TED2016
R. Luke DuBois: Insightful human portraits made from data
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Artist R. Luke DuBois makes unique portraits of presidents, cities, himself and even Britney Spears using data and personality. In this talk, he shares nine projects -- from maps of the country built using information taken from millions of dating profiles to a gun that fires a blank every time a shooting is reported in New Orleans. His point: the way we use technology reflects on us and our culture, and we reduce others to data points at our own peril.
R. Luke DuBois - Artist, composer, engineer
R. Luke DuBois weaves information from a multitude of sources into art and music exploring the tensions between algorithms, portraiture and temporal space. Full bio
R. Luke DuBois weaves information from a multitude of sources into art and music exploring the tensions between algorithms, portraiture and temporal space. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
So I'm an artist,
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but a little bit of a peculiar one.
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I don't paint.
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I can't draw.
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My shop teacher in high school
wrote that I was a menace
wrote that I was a menace
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on my report card.
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You probably don't really
want to see my photographs.
want to see my photographs.
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But there is one thing I know how to do:
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I know how to program a computer.
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I can code.
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And people will tell me
that 100 years ago,
that 100 years ago,
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folks like me didn't exist,
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that it was impossible,
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that art made with data is a new thing,
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it's a product of our age,
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it's something that's really important
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to think of as something
that's very "now."
that's very "now."
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And that's true.
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But there is an art form
that's been around for a very long time
that's been around for a very long time
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that's really about using information,
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abstract information,
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to make emotionally resonant pieces.
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And it's called music.
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We've been making music
for tens of thousands of years, right?
for tens of thousands of years, right?
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And if you think about what music is --
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notes and chords and keys
and harmonies and melodies --
and harmonies and melodies --
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these things are algorithms.
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These things are systems
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that are designed to unfold over time,
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to make us feel.
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I came to the arts through music.
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I was trained as a composer,
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and about 15 years ago,
I started making pieces
I started making pieces
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that were designed to look
at the intersection
at the intersection
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between sound and image,
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to use an image to unveil
a musical structure
a musical structure
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or to use a sound to show you
something interesting
something interesting
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about something that's usually pictorial.
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So what you're seeing on the screen
is literally being drawn
is literally being drawn
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by the musical structure
of the musicians onstage,
of the musicians onstage,
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and there's no accident
that it looks like a plant,
that it looks like a plant,
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because the underlying
algorithmic biology of the plant
algorithmic biology of the plant
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is what informed the musical structure
in the first place.
in the first place.
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So once you know how to do this,
once you know how to code with media,
once you know how to code with media,
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you can do some pretty cool stuff.
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This is a project I did
for the Sundance Film Festival.
for the Sundance Film Festival.
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Really simple idea: you take
every Academy Award Best Picture,
every Academy Award Best Picture,
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you speed it up to one minute each
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and string them all together.
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And so in 75 minutes, I can show you
the history of Hollywood cinema.
the history of Hollywood cinema.
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And what it really shows you
is the history of editing
is the history of editing
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in Hollywood cinema.
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So on the left, we've got Casablanca;
on the right, we've got Chicago.
on the right, we've got Chicago.
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And you can see that Casablanca
is a little easier to read.
is a little easier to read.
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That's because the average length
of a cinematic shot in the 1940s
of a cinematic shot in the 1940s
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was 26 seconds,
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and now it's around six seconds.
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This is a project that was inspired
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by some work that was funded
by the US Federal Government
by the US Federal Government
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in the early 2000s,
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to look at video footage and find
a specific actor in any video.
a specific actor in any video.
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And so I repurposed this code
to train a system on one person
to train a system on one person
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in our culture who would never need
to be surveilled in that manner,
to be surveilled in that manner,
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which is Britney Spears.
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I downloaded 2,000 paparazzi
photos of Britney Spears
photos of Britney Spears
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and trained my computer to find her face
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and her face alone.
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I can run any footage of her through it
and will center her eyes in the frame,
and will center her eyes in the frame,
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and this sort of is a little
double commentary
double commentary
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about surveillance in our society.
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We are very fraught with anxiety
about being watched,
about being watched,
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but then we obsess over celebrity.
