Abstract
Data-based public art is an innovating new form of digital art which presence is increasing in the cities datascape. Data as a medium provides a special relationship with time and space by connecting the context of data mining to the one of its exhibition. The virtual component of data art opens an augmented space, where the different dimensions of data are mediated. This essay analyses how this new artform can contribute to a creative and digital placemaking of a city by offering a special sensory experience as well as renewing the storytelling of its space. Three case studies support the analysis. “Living connections”, projected on an emblematic bridge in Montreal, contributes to a spectacular placemaking. “Interconnected”, a data sculpture in Charlotte airport, relates to infrastructure placemaking. Finally, “Herald / Harbinger” connects the industrialized society with nature in a global connection. The results participate to the reflection on the nature and specificity of data art as well as enhancing its potential of transforming public space by engaging a specific relation with time, place and people.
Highlights
Contemporary art in public spaces can contribute to placemaking strategies
This paper aimed at contributing to the field of digital urban public art by defining data art, its specificities and its role in different types of placemaking through three different case studies
As a new form of digital urban art offers a new experience to the viewer by adding a complex semantic and sensorial layer to the existing urban fabric and spaces
Summary
Contemporary art in public spaces can contribute to placemaking strategies It can foster collective cohesion by providing new meanings to the city. Beyond the medium itself, public data-based artworks could be included in the family of “urban media art” This contemporary form of public art responds to the issues and discourses of our time and plays a role in our current urban context (Pop, Toft, Calvillo, & Wright, 2016). Three case studies will help explore different types of mediation: the first one, “Living Connections”, a real-time installation on the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, offers a reflection of its surrounding with a spectacular type of placemaking It is followed by “Interconnections”, a data sculpture at Charlotte International airport that offers a poetic take on a place of transit. “Herald / Harbinger” links our industrialized city with nature and its impact on it
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