Annina Rüst

A Piece of (In)equality
Interactive web service; Dimensions variable

A Piece of (In)equality is an experimental data visualization tool. It is a service that asks users to map data about economic inequality as pie charts onto images of pies. These pie-images are collected on the site and can be shared via social media. A Piece of (In)equality is a project that uses pies as a form of “sweet”, humorous, seemingly non-threatening form of participatory protest against economic inequality. Participants are encouraged to enter self-collected data in order to visualize forms of economic inequality determined by categories including gender, race, age, and many more.

Christiane Paul writes in the introductory chapter of her book “Digital Art”: “Rather than being the sole ‘creator’ of a work of art, the artist often plays the role of a mediator or facilitator for audiences’ interaction with and contribution to the artwork”. A Piece of (In)equality is a platform that facilitates this form of interaction. Audience members can add their voice to the project and develop it further. The outcome is both a composite that represents me (the author and mediator) and but also you, the audience (and co-authors).

The project is part of a series of pie-based data visualization apparatuses that I have created over the last few years. I believe that a critical and humorous approach to data collection and visualization is necessary as (big) data and algorithms increasingly influence our lives.