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What you're seeing on the screen here
is a collaboration I did
is a collaboration I did
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with an artist named Lián Amaris.
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What she did is very simple
to explain and describe,
to explain and describe,
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but very hard to do.
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She took 72 minutes of activity,
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getting ready for a night out on the town,
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and stretched it over three days
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and performed it on a traffic island
in slow motion in New York City.
in slow motion in New York City.
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I was there, too, with a film crew.
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We filmed the whole thing,
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and then we reversed the process,
speeding it up to 72 minutes again,
speeding it up to 72 minutes again,
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so it looks like she's moving normally
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and the whole world is flying by.
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At a certain point, I figured out
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that what I was doing
was making portraits.
was making portraits.
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When you think about portraiture,
you tend to think about stuff like this.
you tend to think about stuff like this.
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The guy on the left
is named Gilbert Stuart.
is named Gilbert Stuart.
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He's sort of the first real portraitist
of the United States.
of the United States.
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And on the right is his portrait
of George Washington from 1796.
of George Washington from 1796.
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This is the so-called Lansdowne portrait.
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And if you look at this painting,
there's a lot of symbolism, right?
there's a lot of symbolism, right?
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We've got a rainbow out the window.
We've got a sword.
We've got a sword.
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We've got a quill on the desk.
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All of these things are meant to evoke
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George Washington
as the father of the nation.
as the father of the nation.
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This is my portrait of George Washington.
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And this is an eye chart,
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only instead of letters, they're words.
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And what the words are is the 66 words
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in George Washington's
State of the Union addresses
State of the Union addresses
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that he uses more
than any other president.
than any other president.
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So "gentlemen" has its own symbolism
and its own rhetoric.
and its own rhetoric.
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And it's really kind of significant
that that's the word he used the most.
that that's the word he used the most.
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This is the eye chart for George W. Bush,
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who was president when I made this piece.
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And how you get there,
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from "gentlemen" to "terror"
in 43 easy steps,
in 43 easy steps,
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tells us a lot about American history,
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and gives you a different insight
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than you would have
looking at a series of paintings.
looking at a series of paintings.
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These pieces provide a history lesson
of the United States
of the United States
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through the political
rhetoric of its leaders.
rhetoric of its leaders.
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Ronald Reagan spent a lot of time
talking about deficits.
talking about deficits.
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Bill Clinton spent a lot of time
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talking about the century in which
he would no longer be president,
he would no longer be president,
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but maybe his wife would be.
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Lyndon Johnson was the first President
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to give his State of the Union addresses
on prime-time television;
on prime-time television;
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he began every paragraph
with the word "tonight."
with the word "tonight."
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And Richard Nixon,
or more accurately, his speechwriter,
or more accurately, his speechwriter,
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a guy named William Safire,
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spent a lot of time
thinking about language
thinking about language
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and making sure that his boss
portrayed a rhetoric of honesty.
portrayed a rhetoric of honesty.
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This project is shown
as a series of monolithic sculptures.
as a series of monolithic sculptures.
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It's an outdoor series of light boxes.
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And it's important to note
that they're to scale,
that they're to scale,
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so if you stand 20 feet back and you can
read between those two black lines,
read between those two black lines,
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you have 20/20 vision.
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(Laughter)
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This is a portrait.
And there's a lot of these.
And there's a lot of these.
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There's a lot of ways
to do this with data.
to do this with data.
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I started looking for a way
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to think about how I can do
a more democratic form of portraiture,
a more democratic form of portraiture,
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something that's more about
my country and how it works.
my country and how it works.
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Every 10 years, we make a census
in the United States.
in the United States.
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We literally count people,
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find out who lives where,
what kind of jobs we've got,
what kind of jobs we've got,
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the language we speak at home.
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And this is important stuff --
really important stuff.
really important stuff.
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But it doesn't really tell us who we are.
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It doesn't tell us about our dreams
and our aspirations.
and our aspirations.
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And so in 2010, I decided
to make my own census.
to make my own census.
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And I started looking for a corpus of data
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that had a lot of descriptions
written by ordinary Americans.
written by ordinary Americans.
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And it turns out
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that there is such a corpus of data
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that's just sitting there for the taking.
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It's called online dating.
