Knowledge Design. Design in the Age of Information

Thursday 19 Nov 2026, 18:30 → 20:00 Europe/Berlin

ArtLab Foyer (Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik)

Data is often associated with science, finance, and computational infrastructures—domains shaped by institutions, platforms, and algorithmic systems. At the same time, data structures increasingly mediate everyday life: from the continuous production of digital traces through personal devices, to climate models and public health statistics that shape political and social decision-making. This lecture examines the role of design in making data and information perceptible, interpretable, and debatable. It focuses on how design translates numbers, datasets, statistics, and complex scientific relations into visual and experiential forms—and how these translations shape understanding, interpretation, and agency. Drawing on examples from data visualization, information design, and artistic research, the talk discusses visualization not merely as a tool for communication, but as a form of knowledge production. Visualizations do not only represent facts; they frame questions, expose assumptions, and make power structures, absences, and uncertainties visible. The lecture argues that data visualization produces specific narratives about society in the 21st century—narratives that cannot be articulated in the same way through text or numbers alone. In this sense, design becomes a critical practice: one that enables reflection on data practices, supports scientific and journalistic inquiry, and opens spaces for public engagement with complex systems shaping contemporary life.

The lecture will be held in English.

Please note the Data Protection Information About Photographic and/or Audiovisual Documentation