Data. This may sound like science, banking and computers at first, something that the tax office and Mark Zuckerberg deal with. At the same time, we live in a world that is driven by this concept, which is not so easy to define. Every gesture on a cell phone produces them, we only know about climate change because of them and during the coronavirus pandemic they were on everyone’s lips due to the number of cases and statistics. The simple question I ask myself in this lecture is: Why am I interested in data? To answer this question, I will present, discuss and scrutinize my projects from the last twelve years. By making data visible, narratives about society in the 21st century become visible in a way that I think no other medium can.
Kim Albrecht
conducts research at the intersection of data visualization, technology, and culture. He holds a BA in Graphic Design, an MA in Interface Design, and a Ph.D. in Media Theory. Albrecht’s professional journey includes roles such as researcher at the Center for Complex Network Research with Prof. Laszlo Barabasi, Principal at metaLAB (at) Harvard with Jeffrey Schnapp, Faculty Associate at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and Professor at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf from 2023 to 2024. Since 2025, he has served as Professor of Information Design at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. Known for his exploration of the aesthetic properties of data, his work spans teaching, research, and application.