Take up Space
summary
A career arc that trades browser-based dataviz for physical, interactive pieces: builds a 3D WebGL/threejs prototype, laser-cuts acrylic, rigs Arduinos, LEDs and motors, and uses ink, water and fans to drip data onto fabric. Calls out a stark imbalance — 51 women vs 800+ men Nobel laureates — and models anti-Asian hate crimes as falling drops. Projects survive fabrication and public shows, win a major award (Information Is Beautiful, Most Beautiful), and expose the burnout and seven-month income gap that prompted the shift.
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chapters (26)
- 0:00Welcome
- 1:11Talk expectations
- 2:18Childhood pressures
- 3:43Fitting into norms
- 5:07Making myself small
- 5:50Shirley Wu’s work
- 7:15Quitting full-time job
- 9:23Freedom in freelancing
- 10:29Dreaming of installations
- 12:59Realizing how small I had made myself
- 14:01NYU ITP and computing
- 15:47Women in computing installation
- 17:54Daring to dream at 30
- 19:20Losing clients and income during the pandemic
- 21:50Burnout and reevaluation
- 23:15NYU ITP graduate school
- 24:19Wonder and Hope art show
- 29:39Catharsis of solo show
- 31:49Thesis and rage discovery
- 33:45Silicon Valley sexism
- 35:24Information is Beautiful Award
- 37:39Art against hate crimes
- 38:43Thesis on trauma
- 42:38Prototyping with motors
- 44:05Future reflections
- 45:32Defying norms
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36mArt.js: Transfigure Data to Create 21st Century Art
26m"Where Numbers Meet Art: Building Data Visualizations In The Modern Web"
41mTaking The Web Off The Screen
46mLooking like a Lost Sheep
43mThe Web Beyond the Edges of the Browser Window