Jer Thorp
{{Short description|Canadian data artist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Jer Thorp
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| image = Jer Thorp - PopTech 2012 - Camden Maine USA (8102975934) (cropped).jpg
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| birth_place = Vancouver, British Columbia
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| citizenship = Canada
| nationality = Canadian
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| website = {{URL|https://jerthorp.glitch.me/}}
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Jer Thorp (born 1974/5){{cite news|url=http://narrative.ly/the-don-of-data/|title=The Don of Data|first=Laure|last=Nouraout|work=Narratively|date=April 3, 2013}} is a Canadian data artist from Vancouver, British Columbia.{{Cite news|url=http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/redrawing-boundaries-real-and-imagined-digital-artist-jer-thorp-st-louis-map-room#stream/0|title=Redrawing boundaries — real and imagined — with digital artist Jer Thorp at the St. Louis Map Room|last=Moffitt|first=Kelly|access-date=2018-03-15|language=en|quote=Noted digital artist and designer Jer Thorp is the lead designer of the project.}} Before becoming a data artist, he was originally trained as a geneticist. He holds an adjunct faculty position at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the Interactive Telecommunications Program.{{cite web|url=https://tisch.nyu.edu/itp/itp-people/faculty/adjuncts/jer-thorp |title=Jer Thorp |publisher=NYU |access-date=2018-02-01}} He was the Data Artist in Residence at the New York Times in 2012, where he created Cascade, a tool for visualizing how stories were shared across social media.{{cite news|last1=LaBarre|first1=Suzanna|title=Infographic Of The Day: Cascade, The New York Times's Tool For Tracking How News Spreads [Video]|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1749756/infographic-day-cascade-new-york-timess-tool-tracking-how-news-spreads-video|work=Fast Company|date=25 April 2011}}{{cite book|last1=Richardson|first1=Andrew|title=Data-driven Graphic Design: Creative Coding for Visual Communication|date=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781474259774|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PXQ4DwAAQBAJ&dq=Jer+Thorp&pg=PA178|language=en}} and the Innovator-In-Residence at the Library of Congress in 2017.{{cite news|url=https://mashable.com/2012/12/11/data-visualization-jer-thorp/#WHQ.EKUYTuqf |title=This Man Makes Data Look Beautiful|author=Lauren Drell |publisher=Mashable |access-date=2018-02-01}}{{cite web|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2017/09/welcoming-jer-thorpe-as-innovator-in-residence/ |title=Welcoming Jer Thorp as the Innovator-In-Residence |date=20 September 2017 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=2018-02-01}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/explorers/9822DA08/jer-thorp |title=Jer Thorp - National Geographic Society |publisher=National Geographic |access-date=2018-02-01 |archive-date=2018-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227213704/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/explorers/9822DA08/jer-thorp |url-status=dead }}
Work
He and Jake Barton created an algorithm that arranged the names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks, respecting their familial, personal and business relationships with each other; his visualization of their relatedness is exhibited at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City.{{cite news|last1=Swaine|first1=Jon|title=9/11 anniversary: the painstaking process to remember all the victims|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/september-11-attacks/8738442/911-anniversary-the-painstaking-process-to-remember-all-the-victims.html|work=The Telegraph|date=2 September 2011}}{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=Julia|last2=Donahue|first2=David M.|title=Art-Centered Learning Across the Curriculum: Integrating Contemporary Art in the Secondary Classroom|date=2015|publisher=Teachers College Press|isbn=9780807773260|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytxtBwAAQBAJ&dq=Jer+Thorp&pg=PA158|language=en}} Thorp collaborated with Mark Hansen, Ben Rubin, and Local Projects to create an interactive timeline of the attacks.{{cite web|url=https://www.fastcodesign.com/3030603/new-museum-uses-algorithms-to-visualize-how-9-11-still-shapes-the-world|publisher=FastCo Design|title=New Museum Uses Algorithms To Visualize How 9/11 Still Shapes The World|author=Shaunacy Ferro|date=2014-05-14}} Thorp's visualization of the influence of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity on contemporary scientific research appeared in Scientific American
Thorp is the co-creator of a data-based public artwork called Herald / Harbinger in downtown Calgary.{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsbrookfield.com/art_collection/herald-harbinger-2/|title=Herald/Harbinger|website=Arts Brookfield|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-09}} He co-founded The Office for Creative Research, which was a Brooklyn data management and visualization consultancy.{{cite web|url=https://ocr.nyc/about/|title=The parts of our sum|publisher=The Office for Creative Research|access-date=2018-02-19|archive-date=2018-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207190340/https://ocr.nyc/about/|url-status=dead}} He is one of the founders of the Eyeo festival.
In 2021, Thorp released his first book, Living in Data: A Citizen's Guide to a Better Information Future.{{Cite book|last=Thorp|first=Jer|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1230253751|title=Living in data : a citizen's guide to a better information|date=2021|isbn=978-0-374-18990-7|edition=1st|location=New York|oclc=1230253751}}{{Cite news|date=2021-04-30|title=It's time to take back control of our data and become active data citizens, says author|work=CBC Radio|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/it-s-time-to-take-back-control-of-our-data-and-become-active-data-citizens-says-author-1.5991100}}
References
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External links
- {{official|http://blog.blprnt.com}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/06/the-art-itself-is-the-software-jer-thorp-on-the-aesthetics-of-data/|title="The art itself is the software": Jer Thorp on the aesthetics of data|work=Niemann Lab|last=Garber|first=Megan|date=June 22, 2010}}
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Category:21st-century Canadian artists
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Data and information visualization experts