Data-Driven Self-Portraits

Intimate connections with urban information

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62161/sauc.v11.5724

Keywords:

Autoethnography, Data-driven self-portraits, Critical cartography, Data visualization, Trajectories, Urban cyclists, Performance

Abstract

A set of data-driven sculptures has been implemented in the city of Quito. These interventions visualize the movement of urban cyclists. To create them, a series of interfaces were designed to record and present their movement.

This article explores the author’s personal connection with Quito by creating personalized maps that trace their most significant cycling routes. During this process, the author reflects on the tension between objectivity and subjectivity in urban research. By employing an autoethnographic methodology and using data-driven self-portraits, a more intimate relationship with the data is promoted, encouraging more humanized and diverse interpretations.

This approach contributes to building a more pluralistic vision of the city, distancing itself from colonial perspectives. This proposal adds to the debate on creative cities, highlighting the need for new formats of representations to study the multiple forms of connectivity in the city.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Global Statistics ℹ️

Cumulative totals since publication
0
Views
0
Downloads
0
Total
Downloads by format:
PDF (Español (España)) 0 PDF 0

References

Barriga-Abril, X., Vivanco, J., Rosas, C., Medina, X., Aulestia, A., & Basantes, A. (2024). Making the Invisible Visible: revealing data in the city. Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 11(1), 2024. https://doi.org/10.14455/ISEC.2024.11(1).AAE-04

Benford, S., Giannachi, G., Koleva, B., & Rodden, T. (2009). From interaction to trajectories: designing coherent journeys through user experiences. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '09) (pp. 709–718). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/1518701.1518812

Camfield, W. A. (1979). Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain: Its History and Aesthetics in the Context of 1917. Dada/Surrealism, 10, 64-94.

Carrión, F., & Erazo Espinosa, J. (2012). La forma urbana de Quito: una historia de centros y periferias. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Études Andines, 41(3), 503-522. https://doi.org/10.4000/bifea.361

Ciclopolis. (2016). CICLOPASEO. https://ciclopolisecuador.wixsite.com/ciclopolis/ciclopaseo-quito

Ciuccarelli, P., Lupi, L., & Simeone, L. (2014). Visualizing the Data City: Social Media as a Source of Knowledge for Urban Planning and Management. Springer.

Crampton, J., & Krygier, J. (2010). An Introduction to Critical Cartography. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 4. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v4i1.723

Dalton, C., & Thatcher, J. (2015). Inflated granularity: Spatial "Big Data" and geodemographics. Big Data & Society, 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951715601144

Debord, G. (1956). Théorie de la dérive. Internationale Situationniste, (2), 62-66.

Donath, J. S., Dragulescu, A., Zinman, A., Viégas, F. B., & Xiong, R. (2010). Data Portraits. Leonardo, 43, 375-383. https://doi.org/10.1145/1836786.1836793

Ellegård, K., & Svedin, U. (2012). Torsten Hägerstrand’s time-geography as the cradle of the activity approach in transport geography. Journal of Transport Geography, 23, 17-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.03.023

Ellis, C. (2004). The ethnographic I: A methodological novel about autoethnography. AltaMira Press.

Google Maps (2016). Ciclovías de Quito https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?hl=es-419&gl=ec&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&mid=1MEELI1AwPodqn_NuXIOT6023UAU&ll=-0.20441961313110335%2C-78.4692087085404&z=13

Golledge, R. G. (1999). Wayfinding Behavior: Cognitive Mapping and Other Spatial Processes. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Harley, J. B. (2001). The New Nature of Maps: Essays in the History of Cartography. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space (D. Nicholson-Smith, Trans.). Blackwell. (Original work published 1974).

LeWitt, S. (1969). Sentencias sobre el arte conceptual. Art and Artists, 1(4), 75-83.

Lo Presti, L. (2018). Extroverting Cartography. "Seensing" Maps and Data Through Art. Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 2(7), 119-134

Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. MIT Press.

Manovich, L. (2010). Info-Aesthetics. Bloomsbury Academic.

Montello, D. R. (2005). Navigation. En P. Shah, & A. Miyake (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking (pp. 257-294). Cambridge University Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1017/CBO9780511610448.008

Pearson, M., & Thomas, J. (1994). Theatre/Archaeology. TDR (1988-), 38(4), 133–161. https://doi.org/10.2307/1146429

Pelias, R. (2004). A Methodology of the Heart: Evoking Academic and Daily Life. Rowman & Littlefield.

Peluso, N. L. (1995). Whose woods are these? Counter-mapping forest territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Antipode, 27(4), 383-406. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.1995.tb00286.x

Picon, A., & Ratti, C. (2023). Atlas of the Sensable City. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300271737

Pink, S. (2001). Doing Visual Ethnography. Sage Publications.

Quito Cómo Vamos. (2020). Informe de Calidad de Vida. https://quitocomovamos.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/INFORME-DE-CALIDAD-DE-VIDA-QUITO-COMO-VAMOS-pliego2.pdf

Rossetto, T., & Lo Presti, L. (2022). Reimagining the national map. Dialogues in Human Geography, 12(1), 5-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206211017440

Sauter, D. (2010). Ketai Library. https://www.danielsauter.com/display.php?project_id=113

Schwarze, T. (2023). Henri Lefebvre and the Production of Space. In Space, Urban Politics, and Everyday Life. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46038-8_2

Spry, T. (2001). Performing Autoethnography: An Embodied Methodological Praxis. Qualitative Inquiry, 7(6), 706-732. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004010070

Published

2025-04-15

How to Cite

Barriga-Abril, X. (2025). Data-Driven Self-Portraits: Intimate connections with urban information. Street Art & Urban Creativity, 11(3), 77–92. https://doi.org/10.62161/sauc.v11.5724

Issue

Section

Research articles