Queer Data Ecologies: Intersecting Data, Identity, and Environment

Queer Data Ecologies brings together works from five local researchers and artists that think through how experiences of queerness and disability intersect with local landscapes and ecological data at a time of environmental crisis. Together, the works address how hope, concern, and non-human others can commingle, as we collectively navigate the murky spaces between environmental preservation and degradation.

Featuring Sylvia Janicki, Eve Brown, Heidi Biggs, Catherine Wieczorek, and curator, Alexandra (Allie) Teixeira Riggs at the Public Art Futures Lab.

This exhibition is supported by Atlanta Interdisciplinary AI Network, an intentionally interdisciplinary network of Atlanta-based researchers investigating how to enlist AI ethically, equitably, and in the service of justice.

Opening Reception - Friday, April 4th - 7pm - 11pm

Saturday, April 5th - 1pm - 5pm

Friday, April 11th - 6pm - 9pm (Artist talk at 6:30pm-7:30pm) *

* Saturday, April 12th - 1pm - 5pm *

Queer Data Ecologies are heterogenous composites of data that speak not only to situated, local landscapes but also to assemblages of tangible, embodied experiences of queerness and disability. In this exhibition, we create these Queer Data Ecologies by bringing together pathwork perspectives informed by our own personal experiences and local landscapes. These works invite alternative interpretations of environmental data, land histories, and felt experiences of a changing climate. We present pieces that blur body-environment boundaries, challenging the distinction between environmental data and biodata; prompt reflections on the unequal body burdens and structures of power in embodied experiences of pollution; and entangle climate data with felt experiences that reflect on how extreme heat and climate change are experienced inequitably. Our works also reflect on place-based mythologies and how technologies, data practices, and narratives shape our understanding of ecological and cultural histories. Together, we present works that center experiences of queerness and disability to think through how hope, concern, and more-than-human agencies can commingle, as we collectively navigate the murky spaces between environmental preservation and degradation.

Alexandra (Allie) Teixeira Riggs (they/she) is a designer, researcher, digital artist, and PhD candidate in Digital Media at Georgia Tech, working at the intersection of Queer HCI, queer theory, critical archives, and tangible embodied interaction. Their current work focuses on leveraging queer theory in technology design through attention to historicism and affective, embodied experiences. Taking the form of tangible, interactive experiences and participatory engagements with queer historical artifacts and places, their work speaks to uncovering, understanding, and prompting tangible material engagements with place-based queer histories and amidst ecological entanglements.

Sylvia Hsin Janicki is a PhD candidate in Digital Media at Georgia Tech working at the intersection of disability theory, posthumanism, and more-than-human design in HCI. Her work draws from chronic illness experiences to reframe environmental problems through tangible embodied designs, using bio and environmental data.

Heidi Biggs (they/she) is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Literature, Media, and Communication. They have an interdisciplinary background, holding B.A. in English and Master of Design degrees from the University of Washington. Their work asks how technology and data build relations between bodies and land and ecologies. Guided by ecological posthuman theory which grapples with climate change and the Anthropocene they seek to illustrate, make tangible, trouble, and ground these relations through making, interdisciplinary dialogues, and first-person accounts. They generate critical readings and reimaginings of environmental data and expanded definitions of sustainability in computing research.

Catherine Wieczorek (she/her) is a designer and researcher pursuing a PhD in Human-Centered Computing at Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing. Her work integrates design methods, data practices, and speculative approaches to critically engage with ecological and historical narratives. Drawing from a background in graphic design and book arts, she explores how visual and material practices shape knowledge production.

Eve Brown is a multi-disciplinary artist and movement teacher based in Atlanta, GA. Much of Brown’s work begins in eroticism. Eroticism is everything, and it’s inherently interdisciplinary- it’s fascination, change, paying attention, keeping her senses open and questions sprawling. She begins her work in the aliveness of her own body and in an act of rebellion and reclamation, leans into, trusts and listens to what her body wants to make. Through this lens, her work often investigates connection, relationships and change. She is particularly interested in the magic contained within “ordinary”, domestic spaces, and how what is “inner” is inherently connected to what is “outer”.

The Atlanta Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Network (AIAI) is an intentionally interdisciplinary network of Atlanta-based researchers investigating how to enlist AI ethically, equitably, and in the service of justice. AIAI aims to bring the city of Atlanta, with its historical place in the civil rights movement, to current conversations about the biases embedded in our AI systems. AIAI believes that an equitable, ethical, and justice-oriented approach to AI is possible when humanistic ways of thinking come together with technical knowledge and community expertise.

The Digital Media graduate programs at Georgia Tech provide students with a foundation in digital media design and making, a theoretical background in digital media, and the opportunity to practice what is learned in studio courses, labs, and research. Digital Media focuses on the cultural context of digital media making, where graduate students learn to make with meaning. The resources, facilities and industry connections established and maintained by the program make our students some of the most sought-after graduates in the field today.

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Getting Here: Public Art Futures Lab is accessible via MARTA Five Points Station (30 Alabama St SW, Atlanta, GA 30303). Follow signs to Underground Atlanta and use the far-right glass door upon entering the courtyard. Parking is available along Pryor and Wall Street. For those requiring ADA assistance, please contact [email protected].

Stay Connected: For more information on this event and future happenings, follow us on Instagram @fultonpublicart and visit our website PublicArtFuturesLab.com for updates.

We look forward to welcoming you to an evening of artistic exploration that promises not only to entertain but also to expand your perceptions reality. This event is a must-attend for anyone interested in the intersections of sound, technology, and artistic expression.

Host or Publisher Fulton County Public Art Program