Artist Laurie Frick sees a tangible and three-dimensional collection of information reflecting a person’s humanity and lived experiences when she looks at data.
“A lot of human data is this essential sense of… who you are,” Frick says. “And I think there is something about the recognition of your own data. That you see yourself, almost, like a portrait of you.”
Frick’s gift for converting raw data into handcrafted art inspired Lexus to reach out for a piece of data art that would reflect the new NX 450h+. After analyzing the data, Frick found the humanity in the machine.
“One thing I could really relate to was how fast are you going,” she says. “How does it feel when you press on the accelerator? I think I can capture the data about that and turn that into something that feels like what driving is like. It’s not just about the technology of how the car is put together, but how it makes you feel, that human experience. That’s what I wanted to capture.”
In the second episode of the Uproxx series Human Element, Frick reveals the power of taking lifeless data and transforming it into handmade artifacts that are brimming with colors designed to create an emotional response in the viewer.
“I’m a data artist but I make hand-built patterns,” she says. “I go out of my way to cut them, make them, and make them look handmade. I think there is something really warm and human, particularly now, about handmade work. It captures that sense of the imperfections and the complexity of who you are in a more real way.”
To learn more about Frick’s views on the hidden heartbeat of data, check out the second episode of Human Element above.