My data art project revolves around menstruation. Its been found 1 in 5 girls miss school due to a lack of menstrual products. The lack of being able to afford period products is recognized as “period poverty”. My piece was meant to draw attention to how difficult it is to menstruate when in poverty.
Often times when menstruators lack access to safe products, they risk inflicting physical harm seeking other, cheaper alternatives such as cardboard or rags, or may use products for unsafe periods of time in an attempt to ration their supply, which can lead to UTIs.
For this project, I wanted to visualize the mental toll individuals endure when they must resort to unhygienic practices, which can cause depression, anxiety, and increased distress. The shifting jagged red and white lines represent feelings of unease and panic; evoking a sense of alarm.
When clicking the middle, a visual of Earth and text “1 in 5” is shown. This is meant to showcase the awareness towards struggles menstruators coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds face-especially young girls. “1 in 5” was added to help enforce just how common the struggle to afford proper hygienic needs is. It slowly shrinks to emphasize how we must bring more attention to this issue.
Q: Does adding the Earth in the middle take focus away from the piece or make it too confusing??
Sources:
1.) 1 in 5 American Girls Have Missed School Due to Lack of Period Protection: https://news.pg.com/press-release/pg-corporate-announcements/nearly-1-5-american-girls-have-missed-school-due-lack-perio. Accessed November 13, 2019.
2.) Menstrual Hygiene Practices & Access and the Risk of Urogenital Infection in Women from Odisha, India. PLOS ONE. 2015;10(6):e0130777. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130777
3.) Measuring prevalence and impact of poor menstrual hygiene management: a quantitative survey of schoolgirls in rural Uganda. BMJ Open. 2016;6(12):e012596. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012596
4.) The association between women’s sanitation experiences and mental health: A cross-sectional study in Rural, Odisha India. SSM – Popul Health. 2018;5:257-266. doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.06.005
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As my final project, I have made a few minor changes based on helpful feedback. I took into consideration how Earth does not add much to the piece, and instead draws viewers’ attention more to the planet itself instead of the “stress” I am trying to display. Instead of Earth in the middle, I went back to the black dot, which gave a more mysterious aspect.
Including Earth’s graphic made the piece less impactful, and using the black dot left less room for confusion and being distracted. I decided to keep the “1 in 5” text as it serves to highlight the severity of the issue, which was the main point. I also decided to make the jagged lines disappear at the end, only leaving a blank red screen and the text to place more emphasis on menstruation.
Overall: Earth was taken away as it seemed distracting and out of place. The 1 in 5 text was kept and was showcased on the new addition of the black circle replacing Earth. A red screen pops up at the end and the dot and lines disappear.
I notice that the “1 in 5” text is white, causing it to disappear as the earth shrinks.
The shifting circles definitely communicates stress to me. I actually think Earth’s addition doesn’t add more to the piece for me. When I see an Earth my attention is drawn more to the planet compared to people and their stress. I think that black circle looks more ominous, and won’t take away from the stressful essence of the piece, especially if you have the 1 in 5 pop up in it. Permissioned opinion about the rings, (if this isn’t too much of a headache) I’d love to see a drunk attribute or something effect each ring to have them each shift differently to add to the stressful element of the piece. The rhythm of this piece is spot on and the emotional communication is definitely there.
Including earth in the middle definitely contributes to your statement by highlighting the global scale of the menstruation poverty issue. However since it’s the most eye-drawing portion of the piece, the concentric circles around the earth and their jagged motion come as an afterthought to the viewer.
To answer your question, I actually think that the Earth graphic is a little less impactful than the large black circle you had in the prior piece. The starkness of the large black circle conveyed a sense of scale and importance, while the Earth texture is somewhat distracting and makes it a little less clear. I do love the 1 in 5 text though — it shows how common this issue is and it’s impossible to miss in the center of the piece.
Answer to question: I believe the earth texture is a bit out of place. Maybe having them made of just black and white primitive shapes could maintain the aesthetic cohesion of the piece.
I feel as if the earth in the middle makes sense, but I fear the planet makes it look like 1 in 5 of the world, rather than 1 in 5 of america. Maybe if you changed earth to a representation of the country?
I notice that at the start of the animation, the red rings shake, which I think effectively communicates that your issue of choice is an active and prevalent issue. It helps to draw attention to the focal point of your art, and gives it the movement it needs to make it stand out.
I have an opinion, I feel like the world texture distracts from the fact that this is an issue for girls, the world kind of makes me think that 1/5 of the worlds population no matter the gender is lacking something. Perhaps adding like a “female” gender sign could specify the statistic a bit more.
I have an opinion about the animation. I think that it does a good job at making the viewer feel uncomfortable, mirroring the discomfort (and even danger) of period poverty. I wonder though if it would be possible to have them move more out of sync.
I have an opinion about the Earth if you would like it. I think it is a little confusing to have the Earth in the middle. Instead could you have a video of people to further convey it’s 1 in 5 people?
To answer the question, the earth in the middle was very distracting and I was confused about the 1 in 5 statement. Maybe have a different signifier such as one of fives standing girls being colored red might get the point across.
Do you want to add any sound effect to the presentation? I think that is a powerful transision and may work well with some explosive sound effects.
I was initially thinking of adding some but was unsure if it would be too distracting to viewers because it may seem chaotic.
The subtle motion of the white and red lines create a sense of discomfort, which is exactly what you were going for.
I think the earth is a little distracting- it just feels kind of our of place. Making it a flat color with the text might work a little better.
What is the importance of the spiraling lines?
The lines are representative of the alarm/distress many individuals may feel when they have to think about lack of hygienic menstruation products 🙂
I really like how you were able to create motion with all of the lines in the piece!