Week 7 Posting Arts-Based Research
I have spent a lot of time thinking about my maps and the census data. While it borders on the edge of obsession, it seems to resonate with me. After looking at the data in Excel, I was horrified at how segregated Long Island really is/was in 2010. I began to sort the numbers within Excel, noticing that a different story was revealing itself based on my parameters. I think about how art can be used to bring light to issues, but I know that I oftentimes engage with people within my own bubble. I want these maps to initiate a conversation with people who think differently than me and I’m not sure how to accomplish that.
I showed a colleague (lifetime Long Islander) an early drawing of one map, with the racial makeup of the towns, and it elicited an extremely strong reaction. Disbelief, wonder, shock. I myself am feeling similar emotions as I create the maps. I am trying to find ways to represent different datasets on each map, giving respect and attention to another part of the story. It is interesting that depending on which parameters I choose to highlight from the census data, my map will reflect a different story. For example, a map with the threshold of 20% black population in my color-coding will look entirely different than a map with a threshold of 16%. I feel that I am almost manipulating the data to tell the story I “want” to tell. I suppose this is a lesson that data can be manipulated in order to serve the purpose of the writer and as such, I am trying to make many different maps in order to tell many stories specifically to protect against my inherent bias. On the other hand, I suppose it is my prerogative as the artist to convey what I want to convey.
I made a stencil of a map on a large canvas, and I am thinking of treating this map as a kind of information key for the viewer. On this map, I want to have each town name and total population listed within the borders. This way, the other maps will have more meaning and power, as my chosen datasets are put in context of the town’s population at-large. Including a map with each town’s name will serve the purpose of calling out the worst offenders, and bring local recognition to Long Islanders who view the maps, potentially eliciting more, “Holy crap! Massapequa is that segregated/racist?” (Inductive reasoning leads me to imagine that higher levels of segregation = reinforcement of more racist views/actions, but I am aware how dangerous this thinking can be). I also wonder if I should make my compiled 2010 Census data available to the viewer, or if this is simply too much information.
The other point I am trying to make with this map is a belief that this hyper-segregation is contributing segregated ways of thinking and knowing. How open to polysemia or embracing difference can a towns-person be if they are only seeing white in their schools, grocery stores, parks, and public spaces? Furthermore, how can children of these townspeople learn to interact with people from different backgrounds? I imagine that it is in these environments when stereotypes and racial biases run rampant, with young people only able to entertain interacting with a person from another race in their imagination.
Having never painted before, I have tried many different techniques to try to achieve what I view in my head and that is why my maps are all different. I would love to share my work in person to get an idea of which maps work, which maps could be redone, and any other ideas anyone has to push me in the right direction. Apologies for the long post.
Nick
Racist HOLC Map from the US Govt in 1930s where they color coded neighborhood desirability based on ethnic makeup. https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/
Hi Nick:
I’m impressed by your “obsessiveness,” though I don’t know if it’s healthy (joke). It’s fine actually. Maybe most artists are obsessive. I like that you solicited reactions from Long Islanders about your maps – this is evidence of their ability to evoke and to awe. You might want to do a bit more of that and video the reactions, like when Chris Rock goes down South and talks with people about the Confederate Flag. I would be careful, as you obviously are, about making causal relationships between living in a segregated space and one’s attitudes though they must mediate each other in some way, just not always in the way you might think. The idea of “calling out the worst offenders” is an interesting one. Does it imply the assignment of guilt or the desire to shame? When do these work to achieve the desired goal and when do they have the reverse effect? Did the person you show the maps to feel guilty or ashamed? I am not sure how to interpret “disbelief” and “shock.”
There is no way you can avoid manipulating the data.
So much of your project is informative with the purpose of inciting reflection and change. They represent, as Dora brilliantly said, “crime scenes.” Your values, your axiology, your fury, come through. Is it worth making an alternate map? A vision of what Long Island could be like? Is it possible without being insipid? Is Long Island worse than parts of other cities that are nominally integrated but are segregated in terms of their school systems and economic and social opportunities?
You are doing terrific work and terrific thinking. Stay obsessive. Obviously, we won’t have time to look at your work this week, but next week let’s do it. Maybe you can bring some of your maps in this week, however, because Robert Shreefter might have some good ideas about ways to present them.