Translation Device

Description

Following the 7 feminist data principles, create a translation device in p5 that translates external JSON datasets into feminist data. This year with the pandemic, I have spent most of my time indoors by myself, to the extent that I feel as if I'm social distancing from society. Some of the issues on the news seem irrelevant and distant to me since I haven't had the opportunity to interact outside of my environment (home). In relation to this project, the weather seems irrelevant as well, because no matter how hot or rainy or cold it may be, I'm at my home where I can easily control the temperature. I'm not affected by the weather forecasts as my environment is controlled like a constant variable. Especially as it gets colder in winter, I realize how big of a privilege this is as there are people who do not have access to proper shelter. This also applies to those with more "elite" jobs who are able to work from home and are less affected by external factors. However, the weather strongly affects those who are paid minimum wage and must show up at work. In this project, I wanted to demonstrate this unbalanced reality.

Design Process

The data principle I referenced was: Make Labor Visible. Usually those most directly affected by environmental factors are the blue-collar working class. Their roles are crucial to have society operate smoothly. Therefore, it's important that data on employment/unemployment is transparent so that information can be analyzed and workers are compensated with the appropriate and essential treatment. For this project I used a weather api to get access to weather in different cities. When a city is inputted, the temperature of that city is written on the green calendar and the "feels like" temperature is written on the computer screen. This is because I have been checking the weather on my computer and the only way I confirm or relate with it is when I look out the window. The window also changes color according to the temperature of the city. If it is warm, it's a more yellowish hue, and if it is cold, it is more of a blue-ish hue. The only changes happen "outside," visible through the window but everything inside remains the same.

Reflection

Usually I think there is quite a big difference in the temperature and the temperature my body feels. Therefore, these these two values from the dataset were used because it could show the contrast of temperature. Also by presenting them in plain numerical values, without the use of color, I wanted to show how those inside are unaffected. I also think that color is powerful in that it carries many connotations and can express intangible concepts. It can represent emotions to temperature without much description and I thought this addition of color to the dataset could provide a quick understanding of the weather.