Hans Haacke and data: Infusing the banality of fact with meaning
Data visualisation is a creative practice that requires a commitment to accuracy and truthfulness. In this it is similar to journalism (my own discipline), and it is no accident that the two practices are expanding their mutual engagement in both their core functions: as research and as communication. This is not to claim that all journalism and all data visualisation is art, but rather that both practices raise issues about the role of human creativity in the interrogation of reality, and communication about that interrogation. Accuracy, truthfulness and reality are far from simple concepts. They are fundamental to art as well as data analysis and journalism, as with any creative practice in any knowledge‑seeking activity.