{"id":16870,"date":"2019-09-11T14:19:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T18:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/?p=16870"},"modified":"2019-09-11T14:26:25","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T18:26:25","slug":"rerouting-a-brief-history-of-counter-vis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/visualization\/rerouting-a-brief-history-of-counter-vis\/","title":{"rendered":"Rerouting: A Brief History of Counter-Vis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"304\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?resize=840%2C304\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16881\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?resize=1024%2C370&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?resize=300%2C108&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?resize=768%2C277&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?resize=800%2C289&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?resize=400%2C144&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?w=1680 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Intro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If information visualizations are stories, there is a single type of author that always hits the Bestseller list&nbsp; \u2014 usually the \u201cwisest,\u201d most Western and whitest climb to the top (based on their merit, of course) to expound their \u201cunbiased\u201d visual narrative as true. In timeline form, \u201cRerouting \u2026 a short history of counter-vis\u201d is an adventure into the underbelly of mainstream visualization. I define these graphics as \u201ccounter-vis,\u201d an expansion on Peluso\u2019s (1996) notion of \u201ccounter-maps,\u201d or a \u201c map-making process whereby communities appropriate the state\u2019s techniques of formal mapping and make their own maps as alternatives to those used by the government,\u201d to include other non-cartographic forms of revision. Counter-vis are argumentative in nature and despite their form or subject, they all function to dismantle indiscriminate narratives by revealing the other side. In the timeline \u201cRerouting\u2026,\u201d&nbsp; I attempt to illustrate a revisionist history of visualizations, those not found the glossy pages of your elementary atlas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Materials &amp; Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I produced &#8220;Rerouting &#8230;&#8221; with <a href=\"https:\/\/timeline.knightlab.com\/\">TimelineJS<\/a> from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/knightlab.northwestern.edu\/\">KnightLab<\/a>. I used their video, posted below, as a guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><div class=\"video-wrapper\"><div class=\"embed-vimeo\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/143407878\" width=\"800\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\" class=\"has-small-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/143407878\">How to Use TimelineJS<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/knightlab\">Northwestern U. Knight Lab<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The intuitive open-source software allows you to edit your project in Google Sheets (Figure 1). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?resize=702%2C422\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16873\" width=\"702\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?resize=1024%2C616&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?resize=300%2C181&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?resize=768%2C462&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?resize=800%2C482&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?resize=299%2C180&amp;ssl=1 299w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.22.55-PM-1.png?w=1407&amp;ssl=1 1407w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><figcaption>Figure 1<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>My venture into counter-vis began with a fixture of the information visualization canon: W. E. B. Du Bois\u2019 \u201cExhibit of American Negroes.\u201d Further research on this work led me to the book \u201cDiagrams of Power: Visualizing, Mapping and Performing Resistance.\u201d Thirty dollars later, I was hooked on researching alternative visualizations as advocacy measures. I began using Pratt Library&#8217;s academic search which unveiled the seminal work of Peluso and the introduction of &#8220;counter-mapping.&#8221; The terminology within her work provided standardized search terms that yielded broad resistance visualization results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/timeline3\/latest\/embed\/index.html?source=1_VIRMRInrF7tVT59V9EFBnM8DJzIcCd4VtzAnE6prMk&amp;font=Default&amp;lang=en&amp;initial_zoom=2&amp;height=650\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/OK-%402.gif?resize=840%2C446&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16885\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reflection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I amassed plenty of timeline-worthy demarcations, but I struggled in choosing a single representation that properly demonstrated the socio-political weight of each visualization. Furthermore, many counter-vis designs are extremely detailed but Knightlab does not come with a zoom-in feature. I attempted to look for sharable gallery embeds, but came up mostly empty-handed. Unsurprisingly, these graphics aren\u2019t all well-publicized on the net with hi-res images, however, the ones created as art, like Mark Lombardi\u2019s narratives, are well-documented. This is probably since their art is for sale (one Lombardi piece was auctioned at 30k). The irony is not lost that an attack on neoliberalism has such a high price tag. Out of the art world, I consider the risk the authors took in creating this work, how we can visualize their vulnerability, whether it is Copernicus against the Church or the current jeopardy the protesting cartographers in Hong Kong face.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Beuys, J., Cruz, T., D\u00e1vila, P., DuBois, W. E. B., Akers, J., Brown, V., \u2026 Rekacewicz, P. (2019). <em>Diagrams of Power: Visualizing, Mapping and Performing Resistance<\/em>. Retrieved from<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=4BvZwwEACAAJ\"> https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=4BvZwwEACAAJ<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">CABINET \/\/ Utterance Is Place Enough: Mapping Conversation. (n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2019, from<a href=\"http:\/\/cabinetmagazine.org\/issues\/2\/utterance.php\"> http:\/\/cabinetmagazine.org\/issues\/2\/utterance.php<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">MIT Technology Review. (n.d.). The new battle in Hong Kong isn\u2019t on the streets; it\u2019s in the apps. Retrieved September 11, 2019, from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/614286\/the-new-battle-in-hong-kong-isnt-on-the-streets-its-in-the-apps\/\"> https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/614286\/the-new-battle-in-hong-kong-isnt-on-the-streets-its-in-the-apps\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Peluso, N. L. (1995). WHOSE WOODS ARE THESE? COUNTER-MAPPING FOREST TERRITORIES IN KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA. <em>Antipode<\/em>, <em>27<\/em>(4), 383\u2013406.<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1467-8330.1995.tb00286.x\"> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1467-8330.1995.tb00286.x<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">W. E. B. Du Bois\u2019s Modernist Data Visualizations of Black Life. (n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2019, from<a href=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/306559\/w-e-b-du-boiss-modernist-data-visualizations-of-black-life\/\"> https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/306559\/w-e-b-du-boiss-modernist-data-visualizations-of-black-life\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Intro If information visualizations are stories, there is a single type of author that always hits the Bestseller list&nbsp; \u2014 usually the \u201cwisest,\u201d most Western and whitest climb to the top (based on their merit, of course) to expound their \u201cunbiased\u201d visual narrative as true. In timeline form, \u201cRerouting \u2026 a short history of counter-vis\u201d&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":632,"featured_media":16881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,339,1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[477],"class_list":["post-16870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-labs","category-timelines","category-visualization"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-11-at-1.19.46-PM.png?fit=2448%2C884&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paBdcV-4o6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16870"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16890,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16870\/revisions\/16890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16870"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}