Crystal Benavides

Using Art for Data Collection

Posted by Crystal Benavides, Jan 13, 2015 6 comments


Crystal Benavides

Inspired by the shift toward outcome-driven art projects, I was struck by arts potential to be used as a technique for data collection. When we look at art, we tend to focus primarily on its aesthetic and emotive qualities. We think about art as the result of an action and not as a conduit or vehicle leading up to a result. For example, the creation of a painting begins by gathering materials (canvas, brushes, and paint) and using these materials to create a painting.

In this example, the action is physically creating the painting and the result is the finished artwork. However, if you shift the role of art from the result to the action, you can derive data from interactions with the artwork.

Presently, arts ability to retrieve data is undeveloped; yet it has been used as a technique for data collection since the early 1920s by social scientists assessing their patients. Social scientists understood arts inherent ability to connect with individuals and break down barriers. A well-known example can be seen through the work of psychologist Hermann Rorschach. His book Psychodiagnostik was built around the idea of using klecksography, ink blots or images on paper, to gather psychological data for assessment. If we take this principle and apply it to the arts, we are able to gather data by assigning a “scientific” value to the work and deriving data from this value or interaction.

By using this model to activate art as a data collection technique, we are able to engage targeted audiences and remove barriers in the data collection process. This method also has the potential of reaching underserved and previously underrepresented audiences. If implemented, it has the capacity to change the way in which we view and collect data in the arts. Art has the ability to move far beyond its aesthetics qualities, and the merging space between art and data collection has infinite potential for growth.

6 responses for Using Art for Data Collection

Comments

Sandy Seufert says
January 13, 2015 at 11:52 pm

Thank you, Crystal, for this interesting piece and your perspective. How are you gathering this information? I am curious if you developed an instrument to observe and record arts ability or, as you stated, interactions with the artwork. This sounds really intriguing to me but it is a little unclear. Any clarity you can add is greatly appreciated!

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Crystal Benavides says
January 15, 2015 at 12:27 pm

Hi Sandy – This piece is a quick synopsis from my thesis on using art for data collection. You can capture data in two ways, one is through assigning value to an image (like the inkblot test) or you can poll your audience through interactive art projects like Before I Die. One of the most interesting examples was by Quentin Stevens in his efforts to measure the success of public art projects at the Berlin Holocaust Memorial. Stevens spent so much time on the front-end contemplating the results (potential reactions to the public art piece) he was able to identify key evaluation points, define measurable outcomes, collect, and analyze data through public interactions with art.

In the science community there is a small niche in which art and data collection coexist, however in the art community it is still widely uncharted territory. You see data being collected for 990’s or to reach new audiences, but rarely see art being used as a data collection tool. This project definitely challenged my own perceptions of the potential of art.

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Jennifer says
January 16, 2015 at 9:04 am

I am intrigued with the start of your writing, but more intrigued to see where this goes. Is this thesis written or in progress? I would love to read it if you would share!

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Crystal Benavides says
January 20, 2015 at 6:57 pm

Hi Jennifer - shoot me an email and I will send it your way [email protected]

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January 16, 2015 at 4:55 pm

The Diagnostic Drawing Series network has been collecting data on psychiatric diagnosis and art via this standardized drawing interview for over 30 years. An expressive (vs projective) tool, it is the most-studied and -published single research project in the field of art therapy and drawing assessment. Check it out at www.diagnosticdrawingseries.com.

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Crystal Benavides says
February 19, 2015 at 3:40 pm

Barry,

Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading about the project.

Crystal

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