Laurie Frick
Laurie Frick | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Data artist |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | Converting personal device self-tracking information into artwork and installations |
Laurie Frick is a data artist who converts personal device self-tracking information into meticulously crafted artworks and immersive installations.
Early life and education
Frick started her professional journey in the technology sector, notably heading the emerging markets division for consumer products at Compaq in 1996, before shifting her focus to visual arts. After dedicating nearly twenty years to technology, she obtained her MFA from the New York Studio School in 2007.
Career
Motivated by data from sleep monitoring gadgets, Frick approaches data as an artistic resource. Utilizing materials such as watercolors, leather, and glass, she transforms wellness, exercise, and personality metrics into colorful creations—a practice she has maintained for more than ten years.
Style
Laurie Frick produces geometric paintings, sculptures, and installations frequently organized around grid patterns. As noted by Wired Magazine, her creations convey "a warmth unattainable through technology alone." NPR's Laurie Sydell likens her work to "a spreadsheet imagined by Mondrian," with artist Barbara Purcell also acknowledging Piet Mondrian’s influence.
Themes
Frick’s medium is self-tracking data, with the intention to "explore how it feels to perceive oneself through personal data." Her paintings act as "data portraits" that reveal the hidden rhythms of daily life. In 2020, she cited Ben Lipkowitz from the Quantified Self community, who carefully recorded his everyday activities to build a future self-avatar.
According to Frick, data-driven art enables individuals to gain deeper self-awareness and rediscover overlooked or unfamiliar facets of their existence. For instance, in an interview with the Huffington Post, she shared findings from sleep tracking: her husband's sleep quality score was twice hers, illustrating how sleep patterns can serve as distinctive markers akin to a fingerprint.
Reception
Frick’s artwork has been showcased across prominent media platforms such as NPR’s All Things Considered, The Atlantic, and The Los Angeles Times, alongside digital art publications like Artnet and Hyperallergic. In 2011, Leah Ollman of the Los Angeles Times lauded Frick’s exhibit at Edward Cella Art + Architecture as "an invigorating exploration of pattern, rhythm, repetition, and variation," highlighting a harmonious blend of scientific discipline and playful creativity.
A 2015 article in The Atlantic featured Frick alongside artists including Danish Jeppe Hein and American Hans Haacke, identifying a trend of using self-tracking data to examine human experiences, while questioning the ultimate effectiveness of this artistic approach. Allison Meier from Hyperallergic noted that Frick’s pieces provide "enhanced insight into ourselves through spatial and temporal contexts."
Major exhibitions
2019, Transylvania University, Data, Mine: Hasan Elahi & Laurie Frick, Lexington, KY 2017, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCA&D), Quantified-Self: the data doesn't lie. 2015, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, Who are you, what day is it? New York, NY 2013, Oklahoma Contemporary, Walking, Eating, Sleeping, Oklahoma City, OK 2012, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Death and Life of an Object, Los Angeles, CA 2011, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Laurie Frick: Sleep Patterns, Los Angeles, CA
Commissions
2020, What We Eat, An interactive digital application created for Google Arts & Culture, London, UK 2018, Tempo Refresh, Mural located at the 500ft Lamar underpass featuring paint, upholstered signage, and LED solar lighting, Austin, TX 2018, Facebook, Installation spanning 45 feet on wall and ceiling, composed of handcut wooden blocks and leather materials, Austin, TX
Public Talks
2019, Google, Presentation titled Talks at Google: Data is Irresistible, Austin, TX 2019, SXSW, Discussion on The evolving role of Women in the Arts, Austin, TX 2018, TEDx LadyBirdLake, Lecture entitled I want my data!, Austin, TX 2017, SXSW, Talk called Relationships are Ripe for Machine Learning, Austin, TX 2016, IBM Design Research Conference keynote speech on The art of data, Austin, TX 2016, DC Art Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER), Cultural program hosted by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC 2015, Advertising Age Data Conference presentation titled Data is Beautiful, New York, NY 2015, SXSW talk named From Digital Sharecropping to Data Emancipation, Austin, TX 2014, Creative Mornings lecture on Human data: don't hide... get more, Austin, TX 2013, TEDx Austin presentation called The art of self-surveillance, Austin, TX
Awards
2012, Recognized as Outstanding Artist of the Year by the Austin Art Critics Table awards
2012, Awarded Swing Space studio residency by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York