sociologists tell us that the human mind cannot meaningfully grasp numbers higher than a few thousand; yet every day we read of mass phenomena characterized by numbers in the millions, billions, even trillions.

Chris's work therefore aims to enable each of us, as individuals, to reconnect with the numbers beyond the "anaesthetising" language of statistics, to find meaning and to act on what we find within his art.  Although his approach certainly isn't one I'd advocate to everyone, it is interesting that his aim is ultimately the same as everyone who presents data of any kind - to communicate, and to spur action.

The piece of work I was able to see is called "Shark Teeth", and here it is as you round a corner in the Monterey Aquarium, having just encountered the juvenile Great White shark in their tank.

Based on a watercolour painting by Sarah Waller, the painting is made up of a depiction of fossilised shark teeth, equal in number to the number of sharks killed *each day* for their fins.  If I tell you that the picture is 64"x94", and show you what it looks like up close, you can begin to understand Chris's mission to communicate the message as well as the numbers.

Chris has depicted 270,000 teeth in the picture, which is mind-boggling both for the work that it has entailed for him, and for the number of sharks killed - and that surely is what he's after.