Constellations, Cognitive Maps, and Data Visualization
Mapping the Vocabulary of Struggle
A Dialogue with the Editors of Keywords for Radicals
May 24, 7pm
Along with its 50+ entries exploring the keywords used by contemporary activists, Keywords for Radicals (AK Press 2016) incorporates data visualization to show how the “vocabulary” shared by radicals constitutes a kind of self-supporting small world network.
Such visualization helps to map how a vocabulary works and how struggles over word usage and meaning might most effectively be carried out. But while data visualization of this kind can be useful, it also raises significant questions about the relationship between representation and what’s real.
Join the editors of Keywords for Radicals to discuss the theoretical and aesthetic foundations of their data visualization project and to evaluate the promise and perils of this practice in the age of the infographic.