For the duration of the Day-to-Day Data exhibition in Nottingham and Portsmouth, Harrison collected data about 20 different elements of her daily life onto Daily Data Log sheets. Each morning the Log Sheet results were emailed to the gallery and used to reconfigure the 20 different items in the installation, so that it took on a slightly different appearance each day of the exhibition.
Each day for the duration of the Day-to-Day Data exhibition at Angel Row Gallery and Aspex Gallery Harrison recorded data about her everyday life onto Daily Data Log sheets. Every morning the data was compiled into a series of 20 Daily Data Results. These were then emailed to the gallery and used by the gallery staff to reconfigure or reprogramme each of the 20 items making up the Daily Data Display Wall.
The Daily Data Display Wall uses a wild variety of data visualisation methods, some quite literal such as two moving led signs (displaying a list of foods eaten and a list of people spoken to) and others more abstract such as the 10 different sized spheres, of which only one is displayed each day (these reflect, on a scale of 1 – 10, the UV index at 12 noon).
For this project Harrison takes on two roles – she is both the ‘Daily Data Logger’ and the ‘specimen’ – simultaneously collecting the information and being the source of it. In the installation the Daily Data Logger acts as a ‘tour guide’. The central TV screen shows a film in which the miniature sized Daily Data Logger points to and describes what each of the items surrounding her represent and how they relate to the life of the human specimen.
Daily Data Logger
The Daily Data Logger is a data enthusiast who wears a special red tracksuit and has a utility belt jam-packed with data collecting devices and equipment including: a clicker counter, talking clinical thermometer, electronic alcohol breath tester, UV monitor / atmospheric thermometer, GPS system, talking pedometer, electronic counter, spare batteries and a notepad and pen. The specimen is much more of an introverted person, who is slightly embarrassed and certainly annoyed at the constant observation, monitoring and measuring it has to endure.
At both venues where the Daily Data Display Wall has been shown, gallery staff were asked to photograph the display, from a fixed point, at the start of each day. The camera was left within reach of the public for the duration of the exhibition. Some of the images have suffered as a result of it being tampered with. Some days are also missing photographs when gallery staff forgot the last of their daily duties!