A Small Data Art Course is a live online introduction to creative coding and generative art. During the course, you’ll learn how technology can help you create small and personal data art. We’ll explore how to capture the emotion in your favourite music lyrics, visualise the emotion data in your own unique way, and turn the results into a product (e.g. a t-shirt).
Here’s an example of such a data visualisation and corresponding t-shirt of Avicii’s album TIM:
The cool thing is this line is based on music lyrics and generated using just code.
Is this something for you?
If you’re interested in the creative possibilities of technology, then yes! It’s a good fit if you think the idea of data-driven art is just very interesting and would like to explore the creative possibilities of code. The course is designed to show you what’s possible. You don’t need to code in this course.
Course in a nutshell
- You’ll work in a group of max. 10 people
- A live online workshop of ~3 hours
- Non-technical introduction to creative coding and data art
- Have your own personal data art piece by the end of the session
- Price €199
For more details, read below. To enroll, click here.
Course context
The impact data has on our society is growing. Data and technology are behind some of the most successful companies. But what about the creative possibilities? Can you use the data and technology that’s behind those big successful companies to generate small and personal data art?
Course objective
This course is designed to show you how the creative use of code can generate small and personal data art. And you will generate your own digital art piece to take home!
Course outline
During the course, we’ll explore data art by going through the process behind my personal data art project. With my step-by-step guide and technical support, you’ll use technology to create your very own piece of data art! The program consists of the 3 parts:
- Story & theory (~20%): in the first part of the course, I’ll share the origin story of my data art project, discuss related theories, and share the program for the rest of the day.
- Workshop (~70%): next up is the interactive workshop. During the workshop, we will use sentiment analysis to transform music lyrics (of your choice!) into structured data, visualise your data into various shapes, learn how to use the shapes creatively, and how to use print on demand (POD) services to turn your final visual into a product.
- Showcase (~10%): we close the day by sharing each other’s work with the group. What did you end up with? And what’s your story behind it?
Don’t worry if any of these things scare you off. I’ll do the advanced technical stuff for you (e.g. sentiment analysis and generating visual assets for your art piece). You can focus on the creative parts. If you are interested in the technical side, I’m also sharing resources for that.
Benefits of taking the course
Your main benefit: you’ll go home with your own personal piece of data art. And you’ll know how to easily turn your art into a product. Besides that, I share what to take into account when you start working on your own creative coding or data art project.
⏱️ Course timing & pricing
It’s a live virtual course that lasts ~3 hours. The pricing is €199,- per person. You’ll get to work in groups with a maximum of 10 people.
☑️ Enroll for the next edition
There is currently no new edition planned. If you’re interested in the course, or want to take part as a group, reach out to me here.
⭐ Course reviews
I had a good time teaching this course to a group of Creative Technology students at the Fontys University of Applied Sciences (Eindhoven, The Netherlands). Here’s how Mijke Ellen van der Zee, lecturer at Fontys, looks back at it:
Erik directly connected to our students with his Small Data Art Course. With his clear and well-structured course, he enabled students to make both beautiful and personal work. The abstract translation of music lyrics to visualisations invites them to add a personal touch. Interesting conversations that started throughout the course and a clear passion for music were the icing on the cake.
And here’s what some of the students have to say:
He gave a lot of time and freedom to work it out as I wanted, and because of that I had a great time following the workshop 🙂
I found the project quite interesting, because the death of Avicii resonated with me as I was a fan of his music. The whole idea is quite interesting and fun to play around with, as it helps you create abstract art that has a deeper meaning to you.
The trainer
You’ve made it all the way to the bottom of this page. That’s nice! To keep it brief: I’ve been working in data analysis since 2013. Most of my experience is in digital (web) analytics and business analytics. In my spare time, I like to work on personal projects that force me to use new technologies. It is through one of these projects that I found out about data art.
If you want to know a bit more, read my about page.