USMS2002 is a project that exists in, and attempts to expand, the space between information visualization and algorithmic art. 2002 mortality data, taken from the National Vital Statistics Report issued by the Centers for Disease Control, are used as the basis for a series of discrete probability distributions. The probabilities are then abstracted and visualized in a manner that alienates them from their seed data.

Aestheticization of information is not a new concept. However, what differentiates this project from other information visualization projects is that it is uninformative. The goal here is not to display information in a manner that makes it easier to digest and comprehend, but to obscure the information and use it as an almost-invisible tool for the generation of non-intentional art.

Because the goal of this project is to draw attention to the distance between the seed data and the nature of the output, it is essential that there be as much distance between these two elements as possible. As such, the serene, aesthetically pleasing images are generated using the ugliest available data source, chosen to inspire an immediate, visceral, negative response in the viewer the moment she becomes aware of it.

Interference Cellular Automata were born out of the desire to overlay the patterns of individual one-dimensional cellular automata, creating complex, unique images based on the simple rules of CA. A secondary goal of this project was to bring the CA concept off of the screen (most CA live on the internet) so that they might seem more real. This ‘realness’ was very important so there also had to be some human influence (and error) built into the system.

I programmed a drawing environment where I could control a number of the cellular automata’s traits while drawing – size, color, direction, and location. I let the computer pick the rule of the CA randomly (each CA has one of 256 unique rules, which determine the pattern) so that the act of composing the interference image was a little more fun. I had to work with the computer and hope that my choices complemented the computer’s. Often they did not, but the tension of the process mimicked the tension between the cellular automata. The results are composite images straddling the generative art genre and more traditional human compositions.