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So in 2010, I joined 21 different
online dating services,
online dating services,
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as a gay man, a straight man,
a gay woman and a straight woman,
a gay woman and a straight woman,
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in every zip code in America
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and downloaded about
19 million people's dating profiles --
19 million people's dating profiles --
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about 20 percent of the adult population
of the United States.
of the United States.
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I have obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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This is going to become
really freaking obvious. Just go with me.
really freaking obvious. Just go with me.
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(Laughter)
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So what I did was I sorted
all this stuff by zip code.
all this stuff by zip code.
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And I looked at word analysis.
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These are some dating profiles from 2010
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with the word "lonely" highlighted.
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If you look at these things
topographically,
topographically,
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if you imagine dark colors to light colors
are more use of the word,
are more use of the word,
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you can see that Appalachia
is a pretty lonely place.
is a pretty lonely place.
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You can also see
that Nebraska ain't that funny.
that Nebraska ain't that funny.
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This is the kinky map,
so what this is showing you
so what this is showing you
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is that the women in Alaska
need to get together
need to get together
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with the men in southern New Mexico,
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and have a good time.
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And I have this
at a pretty granular level,
at a pretty granular level,
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so I can tell you that the men
in the eastern half of Long Island
in the eastern half of Long Island
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are way more interested in being spanked
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than men in the western half
of Long Island.
of Long Island.
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This will be your one takeaway
from this whole conference.
from this whole conference.
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You're going to remember
that fact for, like, 30 years.
that fact for, like, 30 years.
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(Laughter)
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When you bring this down
to a cartographic level,
to a cartographic level,
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you can make maps and do the same trick
I was doing with the eye charts.
I was doing with the eye charts.
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You can replace the name
of every city in the United States
of every city in the United States
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with the word people use more
in that city than anywhere else.
in that city than anywhere else.
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If you've ever dated anyone
from Seattle, this makes perfect sense.
from Seattle, this makes perfect sense.
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You've got "pretty."
You've got "heartbreak."
You've got "heartbreak."
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You've got "gig." You've got "cigarette."
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They play in a band and they smoke.
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And right above that you can see "email."
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That's Redmond, Washington,
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which is the headquarters
of the Microsoft Corporation.
of the Microsoft Corporation.
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Some of these you can guess --
so, Los Angeles is "acting"
so, Los Angeles is "acting"
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and San Francisco is "gay."
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Some are a little bit more heartbreaking.
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In Baton Rouge, they talk
about being curvy;
about being curvy;
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downstream in New Orleans,
they still talk about the flood.
they still talk about the flood.
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Folks in the American capital
will say they're interesting.
will say they're interesting.
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People in Baltimore, Maryland,
will say they're afraid.
will say they're afraid.
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This is New Jersey.
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I grew up somewhere
between "annoying" and "cynical."
between "annoying" and "cynical."
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(Laughter) (Applause)
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And New York City's
number one word is "now,"
number one word is "now,"
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as in, "Now I'm working as a waiter,
but actually I'm an actor."
but actually I'm an actor."
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(Laughter)
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Or, "Now I'm a professor of engineering
at NYU, but actually I'm an artist."
at NYU, but actually I'm an artist."
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If you go upstate, you see "dinosaur."
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That's Syracuse.
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The best place to eat
in Syracuse, New York,
in Syracuse, New York,
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is a Hell's Angels barbecue joint
called Dinosaur Barbecue.
called Dinosaur Barbecue.
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That's where you would
take somebody on a date.
take somebody on a date.
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I live somewhere between "unconditional"
and "midsummer," in Midtown Manhattan.
and "midsummer," in Midtown Manhattan.
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And this is gentrified North Brooklyn,
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so you've got "DJ" and "glamorous"
and "hipsters" and "urbane."
and "hipsters" and "urbane."
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So that's maybe
a more democratic portrait.
a more democratic portrait.
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And the idea was, what if we made
red-state and blue-state maps
red-state and blue-state maps
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based on what we want to do
on a Friday night?
on a Friday night?
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This is a self-portrait.
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This is based on my email,
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about 500,000 emails sent over 20 years.
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You can think of this
as a quantified selfie.
as a quantified selfie.
