A Female Constellation: A Data-Driven Exploration of the 100 Years of Modernity at MoMA by Tufts University

A Female Constellation is a 3D interactive data visualization that examines the representation of female artists in MoMA’s collection. Using a cosmic metaphor, each artist is a star, forming constellations based on movements, mediums, and themes. The spatial positioning reflects acquisition history, revealing patterns of recognition over time. This project transforms data into an immersive experience, prompting reflection on how institutional decisions shape narratives of modernity. By visualizing connections across time and space, it invites a deeper understanding of representation, visibility, and the evolving story of women in modern art.

The 3D interactive visualization medium was chosen to explore and emphasize the vastness, diversity, and layered narratives within MoMA's collection while creating an immersive and exploratory experience for the audience. Unlike traditional charts or static graphics, a 3D environment provides depth and spatial relationships, which effectively mirror the complexities of the dataset. By simulating a cosmos-like environment, the project captures the metaphorical "universe" of MoMA, where each artist is represented as a star, contributing to the greater constellation of modern art. This format underscores both the individuality of female artists and their collective importance within the broader context of art history.

The use of tools like WebGL, Three.js, D3, P5js and Kepler GL enabled precise and data-driven rendering and interactivity, allowing users to zoom, pan, and navigate seamlessly. This choice also ensured scalability, so the visualization could handle large datasets while maintaining responsiveness and performance. By encoding female artists as prominent, interactive stars in the foreground and male artists as smaller, moving points in the background, the visualization inherently differentiates their representation, reinforcing the metaphor of visibility and overshadowing. This alignment of form and concept was essential to provoke critical thought about the gender imbalance and to provide an engaging medium that invites users to explore and question the narrative constructed by MoMA’s collection.

The medium also serves a functional purpose: by positioning clusters of artists by category and acquisition year in a dynamic 3D space, it offers a visually intuitive way to understand patterns in the data, such as the temporal evolution of representation or the clustering of certain artistic categories. This approach provides a balance of aesthetics and analytical insight, making the visualization both thought-provoking and informative.