The Life and Death of Data

Data must be perceived as a collection of observations by individual participants. When mining archives do note all records bear the bias of the previous contributors. Yanni Loukissas, Principal at metaLAB and GSD lecturer at Harvard University showed us an elegant prototype storytelling tool merging Arnold Arboretums data stories into "a hybrid narrative, open for exploration".

More to follow covering "Archives As Instigator" workshops as part of "Artists Experiment," a Department of Education initiative at MOMA.

Between Hubris and Insecurity #KaraWalkerDomino

Saturday July 5th, I saw “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby”  at the soon-to-be-demolished former Domino Sugar factory. The hour long wait to get in flew by quickly as I photographed the surroundings and discussed the artist's prior work with a librarian, waiting in-line, behind me. 

Kara Walker's art career has always been rooted in the politics of sexism and racism. Many visitors identified so strongly with the multi-story sculpture that they felt personally offended by the festive and casual behavior of other viewers. Keisha Dutes was anxious before entering the space:

"I was scared to see this piece of art. How am I going to feel…am I going to be able to handle this…it's me, my body…"

All visitors were encouraged to share their snapshots of the work. Ample examples of both praise and scorn for the artwork abound. The controversy and intense reactions provoked by the project is exactly what Kara is all about.

I spoke briefly to a Creative Time staff member that physically resembled the artist. She was genuinely touched and moved by the comparison and imparted that Kara's feelings ebbed "between hubris and insecurity" when creating the sugar sphinx. "This is history".

Thanks to GirlDevelopIt and Engine Yard I was able to attend the 2014 GoRuCo conference on June 21st. I took these words to heart;

The power of our community comes more from the relationships amongst programmers than from the programmers themselves. -Avi

Audrey Troutt of Artisan Mobile spoke so passionately about teaching girls to code in Scratch on the Raspberry Pi that she inspired me to create #TheFirstPaycheck series. Here's how she started. Find her lesson plans on Github and start mentoring! 

The First Paycheck

I had found Ternary Software by chance in the Fall, which was my last semester of grad school. It was a small consulting company in a distant suburb of Philadelphia. The commute would be long, but it was totally worth it to work with the small group of smart and thoughtful people. They were lean and agile. The company was organized in a system called Holacracy, which is kind of like democracy and has protocols for how meetings are run and how decisions are made. I knew it was the perfect place for me. I remember my interview day—it was several hours long and included a pair programming exercise as part of a simulated client project complete with impatient client. It was like role playing a day in the life of a consultant. I thought the day went well, but I had no idea if I would get the job. When I got my offer letter I still had about three months of grad school left. I was so excited! 

I don’t remember my first paycheck from Ternary, but I do remember the feeling of “This is where I belong” and "I can’t believe people pay me to do this!” I love being a programmer. I also remember the feeling of empowerment then too—at 26, I was finally *really* grown up. It all happened so fast, but I still try not to take anything for granted. I have friends who are still struggling to get their careers of the ground a decade after college. 

I think that everyone should have an opportunity not only for gainful employment, but also work that doesn’t wear them down. That’s why I spend my time working with kids and girls to change the face of the tech industry, so hopefully more and more women will get their first paychecks in their tech careers and be able to say “This is where I belong!"  -Audrey