Rat Revolution by Danny Yang

Rat Revolution is a striking human-sized light sculpture that brings New York City's rat population into sharp focus, intertwining art, data, and urban ecology. This physical data visualization highlights the relationship between rodent complaints and average temperatures in NYC, offering commentary on our consumption patterns, waste disposal practices, and the ever-expanding urban footprint.

Created for the 2024 Data Through Design (DxD) exhibition during NYC Open Data Week, Rat Revolution invites viewers to reflect on the resounding impacts of human activity. The sculpture’s top-heavy tornado shape borrows the striking form of a natural disaster to convey how trends like outdoor dining in the wake of COVID-19 coincided with an explosion in rodent complaints. Through the piece’s hues and asymmetry, viewers can also intuitively understand seasonal fluctuations and the effects of climate change on rat populations.

The installation features a laser-cut acrylic skeleton layered with a 4-pin LED strip, all encased within a textured Japanese kinwashi paper lampshade. The illuminated form transforms thousands of tabular data points (drawn from NYC’s 311 call records available through the Open Data portal) into an engaging and thought-provoking visual narrative.

To learn more about our creative process and view more pictures of the construction process as well as the completed installation, check out https://nightingaledvs.com/making-rat-revolution/ and https://www.piaboc.me/work/rat-revolution