Who the hell are the Data Vandals?
photo credit: Mark Shaw
Since 2021, Data Vandals evolved as an experiment in bringing data visualization out of the digital world and into the streets, driven by our conviction that meaningful change happens when art meets community. In these moments, data stops being distant and becomes deeply personal, revealing connections between individual experiences and collective patterns
- We are looking for opportunities to create murals
- To collaborate with communities to establish micro-museums.
- To create a movement of data activists engaging in thoughtful conversations.
- Email us: Datavandalsnyc@gmail.com
The Data Vandals are:
Jen Ray
https://cargocollective.com/JenRayArt
https://socogallery.com/jen-ray
Multidisciplinary artist Jen Ray (b. 1970, American) presents performances, paintings, and sound works that celebrate female confidence and self-determination. Drawing inspiration and symbolism from a wide range of socio-political and cultural references, from feminist science fiction and dystopian theory, to seventies glam rock, to multi-layered historical references and gendered storytelling, the artist challenges static or reverential perceptions of feminism and encourages on-going discussions about gender, intersectionality, and identity politics.
Jen Ray’s drawings are militantly detailed filigrees of judicious line and color; the artist’s hand enunciates sparring Amazonian women, who inhabit decaying, semi-surrealist and strangely beautiful wastelands. In addition to her works on paper, Ray orchestrates lavish and provocative performances in which the female protagonists of her drawings come to life. Ray currently lives in New York.
Jason Forrest:
https://www.jasonforrestftw.com/
Jason Forrest is a data visualization and design expert in New York City working at the intersection of business, culture, and data. He is currently working on a book on how to communicate with information in an uncertain world.
He was an Associate Partner at McKinsey and Company and Director of the Data Visualization Lab supporting over 30 clients in 2 years. In his 9 year tenure at McKinsey, he launched the McKinsey Health Institute, spearheaded the COVID Response Center, and contributed to many high-profile events like McKinsey's presence at COP26. His work spans industries and technologies, consulting Fortune 100 corporations, NGOs, and non-profit foundations. He built digital tools, dashboards, and scrollytelling experiences for the C-suite, helped to map McKinsey's history, and created data sculptures to inspire the entire organization.
He is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Nightingale: The Journal of the Data Visualization Society, where he fosters a global discourse on data visualization, supporting thousands of writers in expanding the narrative. In 2022, he established Nightingale Magazine, a print publication that ships to 57 countries and continues to explore how dataviz is discussed, practiced, and valued.