Upcoming: Data Physicalization Workshop — June 27th

What if your next chart wasn't on a screen?

Join tcplot for a hands-on morning of data physicalization — translating real datasets into objects you can hold, turn over, and put on your desk. We'll explore paper, thread, beads, and the surprisingly hard question of what to encode when you can't reach for a library.

We'll draw inspiration from projects like Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec's Dear Data, Nathalie Miebach's weather sculptures, and the broader tradition of data physicalization (dataphys.org). The constraint is the point: when you can't pipe data into ggplot, you have to make real decisions about hierarchy, encoding, and what's actually worth showing.

What you'll do

• ▸ Pick from a handful of small, pre-prepared datasets (Twin Cities weather, MN bird sightings, library checkouts, a week of your own personal data, or any other data)
• ▸ Work solo or in pairs to translate it into a physical artifact
• ▸ Share what you made and what surprised you
• ▸ Leave with the object you built

What we'll provide

Cardstock, embroidery thread, beads, tape, markers, making supplies, datasets printed and ready to go.

What to bring

Yourself. Optionally, a week of personal data you've been tracking (sleep, coffee, steps, moods, anything) or your own craft supplies of choice.

Who this is for

Anyone curious about data visualization — practitioners working in D3, Tableau, ggplot2, Observable, or none of the above. No craft skills required.

Hope to see you there!