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So what I'm doing is running
a physics equation
a physics equation
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based on my personal data.
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You have to imagine everybody
I've ever corresponded with.
I've ever corresponded with.
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It started out in the middle
and it exploded with a big bang.
and it exploded with a big bang.
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And everybody has gravity to one another,
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gravity based on how much
they've been emailing,
they've been emailing,
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who they've been emailing with.
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And it also does sentimental analysis,
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so if I say "I love you,"
you're heavier to me.
you're heavier to me.
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And you attract to my email
addresses in the middle,
addresses in the middle,
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which act like mainline stars.
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And all the names are handwritten.
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Sometimes you do this data
and this work with real-time data
and this work with real-time data
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to illuminate a specific problem
in a specific city.
in a specific city.
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This is a Walther PPK 9mm
semiautomatic handgun
semiautomatic handgun
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that was used in a shooting
in the French Quarter of New Orleans
in the French Quarter of New Orleans
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about two years ago on Valentine's Day
in an argument over parking.
in an argument over parking.
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Those are my cigarettes.
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This is the house
where the shooting took place.
where the shooting took place.
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This project involved
a little bit of engineering.
a little bit of engineering.
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I've got a bike chain
rigged up as a cam shaft,
rigged up as a cam shaft,
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with a computer driving it.
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That computer and the mechanism
are buried in a box.
are buried in a box.
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The gun's on top welded to a steel plate.
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There's a wire going
through to the trigger,
through to the trigger,
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and the computer in the box is online.
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It's listening to the 911 feed
of the New Orleans Police Department,
of the New Orleans Police Department,
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so that anytime there's a shooting
reported in New Orleans,
reported in New Orleans,
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(Gunshot sound)
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the gun fires.
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Now, there's a blank,
so there's no bullet.
so there's no bullet.
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There's big light, big noise
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and most importantly, there's a casing.
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There's about five shootings
a day in New Orleans,
a day in New Orleans,
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so over the four months
this piece was installed,
this piece was installed,
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the case filled up with bullets.
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You guys know what this is --
you call this "data visualization."
you call this "data visualization."
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When you do it right, it's illuminating.
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When you do it wrong, it's anesthetizing.
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It reduces people to numbers.
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So watch out.
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One last piece for you.
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I spent the last summer
as the artist in residence
as the artist in residence
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for Times Square.
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And Times Square in New York
is literally the crossroads of the world.
is literally the crossroads of the world.
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One of the things
people don't notice about it
people don't notice about it
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is it's the most Instagrammed
place on Earth.
place on Earth.
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About every five seconds,
someone commits a selfie
someone commits a selfie
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in Times Square.
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That's 17,000 a day, and I have them all.
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(Laughter)
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These are some of them
with their eyes centered.
with their eyes centered.
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Every civilization,
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will use the maximum level
of technology available to make art.
of technology available to make art.
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And it's the responsibility
of the artist to ask questions
of the artist to ask questions
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about what that technology means
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and how it reflects our culture.
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So I leave you with this:
we're more than numbers.
we're more than numbers.
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We're people, and we have
dreams and ideas.
dreams and ideas.
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And reducing us to statistics
is something that's done
is something that's done
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at our peril.
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
R. Luke DuBois - Artist, composer, engineerR. Luke DuBois weaves information from a multitude of sources into art and music exploring the tensions between algorithms, portraiture and temporal space.
Why you should listen
R. Luke DuBois is a multidisciplinary artist mining the intersection of art, culture and technology, often expanding or contracting perspectives or timespans to accentuate aspects of each work. As a musician, he has produced a spectrum of electro-acoustic works with a multitude of artists, including Bora Yoon, Bang on a Can and the Freight Elevator Quartet.
As an artist, DuBois focuses on exposing the long narratives created by arcs of data, in the same way that time-lapse photographs expose long swaths of motion in a single image. As a programmer, DuBois is co-author of Jitter, a software suite that allows real-time manipulation of video and 3D imagery.
DuBois teaches at New York University, where he co-directs the Integrated Digital Media program at the Tandon School of Engineering. His artwork is represented by bitforms gallery in New York City.
R. Luke DuBois | Speaker | TED.com