“Instead of using data just to become more efficient, we argue we can use data to become more humane and to connect with ourselves and others at a deeper level.” - Giorgia Lupi & Stefanie Posavec

The Dear Data project celebrates small data, slowness, personal documentary, and offline creation. As a professional data scientist, my work demands the opposite.

Craving a disruption to the constant need for optimization, I took Stefanie Posavec’s Analog Data Visualization for Storytelling course. I bought colored pencils and markers for the first time as an adult! I made so many mistakes! 

For the final project, we had to tell our own story through hand drawn data. I asked myself if I had become a fancy movie person over the last year.

What does it mean to be fancy?

Ah, the ever moving target of “cool.” In my early twenties, I stubbornly resisted what I referred to as fancy person art. I rolled my eyes a lot. Looking back, I think I worried I wasn’t smart enough to get it. I protected myself by opting out. 

I also found life to be a pretty scary thing (still do). I did not want to experience stronger emotions than the ones already rattling around my body. My main motivating feelings were safety and comfort. In this way, fancy person art was a threat. I didn’t want to be immersed into anything that could disrupt my ability to avoid the scary stuff lingering beyond my attention.

The process

• I assembled the dataset in a spreadsheet by downloading my data from streaming services as well as reading through my journals and text messages

• I played around with shapes, symbols, and colors to depict all of the movie features I wanted to include: whether it was the first time I’d seen it, where I watched it, with whom, what genre, whether I liked it, and if it was “fancy”

• I decided what genre the movies were, which is why “Life is Difficult but Ultimately Beautiful and Meaningful” is its own category (and also my favorite)

The finished piece

Takeaways

I started to watch a lot more movies per month, but about half were rewatches. Movie watching was mostly a solitary activity for me, and I still tended to seek comfort and familiarity from them over a new emotional or immersive experience. (The big movie month was December 2022, driven by Hallmark Christmas movies, the ultimate forgettable comfort watch).

I have slowly started to embrace fancy movies and, for the most part, I enjoy them! Notable favorites: Women Talking, Petite Maman, Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Mainly, I loved playing around with markers and colored pencils. It was a joy to be creating on a piece of paper, away from any screens, making something just for myself and just for fun.