Data by Proxy -- Material Traces as Autographic Visualizations
This work is foundational for the field of visualization, potentially broadening its scope beyond symbolic information to include material data, though it is speculative and incremental in building on prior provocations.
The paper argues that information visualization should expand to include non-symbolic data like physical traces, proposing a counter model called autographic visualization to address limitations such as the inability to reflect material circumstances of data generation.
Information visualization limits itself, per definition, to the domain of symbolic information. This paper discusses arguments why the field should also consider forms of data that are not symbolically encoded, including physical traces and material indicators. Continuing a provocation presented by Pat Hanrahan in his 2004 IEEE Vis capstone address, this paper compares physical traces to visualizations and describes the techniques and visual practices for producing, revealing, and interpreting them. By contrasting information visualization with a speculative counter model of autographic visualization, this paper examines the design principles for material data. Autographic visualization addresses limitations of information visualization, such as the inability to directly reflect the material circumstances of data generation. The comparison between the two models allows probing the epistemic assumptions behind information visualization and uncovers linkages with the rich history of scientific visualization and trace reading.