NYC Clock

Data Through Design 2024
In collaboration with Ziyu Zhang



Clock time is not an absolute truth but a cultural artifact. The project asks what it would mean to create our own clock, utilizing data from something we care about as a time-giver.

In a city like NYC, where values such as "Mind your own business" and "Time is money” dominate, we propose a speculative visualization and installation inspired by the designer’s experiences in crisis as a means to challenge this perception. The project utilizes data on the number of people seeking help (including 911 End-to-End, NYPD Calls for Service, 311 Service Requests from 2010 to Present, 311 Call Center Inquiry), alongside other installation clocks like a nature clock (sunset-sunrise data), a business clock (UTC time), and a Myself clock (slee and awake data). As a prototype, this clock offers multiple avenues for usage and interpretation, envisioning future clocks that could connect to various data sources through open APIs.