Data Science, Sonification & Art: Fourth of July Edition

Fatal police shootings database. Courtesy of Karolina Wullum.

Beneath the vision of American “independence” is the specter of state-sanctioned violence. I’ve been thinking a lot about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain, among so many others. According to the Washington Post, 1,017 people have been shot and killed by police in the past year. The Post’s data relies primarily on news accounts, social media postings and police reports.

A protester confronts a police officer during a rally against the death of Breonna Taylor and other forms of racial injustice in Louisville on Saturday [Bryan Woolston/Reuters]. Courtesy Al Jazeera.

Although half of the people shot and killed by police are white, black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans. Hispanic Americans are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate.

This information, in addition to the nearly daily accounts posted in social media news feeds, prompted protests around the United States and the world. In the photograph above you can visually see the rift between the police and American citizens (who are the cops protecting?). This rift and the WaPo data is what I had in mind when I started my new project.

“Racial Capitalism,” Nettrice Gaskins (2020).

I’ve been exploring data science, specifically sonification to make art. Sonification is the practice of mapping aspects of data to produce sound signals. For a recent magazine commission I used state unemployment data and created music that became art in Magic (music visualization software). There is no ‘right’ way to represent your data as sound, at least not yet: but even with this example, I could see how sonic and visual elements can be inflected into data sets and into the experience of that data.

“American Denim,” Nettrice Gaskins (2020).

For “American Denim” I used data on fatal police shootings by age and found an image of torn denim. Then, I used the sonification (of the age data) to visually mend or stitch together the fabric. The red, blue and white is for U.S. Independence Day. I used race data for two more music visualizations (see below). I thought about how critical information (ex. police shootings) are missing from the national conversation as well as how these events have divided a nation.

“Layered Sacking,” Nettrice Gaskins (2020).

“Distressed Burlap,” Nettrice Gaskins (2020).

My first attempt using different music produced an interesting result. I used the sonification of lionfish data to create a lace-like effect, as if the music visualization was pulling the two sides of the fabric back together. I loved the effect and decided to create a series of images using this method.

“Knitting and Lace,” Nettrice Gaskins (2020).

Here’s an example of the Magic music visualization for “American Denim”: