Shadow Tag VIdeo
‘Shadow Tag’ is a new experimental video exploring the unseen in the OpenCity data – using a layered technique to search for traces of children, who are underrepresented in the metrics but always present, alongside impactful environmental factors. Visualizing signal extraction through hand drawn animation, charts and maps, the video presents an abstracted narrative that explores the concept of observability through the open-structure of play. Animations, created using chalk and stop motion, occur directly on the street; data is redrawn within children’s environments, offering affordances for free play and adaptation.
Shadow Tag is a part of Data through Design’s 2021 Exhibition ‘Ground Truth’
The Data Stories
Explore the data behind the project visualized by Rachel Blake and John Stockton.
Chart of Blood Lead Levels by Year, Borough and Median Family Income
Outperforming Dog Breeds – Bites per Borough
Crime in 2020
Complaining about Children
No Adults
Playground Equipment
NYC Open City Data – Meta Analysis
Open streets – March 2021
In conjunction with our ‘Shadow Tag’ project, we coordinated a small outdoor event that presented data structures as affordances for open-play through four interactive components. On a cold March day, we occupied Avenue B to play with data gathered in the project.
The music
Rachel Wetzel created the atmospheric soundtrack using TwoTone data. Learn more about her process.
kids illustrations
We culled the NYC Park Complaint database for entries that were outliers; either worded in amusing ways, farcically lacking in empathy, or in some other way “funny.” We then offered these captions to children to illustrate. This gallery – although not featured in the video – showcases their data visualizations. We invite you to enjoy their amazing work.
