Today in the 21st century we are all part of a network of data, everything we do contributes to it. So when we analyse the digital self we always have to consider its context and something which I describe in my work as the “Digital Polis”.
The polis is a concept from the antique. It describes a loose community centered around a city but without clear borders. It is defined by its members and not by its geographical boundaries. Otto Neurath adapted this idea and tried to translate it to modern cities of his time (especially Vienna).
His goal was to shape the modern polis via the mediation of knowledge and culture as he believed that this
is the best way to have an impact on a city.
http://www.naipublishers.nl/architecture/neurath_e.html
Why is it relevant?
Initially my work started with the aim to elaborate the potential of storytelling in interactive information visualisation for democracies when it comes to making sense out of public data, as did Neurath together with Gerd Arndtz.
Today we experience similar problems as Neurath did in his time. The society goes through a process of transformation and it is again up to the designer to transform complex topics into knowledge.The global web might have already turned a digital global polis into reality. If we understand our digital-self as a part of this big data complex then the way how we make sense of ourselves in this global polis will become a crucial aspect of democracy.
[Links]
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/project_details.cfm?id=733&index=733&domain=
http://www.daten-deutschland.de/
http://www.eif.co.uk/festival-city
and find some more bits & pieces:
