Category Archives: Art

Art, Maps, Portfolio

Weaponized Counties – 2016 US Election Sculpture

This pair of sculptures divides US counties into two sets: those in which Donald Trump won a majority of the 2016 US presidential election votes and those in which Hillary Clinton won a majority. Clinton assembled powerful urban centers to build her political base, with solid margins in most dense cities. Donald Trump, on the other hand, amassed a vast rural expanse of the less populated counties in the country. These counties were weaponized in the fight for the presidency, and this narrative of urban vs rural is visualized here in sharp, violent imagery, meant to evoke futuristic weapons turned on each other.

The counties are represented as their geographic shapes, with a thickness representing the number of votes the majority candidate received in each county. Counties are arranged along an x-axis from left to right, symbolizing the percentage of the county that voted for the left (Clinton) vs the right (Trump). The counties are rotated at random, melding with one another into a cutting, dangerous form. By comparing this visualization technique across both candidates we can see a stark difference in the makeup of the electorate.

Clinton Majority Counties

Trump Majority Counties

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Art, Maps, Portfolio

Bridged Counties – 2016 US Election Sculpture

This sculpture takes the US counties and plots them left to right based on how polarized the votes were for one candidate or another in the 2016 US presidential election. Clinton landslide counties to the left, Trump landslide counties to the right. Then the counties are stacked one on the other to build up each candidate’s most polarized base. The height of each county is the # of votes for the candidate that won the majority of the county. These are the safe divided pillars on which each candidate builds their campaign. The two pillars meet in the middle, where the counties had an approximately equal split between the two parties.

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Art, Maps, Portfolio

Sculpture of Housing Prices Ripping San Francisco Apart

This data sculpture depicts a map of housing prices in San Francisco. It’s a map of the city, torn at the seams. The height of each area represents the average price per square foot for recent home sales. Where neighboring areas are close in value they are connected, but if neighboring areas are too far from each other I allow them to split, tearing the city along its most severe economic divides.

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Art, Maps, Presentations

Desperately Trying to Remove the Air Quotes Around the Word “Artist”

On April 25 I had the honor of presenting at 360|intersect. My talk was titled Desperately Trying to Remove the Air Quotes Around the Word “Artist”. I present artwork I’ve created over the past year, and reflect on my struggle to identify as an artist.

The video recording of my talk is below, it’s about 45 minutes long.

Continue reading for slides and transcript

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Art, Deviant Cartography, Maps, Portfolio

Discard the Poor

Census tracts are ranked by median family income and the poorest areas are cut out of the city and discarded. San Francisco is quickly becoming one of the most expensive cities in the world, but real world gentrification will take decades to fully push out all the poor people. With this map we do so in a single fell swoop.

Laser cut wood

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Art, Deviant Cartography, Maps, Portfolio

Stalagmite Crime

Three panels present different views of crime in San Francisco: narcotics, prostitution, and vehicle theft. The height of each map shows the relative density of each type of crime, as if crime were elevation. The mountain peaks are exaggerated, jutting out into the viewer’s face.

Drug arrests occur throughout the city, but are heavily concentrated in the Tenderloin and Mission neighborhoods. Prostitution shows a stark contrast, with nearly all arrest occurring along only a few streets. And vehicle theft occurs heavily throughout nearly the entire city, highlighting that you can get your car stolen nearly anywhere you park.

3D printed plastic mounted on painted plywood
12″ x 12″ x 8″

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Narcotics

Narcotics

Vehicle Theft

Vehicle Theft

Prostitution

Prostitution

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Art, Deviant Cartography, Maps, Portfolio

Under the Surface

San Francisco is presented as a wooden box, seemingly sleek and clean. You’re invited to open the box to see what’s under the surface, revealing a map of sex offender hotspots. This map reminds us of the often invisible aspects of our cities we either can’t see or choose to ignore.

Laser cut wood
13″ x 13″ x 8″

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box_closeup box_open

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Art, Deviant Cartography, Maps, Portfolio

Prostitution / Vehicle Theft

Two maps compare vehicle theft and prostitution. The data points are aggregated as hexagons and raised off the wall to represent the relative distribution of crime. Vehicle thefts peak in Old Town, but also occur highly throughout the city. The prostitution map is more concentrated and shows a cliff rising along 82nd Avenue.

3D printed PLA plastic mounted on painted plywood
15″ x 15″ x 8″

Prostitution peaks along 82nd Ave

Prostitution peaks along 82nd Ave

Vehicle Theft

Vehicle Theft is heavily spread out throughout Portland, but peaks in Old Town

Prostitution

Prostitution

Vehicle Theft

Vehicle Theft

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Art, Deviant Cartography, Portfolio

Perspective Self Portrait

Viewed from most angles, this self portrait presents a distorted, grotesque image. Spikes form in seemingly arbitrary patterns, casting shadows over the valleys of the sculpture. But when viewed from the right angle, with the light shining from precisely the right direction, the shadows line up and work together to form the image. The portrait is a stark reminder that how one sees oneself depends entirely on finding the right perspective.

For ideal viewing stand approximately 6 feet back and view the portrait straight on.

3D printed plastic mounted on painted plywood
15 x 15 x 8

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