The Latest from viz.

 Web Infographic from Colour Lovers by way of Cool Infographics  Screenshot from Youtube Screenshot from barbie.com QR code (links to Viz) created through Kaywa's free QR code generator 

This semester at viz., we continue to offer close readings of images and cultural artifacts, from the creepy-tastic Barbie video cam to alternative breast cancer iconography to coding class in The Social Network. However, there’s also been a turn toward image production, launched by the Big Question: what is mediated content? We’ve considered how QR-codes and infographics might work their way into the English or rhetoric classroom. In the coming weeks, look out for reviews and lesson plans involving Animoto and Sound Slides Plus, two accessible software tools for students to create visual narratives.
 
We've been seeking out opportunities for collaboration and reciprocity by featuring new, interdisciplinary voices and profiling innovative institutions and events on campus. We’ve toured the visualization lab of the Texas Advanced Computing Center. We’ve heard D.J. Spooky talk about the relationships between remixing, sound, art, and space. In the works are guest contributions by Leah Griffin of the Landmarks public-art project and Marjorie Foley in the Immersive Environments workgroup, among others.
 
Finally, this past week, a group of us in the Visual Rhetoric workgroup attended a Steve-in-Action meeting, sponsored by the New Media Consortium. Participants in the Steve project from the Indianapolis Museum of Art, The MET, San Francisco MOMA, the Minnesota Digital Library , among others, had gathered here in Austin to discuss social tagging, development of the Steve interface, and how to evaluate the results of the three-year grant. We were invited to the meeting because of our collaborative research with the Blanton using the Steve interface. We will be blogging on HASTAC about our collaboration and our experience with the NMC, so keep connected to us via the website, or follow us on Twitter.