Nash, C., Briggs, J., 2026.

Cybernetic portraits at the collision of program and problem

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
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In 1968, Margaret Mead said that the most significant component of a system is the person who creates the model of that system. When we take data, and translate it into form, how do we insert ourselves -- our cultural perceptions and biases -- into that process? This paper presents informational graphics created by the first author during an 18-month long study of civic crowdfunding, a process whereby activists use digitally driven fundraising to develop value for their communities (
<jats:xref>Light & Briggs, 2017</jats:xref>
). These diagrams were created using varied co-creative methods that sought to be inclusive, localized, and critically reflexive.
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