Good afternoon everyone,

How are you doing? Well, I hope. I spoke at Interesting 2023 this week and it was the most fun talk I have ever done. Then I got to watch eight other incredible talks! Here are two of the women who featured on the lineup so you also can enjoy their work.

Stef Posavec talked about log books and on-paper visualisations, and I love this extension to her dataviz practice - working on how data happens rather than the data itself:

For the majority of my career, my projects centred around the visualisation of a specific dataset, where the work’s aesthetic and message are created through faithfully translating every data point into graphic elements and visual form. However, I've recently started working with data in a different way, where instead of working only with data visualisation I am instead exploring how to visualise the processes of acquisition, preparation, storage, and analysis inherent in every dataset.

https://www.stefanieposavec.com/data-murmurations

Clem Hobson introuced us to Manuela Sáenz, who was a revolutionary and who MAYBE HAD A PET BEAR? I don't understand how domestification works well enough to understand why we can't have tiny pet bears that don't try to eat us, and I love that Manuela Sáenz also tried to break free from this convention:

Sáenz defied societal convention. She was a spy. She protested for women’s rights. She wore a custom-made Colombian colonel’s uniform. She threw fantastic parties, loved dogs, and maybe even had a pet bear. In a letter, Bolívar referred to his favorite mistress as “that gentle, crazy woman” and eventually gave her an official government position as his archivist.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/manuela-saenz-female-revolutionary-latin-america

More to come on another Friday, I hope, in case you were there and your fave is missing :)

Love,

Alex.