“Visualisations are a good way of understanding how archives are used to create forms of content and expression [as well as] distribution and aggregation”.
In ‘Eye lust’ Paul Virilio writes about how humans respond to visual images by analysing how our internal organs react to the sight of visualisations. He refers to the twenty-first century as age where “automation of perception of the world is on the drawing board”. In this context technology has assisted our ability to incorporate information into visuals for the sake of our learning. Virilio starts his text by referring to a quote from Treinisch – “we should put the power of the human eye to use”. It is interesting to consider how humans utilise their vision to process information that is invisible and make it visible in an image. Some points Andrew made were that humans could turn abstractions into visual forms. Humans do this with a purpose to discover the unknown with data that is used to structure new relationships and new forms of knowledge. The individual is free to organise the data in order of relevance or significance that would benefit the onlooker. There are a variety of tools an individual can use to shape information into a visualisation. For e.g. on Microsoft Word there is a tab named “SmartArt Graphics”.
There are 14 slides of diagrams to choose from. These diagrams are mainly used to store information in a logical manner, which is ideal for visual learners. In ‘Eye lust,’ Virilio comments about the “ethics of contemporary perception” which he relates to visualisation through machines. He mentions photo-cinematographic and video-infographic seeing machines. Humans operate machines to prove the invisible. On the website ‘Infosthetics’ there are a collection of photographs that contain exactly 200 calories. How can 200 calories be measured accurately in a photograph? How can data be confined to an image? Well, to answer these two questions, images can contain underlying meaning, depending on how the person perceives it. On ‘Nearfield.org,’ the website displays images that contain instructions and demonstrations of how to use a particular object. The dash lines in the image symbolise paths for the eyes to follow. It could also indicate to fold paper (for origami) or to capture the attention of the onlooker to focus their eyes on an area of the image. On the other hand, lines connecting to other shapes like circles and squares could indicate a type of relationship between entities. In conjunction to these shapes, the thickness of the lines denotes the strength of the relationship between entities. Also arrows are also useful for directions, especially when it comes to instructions. But how do humans comprehend that the density of these lines represents the enormity of the relationship? Humans do not necessarily observe images and try to overanalyse what it embodies. Lets look at this in another light. I love to read novels by classic authors such as Jane Austen. I enjoy reading Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Wuthering Heights and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. However, because of the context of which the novel is written, it is sometimes hard to imagine the architecture and landscape the characters live in.
“We ran from the top of the Heights to the park, without stopping – Catherine completely beaten in the race, because she was barefoot. You’ll have to seek for her shoes in the bog tomorrow. We crept through a broken hedge, groped our way up the path, and planted ourselves on a flower-pot under the drawing-room window. The light came from thence; they had not put up the shutters, and the curtains were only half closed. Both of us were able to look in by standing on the basement, and clinging to the ledge, and we saw – ah! It was beautiful – a splendid place carpeted with crimson, and crimson-covered chairs and tables, and a pure white chains from the centre, and shimmering with little soft tapers”[2]
(From ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte).
Caption: The quote above is from Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. As you read this quote your mind automatically explores the environment the novelist has planted you in. The descriptive language utilised by Bronte immediately engages with your five senses (auditory, olfaction, tactile, sight and taste). The effectiveness of her writing is proved when you are able to imagine what is invisible and confined only to text that is made visible in your mind. What was inconceivable is made conceivable.
However, would readers have knowledge of the environment if they had not seen an image of it in real life? Visualisation expands our knowledge beyond the metaphysical. Lets compare this description with a video. Below is a clip showing the atmosphere of Thrushcross Grange in photographs where the characters Heathcliff and Catherine dwell in. The visualisation (video) helps viewers develop our own idea of the context of the novel and encourages them to immerse themselves in the environment the novelist intends to create. Because Bronte wrote this ‘Wuthering Heights’ in 1847, the contemporary Australian reader/viewer would not be exposed to the outfits and setting in South England.
Caption: Compare the images in video one with video two (the actual 2009 film). There is a difference between visualisation (photos) and visualisation that moves. In video two watch from 0:00 to 2:48.
Moreover, it is interesting contrasting two descriptions, one in writing and one in a visual. Personally, I do not have a preference between the two because what is written can be supported by a visual, and vice versa. Virilo states “if we want to better adapt a pilot’s perceptual aids, we need to enhance use of perception of ‘relief’, which is originally binocular, by developing a working model of the third dimension”. What he means, in layman’s terms, is that if we want to better adapt our perceptual aids in our working environment, we need to enhance use of our perception of “relief”. What is relief? Well relief, in the sense of pictorial perception, is how we view or render an image. How an image is interpreted varies between individuals. How we interpret is dependent on our culture, level of creativity, age and society. A child may have a different interpretation of a sign that says “one way” or “give way” than an adult. Virilio warns “if desire to know the world has today been left behind the need to exploit it, shouldn’t we try to limit the extreme exploitation of the optical layer of tangible reality, as we do elsewhere”. Furthermore, humans do not necessarily exploit others through visualisations but they can use visualisations like films to fabricate another world. Taking ‘Wuthering Heights’ visualisations aids in our interpretation and understanding. It can expand our knowledge and encourage us to process information that we find visually appealing. It condenses the amount of content by categorising what is relevant to its audience. Our level of engagement is increased and so is our attention span, as opposed to reading paragraphs of writing.
Therefore, I shall end with this quote:
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world” – Albert Einstein.
[1] Virilio, P 1997, Open Sky: Eye Lust, Verso, Great Britain, pp. 89-90.
[2] Bronte E 1847, Wuthering Heights, Vintage Books London, Great Britain, p. 49.
[3] Virilio, op.cit., p. 98.
[4] Ibid, p. 97.
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