Autographic Design: The Matter of Data in a Self-Inscribing World

An ambitious vision for design based on the premise that data is material, not abstract.

Data analysis and visualization are crucial tools in today's society, and digital representations have steadily become the default. Yet, more and more often, we find that citizen scientists, environmental activists, and forensic amateurs are using analog methods to present evidence of pollution, climate change, and the spread of disinformation. In this illuminating book, Dietmar Offenhuber presents a model for these practices, a model to make data generation accountable: autographic design.

Autographic refers to the notion that every event inscribes itself in countless ways. Think of a sundial, for example--a perfectly autographic device that displays information on itself. Inspired by such post-digital practices of visualization and evidence construction, Offenhuber describes an approach to visualization based on the premise that data is a material entity rather than an abstract representation. Emerson wrote, "Every act of the man inscribes itself in the memories of his fellows, and in his own manners and face." In Autographic Design, Offenhuber introduces a model for design that emphasizes traces, imprints, and self-inscriptions, turning them into sensory displays.

In an age where misinformation is harder and harder to identify, Autographic Design makes an urgent and persuasive case for a different approach that calls attention to the production of data and its connection to the material world.

一本以「數據是實質而非抽象」為前提的設計雄心勃勃的願景。

數據分析和可視化是當今社會中至關重要的工具，數位呈現方式已逐漸成為預設。然而，越來越多的公民科學家、環境活動家和法醫業餘愛好者發現，他們使用類比方法來呈現污染、氣候變化和假訊息擴散的證據。在這本啟發性的書中，Dietmar Offenhuber提出了一個模型，一個使數據生成可追溯的模型：自繪設計。

自繪指的是每個事件以無數種方式銘刻在其中的概念。例如，想像一個日晷，它是一個完全自繪的裝置，可以在自身上顯示信息。受到這種後數位可視化和證據建構實踐的啟發，Offenhuber描述了一種基於數據是物質實體而非抽象表示的可視化方法。愛默生曾寫道：「人的每一個行為都在他的同伴的記憶中、在他自己的風格和面容中銘刻下來。」在《自繪設計》中，Offenhuber介紹了一種強調痕跡、印記和自我銘刻的設計模型，將它們轉化為感官展示。

在一個越來越難以識別的假訊息時代，《自繪設計》為一種不同的方法提出了迫切而有說服力的論點，該方法關注數據的生成及其與物質世界的聯繫。

Dietmar Offenhuber is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art + Design at Northeastern University, with a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. He is currently a visiting scholar at Harvard metaLAB and was recently a fellow at the Princeton-Mellon Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities. He is the author of the award-winning Waste Is Information (MIT Press).

Dietmar Offenhuber是東北大學藝術與設計系的副教授兼系主任，同時也在公共政策與城市事務學院擔任職位。他目前是哈佛大學metaLAB的訪問學者，最近還是普林斯頓-梅隆建築、城市主義和人文學計畫的研究員。他是屢獲殊榮的《廢棄物即資訊》（MIT Press）的作者。