Representing Loss through Ghost Trees: An exploration of spookiness with & through data.

The objective of the Ghost Trees project was creating oblique design explorations of gaps in datasets. That is, considering non-normative themes and framings to explore the messiness and complexity of presenting data that is incomplete, missing, or inaccurate. Using data from the illegal arborist activity database, we explored depictions of illegally felled trees still being present but in their supernatural form, as entities that haunt our city. Here, the use of “spooky” aesthetics lends to this depiction and inquiry by allowing us to reflect on the impact of the absence of tree data.

Using Mapbox GL JS, the finished project takes the form of online interactive maps that illustrate the changing population of the deceased trees of Atlanta’s beloved canopy.