Sonifying COVID-19 Data
We used the COVID-19 data from the John Hopkins COVID-19 map and AI projection tools to develop sonifications of the COVID-19 positive cases by geography. Furthermore it allowed us to develop a methodology for using data analysis as an integral part of creative expression.
John Hopkins COVID-19 global cases map (2021)
This project looks at the collaborative process of sonifying data from the COVID-19 pandemic, through a narrative that weaves together conversations between artists, sonic compositions, discussions of the creative process and a recorded soundtrack of newsreel from the pandemic.
This piece is a contribution to the newly formed genre of the audio essay where multiple voices, non-human actors and methods come together as a form of sonic argumentation. This audio essay is born out of a grant funded research project entitled ‘NanoResonance’, a multidisciplinary project where artists and scientists collaborate to find ways of expressing scientific data creatively, and the outcomes of this work.
We were interested in discovering, through practice, how such datasets can inform our compositional thinking, and what that might mean for future interdisciplinary practices. The research explores the process of creative practice, the realities of collaborating over distance, the technological approaches to this work, and the often lesser-discussed process of navigating through the expressive creative process as an artist.
The research highlighted within was made possible through a Catalyst grant from Sydney Nano, the University of Sydney’s multidisciplinary Nano science and technology institute.
The thing about the use of the COVID-19 data is that it is so situated in where we are right now, it wasn't just a pragmatic choice. It also had resonance and there was a reason for that resonance. And I think as well, that's a useful thing to think of when we're talking about any data, about why this particular data set is useful. What are we trying to communicate if we are doing a direct sonification? And yeah, in an audio essay like that, I'm so down with that Diana, using bits and pieces of that. I mean, this is starting to feel quite ready radiophonic in a way.
- Ben Carey -
Art made from COVID-19 data sets is the focus of this audio essay. The audio essay is a form of sonic argumentation and presentation that leans into the dynamic layering power of sound as a tool to communicate and articulate research, in this case the NanoResonance project (Groth and Samson, 2016). This
For the NanoResonance project I wanted to create an interwoven narrative of the recorded environments of place alongside the sonification of MIDI taken directly from the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dataset (Dong et al., 2019).
-Diana Chester -
This desire for sounds of place, manifested as a soundscape of newsreel recordings, which I collected online and carefully curated to highlight details of each country’s journey with the pandemic. In some cases, this was bringing bits and pieces of different languages, different perspectives on how the pandemic was handled and the local approach to speaking about unfolding the global pandemic from the early days. The process of using MIDI data alone did not feel that it resonated with my own practice and intuitive approach, nor did I feel It could express the geographic scope of the work, which I found to be at the heart of my own interests.
The process of using MIDI data alone did not feel that it resonated with my own practice and intuitive approach, nor did I feel It could express the geographic scope of the work, which I found to be at the heart of my own interests. I augmented very little in the MIDI Max patch except for the speed at which the data points were cycled through, resulting in a quicker or slower spitting out of the notes from my controller. I automated panning within a stereo field and the overall gain of each track to develop the sonified piece
In conclusion this research allowed the team to explore creative sonic practices and the way they were influenced by the subject matter of the COVID-19 data