The Data of Our Lives, Illustrated

New data is generated every day. By researchers, sure. But also by us, whenever we upload a new photo or status update onto social media. To many, “data” conjures ideas of jumbled numbers and charts, too complicated understand. But what if it were illustrated?

The dozens of artists featured in “Big Bang Data,” a new interactive exhibit at Somerset House in London, have drawn it out for you: There’s a wall of seemingly endless code, a disturbingly detailed Google map plotting pet cats, a collection of globes documenting everything from TV ownership to refugee populations, and even a wall of purloined Facebook photos. The exhibit, which opened Wednesday and runs through February, aims to showcase how the boom in big data during the 21 century has documented and transformed our lives.