Visualizing Resilience
The Artful Intersection of Pointillism and Data in Stefan Pullen's 2024 Exhibit
Photo by Françoise Bolechowski
Earlier this year award winning information designer, Stefan Pullen, was featured in the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum. While the Netherlands are known for their urban waterways, beautiful bikes, and joyful culture, “2.3 million is the staggering amount of people… struggling with mental health” (Pullen, 2024). Pullen was moved by this massive number to create an immersive exhibit for his community. As a gallerist and analyst myself, I reached out to learn more about how this data project moved from the blue light to the spotlight. It turns out the history of pointillism and dot plots can teach us a ton about the success of the final design.
Rewind with me briefly to 1880, an uncanny decade of dots. From art history, we know French painter Georges Seurat developed a technique called “pointillism” as a reductive approach to color theory. For the first time, none of the colors were mixed on a pallet, but stamped mathematically on the canvas, creating buzzing landscapes like “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” (Meyer, 2021).
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884-1886 by Georges Seurat; Public domain
Serendipitously, before this piece was ever displayed, German inventor Paul Nipkow would wake up from a dream where large images were composed of tiny color fragments. 1885 is the year Nipkow successfully patented something we all recognize today as “pixels” (Emmy, 2024) As if we didn’t have chills already, it’s incredible to note that the dot plot made its debut in the UK 1884 as well. Ecologist and economist William Jevon, needed to design a chart that could illustrate changes in British currency without binning and obscuring individual results (Wilkinson, 1999). Avoiding any obvious collusion, dots were pivotal in maturing our modern practice of data visualization.
These historical intersections undoubtedly nudged Pullen’s process. True to European leisure, early stages of project planning included strolling through an art exhibit where he was drawn to the pointillism of Vera Pagava. Somehow she captured minimalism and vastness all at once in her spotted ink landscapes (Kintsurashvili, 2024). She also offered subliminal permission by mirroring Pullen’s personal instinct for monochrome storytelling. When it comes to representing people however, there is one criticism that has followed dot plots and pointillism for centuries. Seurat had frequent bad reviews for portraying blissful French life with points because it reduced the passion of painting to a tedious science (Amory,2004). Similarly, in 2021 the New York Times published a front page dot plot of the U.S. pandemic death toll. The specks became a blurry representation of the visceral grief impacting millions. Quintessential to creative irony, inspiration arrived for Pullen as both styles to emulate and patterns to avoid.
Detail scans courtesy of Stefan Pullen
With true sensitivity for his subject, Pullen started designing an exhibit that could showcase individual stories “...of resilience, hope, and strength”(Pullen, 2024). Representing each dot (person) legibly with equal size and opacity meant the canvas was required to stand 9 ft tall and 21 feet long. If that sounds like a small billboard, you’d be right. During the prototype stages it was nearly impossible to visualize digitally because the data outnumbered available pixels on a computer screen, forcing Pullen to collaborate with a billboard company for production.
Mockup by Stefan Pullen
The next dimension of any good visualization is interaction. Providing all of the materials on opening night, Pullen boldly humanized the data by inviting guests to respond with pinned notes. For context, dynamic digital interactions typically involve filtering, real-time updates, or zoom settings. A physical exhibit on the other hand, has no reset button to preserve the original presentation, making the line between vandalism and collaboration much thinner. Although each note would permanently alter the canvas, the hope that each prick could interrupt the infinite constellation of strangers with a gold pin of compassion –outweighed the risk.
Photos by Stefan Pullen and Françoise Bolechowski
As success would have it, there have been more than 300 meaningful notes written and even more ambient observers for the piece. Pullen reflected in his portfolio, “Slowly the artwork evolved from cold facts to a wall of shared experiences that sparked conversations between strangers.”(Pullen, 2024). While there are many ways to measure impact, my favorite story shared by Pullen was the moment a friend reached out to let him know they would miss opening night after a particularly draining week. Pullen thoughtfully responded, knowing that his friend was present in the visualization itself.
Stefan Pullen (he/him) is currently principal of Vizard Design Studio based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His freelance work easily blends cultural history, classical art, and intuitive minimalism. Explore his portfolio or reach out for a consultation here.
Professionall exhibit photographs by Françoise Bolechowski, connect on instagram at franswazig
References:
Amory, D. (2004, October). Georges Seurat (1859–1891) and Neo-Impressionism. The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/seni/hd_seni.htm
Kintsurashvili, K. (2024, March). The Tireless Embroiderer, Vera Pagava. Atinati. https://atinati.com/news/65bf550bfe5c0700381d8e6a
Meyer, I. (2021, 14 May). Pointillism – The Neo-Impressionist Dot Painting Technique. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/pointillism/
Pullen, S. (2024, March). Exhibits. Stefan Pullen. https://www.stefanpullen.com/work/exhibits
Technology & Engineering Emmy® awards – pioneers - the emmys. The Emmys - The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. (2024, September 15). https://theemmys.tv/tech/pioneers/
Wilkinson, Leland (1999). "Dot plots". The American Statistician. 53 (3). American Statistical Association: 276–281. doi:10.2307/2686111. JSTOR2686111.
