Juxtaposition

Short of taking scissors and glue to an atlas, information graphics rarely afford user driven juxtapositions of data sets and visualizations.

Juxtaposition modulates meaning and interpretation, and is the site of much political, social, and cultural meaning. Some juxtapositions are privileged, such as political boundaries on geographic features. Why not national boundaries on maps of language, religion, and ethnicity?

Why not a photograph of the world at night, showing which regions produce the most light adjacent to a map of energy consumption, the flow of oil, and arms purchases from the United States?

The inherent difficulty in constructing and playing with your own juxtapositions out of paper maps dovetails with the the power of the meanings locked into them, and the intentions of their producers.

A digital visualization, since it is responsive, can allow user driven juxtapositions. This is not to say that the user is free from the intention of the producers of the data and visualization strategies used, but rather that the juxtapositions could be chosen by the user.

Multiple juxtapositions are at play in this image from Goode's Atlas. First, there is the juxtaposition between the the earth and the line of mountain ranges and ocean bottoms. While there is no direct vertical mapping between the parallel displays, it is roughly analogous -- each cutaway moves across the globe from left to right, while snaking up and down to hit different features. Labels repeated on the cutaways and the map above help link the parallel displays together.

Another juxtaposition affords comparison between elevations of different oceans and mountains: by looking left and right we can compare the depths and heights of different features from different parts of the globe. Also, certain landmark features are reproduced below others on the cutaway, an additional juxtaposition.

The selection of the cutaway is fixed, and the relationship between the cutaway and the map could be stronger. Both of these problems could be fixed with an interactive juxtaposition, one in which the cutaway lines were drawn on the map and could be manipulated by the user. The user could then choose what parts of the map to cutaway, and the relationship between the cutaways and the map would be strengthened by the indicators and the user's manipulation of that relationship, since the linkage would become "real through use" (Murray 1987).