Lighten Up, Chicago!

A COLLABORATIVE DATA INSTALLATION

BY

Hayan Song

Jeanette Margaret Wells &

Akshay Jain

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Lighten up, Chicago!, Data Viz Collaborative: Refracting Data, acrylic, LED tubing, Particle Photon, Wiring, ink-jet on paper, vinyl, 9’ X 14’, 2018.

Hey Chicago, Feeling Blue?

Lighten up, Chicago! is a viewer based installation created to visualize and respond to real-time temperature data. The aim of this project is to recreate the ambience of warm weather and bright sunlight by lighting up the streets of Chicago. This piece is composed of two main light elements, the front display and the back display. The back uses light as a direct representation of the current temperature in Chicago by converting the temperature to color in real time using a predetermined set of RGB values. The front panel of light responds to the current temperature, and a warm color is illuminated towards the street. To create a more dynamic experience, the front display increases and decreases brightness depending on the viewer’s proximity. Both the front and back display are directly affected by the current temperature in Chicago. Twenty-four inches in diameter, Lighten up, Chicago! is composed of 1/8th inch acrylic, LED silicone tubing, a particle photon, and a proximity sensor. The data driven installation faces south towards Monroe Street from the windows of the Leroy Neiman Center.

Created in collaboration with two other students, this work served as a data installation in the main building of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as Northwestern University. The temperature display updated every minute, providing a live weather visualization for students, peers, and those on the streets of Chicago.

LED COLOR KEYs

Back display LED color key ranging from 30 degrees Celsius (left) to -30 degrees Celsius (right), meant to represent the actual real time temperature in Chicago.

Front display LED color key ranging from 30 degrees Celsius (left) to -30 degrees Celsius (right), meant to eliminate a warm light toward the viewer and lighten up Chicago.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

Business Cards

Business cards and LED color key available at the Data Viz Collaborative: Refracting Data exhibition. Designed by Jeanette Margaret Wells.

Promotional Poster

Promotional advertisement for the Data Viz Collaborative: Refracting Data exhibition. Designed by Hayan Song.

THE TEAM

One city, two schools, three different perspectives.

Hayan Song

“My passion is in creating strong design work that makes a statement and has a purpose that impacts people and the society positively.”

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Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2019)

Focus: Visual Communication Design

Jeanette Margaret Wells

“I am interested in bringing non-related things and arranging them in a way where they could make sense together, in order to gain a better understanding of the things independent of one another.”

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Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2021)

Focus: Art and Technology studies, Visual Communication

Akshay Jain

“In the space of 150 years Industrial revolution has occurred only thrice. Advent of autonomous vehicles and mobility concepts is the fourth and I am proud I’ve made choices that put me in a position to shape it for the better. I thus, see it as my goal that future modes of transportation add more that just convenience to lives of the people.”

Education: Masters of Engineering Management from Northwestern University and Bachelor of Technology in Automobile Engineering from SRM University.

Focus: Mobility, Transportation, Automotive and Data Analytics and Visualization.