Jeszcze jeden artysta, który został przeze mnie odkryty w ciągu ostatnich dwóch miesięcy. Mark Lombardi, który wykorzystując ogólnodostępne dane śledził powiązania pomiędzy firmami, biznesem a światem polityki.
Poniżej wypowiedź artysty:
In 1994 I began a series of drawings I refer to as "narrative structures." Most were executed in graphite or pen and ink on paper. Some are quite large, measuring up to 5 x 12 feet.
I call them "narrative structures" because each consists of a network of lines and notations which are meant to convey a story, typically about a recent event of interest to me, like the collapse of a large international bank, trading company, or investment house. One of my goals is to explore the interaction of political, social and economic forces in contemporary affairs. ... Working from syndicated news items and other published accounts, I begin each drawing by compiling large amounts of information about a specific bank, financial group or set of individuals. After a careful review of the literature I then condense the essential points into an assortment of notations and other brief statements of fact, out of which an image begins to emerge.
My purpose throughout is to interpret the material by juxtaposing and assembling the notations into a unified, coherent whole. In some cases I use a set of stacked, parallel lines to establish a time frame. Hierarchical relationships, the flow of money and other key details are then indicated by a system of radiating arrows, broken lines and so forth. Some of the drawings consist of two different layers of information—one denoted in black, the other, red. Black represents the essential elements of the story while the major lawsuits, criminal indictments or other legal actions taken against the parties are shown in red. Every statement of fact and connection depicted in the work is true and based on information culled entirely from the public record.
W efekcie powstawały nieraz bardzo skomplikowane szkice, które przypominały grafy sieci społecznych. Można przeczytać artykuł, autorstwa Beniamina Fry, eksperta od wizualizacji danych, który pokazuje bliskie związki między twórczością Lombardiego, a analizą sieci społecznej.
por. Beniamin Fry Learning from Lombardi
