"Behind each visually-captivating panel exists a story told in data.

Visual displays of information help us make sense of a complex world. My body of work draws on visual displays related to finance, telecommunications, epidemiology, politics, and transportation. By eliminating key signifiers (words, numbers, legends, and explanations), I transform these visual displays of information into works of geometric abstraction.

The result has a dual quality: on the one hand, development of abstractions with pleasing formal and aesthetic qualities, and on the other hand, a lingering sense, conveyed by the highly structured nature of the resulting images, of some kind of significance, a dissonance, or encoded meaning that lies just beyond reach."
ā€” Josh Harlan
[Artist Statement]
"Katya" is a news series of 18 works by artist Josh Harlan developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series is named after Harlanā€™s daughter, Katya, who was born into the coronavirus crisis in April 2020.

Katya explores changes in daily movements by people in various metro areas following the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, based on location tracking data from cell phones. 

The source data traces movement beginning in mid-February 2020 through the end of March. Compared to historical averages for this time of year, the scale of movement with plummets far below usual after mid-March, when the Federal government asked people to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus. 

The source data is structured to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status and activity patterns during the crisis, with movement in upper income areas depicted in blue and lower income areas depicted in red.
Pictured Above:

Katya 1 (left) / Katya 16 (right)
Vibrachrome metal prints, 60 x 37 inches (152.4 x 93.98 cm) 
Edition of 5 + 1 AP

*selection above represents the volume of movement at the onset of the pandemic (Katya 1) and after several weeks of the national PAUSE (Katya 16)

Pictured Below:

Katya 1 - 4
(Artwork details consistent with those listed above.)

Josh Harlanā€™s Katya series explores changes in daily movements by people in various metro areas following the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, based on location tracking data from cell phones. 

In the source image, the x-axis depicts time, ranging from mid-February 2020 through the end of March. The y-axis depicts the scale of movement in comparison to historical averages for this time of year, with activity plummeting far below usual after mid-March, when the Federal government asked people to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus. 

The source data is structured to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status and activity patterns during the crisis, with movement in upper income areas depicted in blue and lower income areas depicted in red.

In creating the series, Josh extracts a series of equal-sized fragments of the source image with proportions set in the ā€œgolden ratioā€ (approximately 1.62:1). 

The fragments are assembled intuitively to capture areas of the chart that have attractive formal qualities. The fragments are recolored at the artistā€™s discretion. The completed images are produced as dye-sublimation prints on metal.
Produced in 2019

Dye sublimation print on aluminum48 W x 72 H
Series of 9/Edition of 5+ 1 AP

Heat map depicting daily percentage price changes in S&P 500 index for the year 2010. Series posits an objective representation of market activity in the wake of the Great Recession.


Pictured: Nine Years Since the Crisis 2010, 2019.
Produced in 2016

Dye sublimation print on aluminum
48 W x 72 H
Series of X/Edition of 5 + 1 AP

Inspired by a government chart of frequency allocations by usage type, including radio, television, cellular and satellite communications, etc.

Pictured: Spectrum Philippines, 2017
Produced in 2016

Dye sublimation print on aluminum
48 W x 72 H
Series of 3/Edition of 5 + 1 AP

A variation on the Fragment Series, these works are derived from a government chart of frequency allocations by usage type, including radio, television, cellular and satellite communications, etc.

Pictured: Spectrum Egypt Diamond 1.0, 2017
Produced in 2016
ļ»æ
Dye sublimation print on aluminum
ļ»æ48 W x 72 H
Series of 2/Edition of 5 + 1 AP

A variation on the Fragment Series, this work represents a magnified fragment of the US frequency allocation chart.

Pictured: Spectrum Fragment 2.1, 2016
Produced in 2016

Dye sublimation print on aluminum
48 W x 38.8 H
Series of 7/Edition of 5 + 1 AP

Inspired by an epidemiological study of illness caused by various diseases prior to vaccine development, by state and by year, with color intensity indicating prevalence.

Pictured: Infectious Disease (Measles), .
Produced in 2016
ļ»æ
Dye sublimation print on aluminum
Dimensions variable
Edition of 5 + 1 AP

Inspired by a survey representing Europeans' perceptions of life conditions in other countries.

Pictured: Life in Other Countries, 2016.
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