Eco-Vis Challenge at Eyebeam
Join the Challenge!
Imagine better ways of living:
Picture ecology and be in the draw to win cash prizes and exhibit at Eyebeam
What is the Eco-Vis Challenge?
Not only is there an environmental crisis, but an environmental data crisis. Viewing statistics on environmental change is usually overwhelming, unintelligible, hidden and dense. Eyebeam invites artists to collaborate with technologists to redefine what the future of tracking and visualizing the environment could be.
The Eco-challenge is composed of two parts:
Challenge 1: Eco Icons invites participants to create one or many information graphics that could be used to make visible environmental/ecological concerns.
Challenge 2: Eco Vis focuses on the creations of an eco-visualization based on at least one set of ecological impact data.
Winning designs will be awarded cash prizes totaling $5000 and, along with finalists, be included in the upcoming Eyebeam exhibition, Feedback. Detailed guidelines were released on September 15, in conjunction with the Conflux Festival.
This challenge is an initiative of Eyebeam's Sustainability Research Group and has been crafted by Research Group members and Eyebeam Alumni, Michael Mandiberg and Brooke Singer. The prizes are generously underwritten by Deep Green Living.
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Challenge 1: Eco Icons
Eco-Vis Challenge 1 is to create one or more information graphics that could be used to make visible environmental or ecological concerns. Thematically, these are icons that engage the politics of information and the persuasion of graphics.
The icons could be used for various purposes. For example, the final form for your icon could be a banner for web sites, stickers to place on objects or buildings, drawings for stenciling on the streets or a tag that could be “shopdropped” in stores. You can invent one or a collection of icons. Be creative in conceiving the icon and its use!
The deadline for Eco-Vis Challenge 1: Eco Icons HAS BEEN EXTENDED to Monday, November 12, 2007. Submissions must be received by 11.59PM to qualify.
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Challenge 2: Eco Vis
Eco-Vis Challenge 2 is to create an eco-visualization based on at least one set of the ecological impact data. Your job as an “eco-visualizer” is to reveal the not so obvious or to suggest alternative frameworks.
To start, choose a theme (or two), at least one data set, and find a novel and illuminating way of representing these. This could take the form of dynamic data visualization, a print graphic, a real-world intervention, or some other inventive form. The key is to create a greater understanding through clear and inventive design.
You may choose from one of the data sets listed below, or may locate one on our own. If you choose your own data set, you are required to provide a link to that information as part of your submission.
Keep in mind that we are employing a fairly open definition of eco-visualization. We encourage both traditional data visualization alongside works that use different means than a graph or chart.
We are interested in inciting artists, scientists, designers, and engineers to move data from the spreadsheet into the world. The world is architecture, the world is the Internet, the world is urban streets, and the world is trees and dirt.
The deadline for Eco-Vis Challenge 2: Eco Vis is Saturday, December 8, 2007. Submissions must be received by 11.59PM to qualify.
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Important dates and deadlines
- Saturday, September 15: Competition registration opens online
- Thursday, November 8: The Upgrade! presents Eco-Vis Challenge Critique, at Eyebeam, 7PM
- Monday, November 12: New Submission deadline for the Challange 1: Eco Icons
- Saturday, December 8: Submission deadline for the Challenge 2: Eco Vis
- Saturday, December 15: Eco Icons on display; winners of Eco Icons and Eco Vis announced during reception at Eyebeam, 7PM
- Thursday, January 5: Feedback exhibition opens with Eco Icons and Eco Vis winners work on display
- Saturday, January 26: Feedback exhibition closes
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Possible themes
- Greenhouse gases
- Global warming
- Water
- Oil (production, consumption, cost)
- Coal
- Transportation
- Waste
- Recycling
- Food (organic, fast food, GMO's)
- Nuclear Energy and Waste
- Alternative Energy
- Natural Disasters
- Weather
- Migration
- Extinction (species, natural resources, languages)
- Policy
- Politics
- Voting (election, candidates)
- Packaging and Manufacturing
- Shipping (trucks and boats)
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Possible inspiration and references
Data sets (to get you started)
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Want to know more?
Contact Events Coordinator, Paul Amitai, at paul AT eyebeam DOT org, ph: 212.937.6580.
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