Call for Entries

The program

The VIS Arts Program (VISAP) is a forum where visualization researchers, designers, and media artists come together to discuss topics in data visualization around an annual theme, intended to be relevant to art, design, and academic research communities. It is the biggest associated event in the IEEE VIS conference, and its main goal is to foster new thinking, discussion, and collaboration between fields.

VISAP welcomes a wide range of submissions, including interactive artworks, design projects, novel visualization tools and applications, art-science or artist-in-lab projects, evaluations of data visualizations, and philosophical meditations on the intersections between art and research. These can either be submitted to a paper track, or to an exhibition track (read details below). Accepted works will be published on the official VISAP website and in a dedicated exhibition catalogue, and will be indexed in the IEEE Xplore digital library.

The Theme

The theme for VISAP'21 is "dis/connected." We invite submissions that reflect the many different ways in which the dis/connection is formed, discovered, created, enacted, and changed by visualizing data in all broader meanings and scopes.

Feeling a connection is a core human need. As social beings, we naturally gravitate towards and seek out genuine connections with others in our natural environment and social communities. When neglecting such needs, we often put the health of ourselves, our communities, and the world at risk. Technology has helped people overcome obstacles of distance, language, and social status to stay connected, and yet our society is divided as a result of cultural barriers, religious beliefs, or simply different political positions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our abilities to maintain connections with others are further tested. While we are connected through technology, issues such as health equality and social justice have revealed the disconnections and divisions among us. Understanding such disconnections in our polarized world and building relations that lead to mutual understanding and respect have become a pressing mission of our communities.

Within this year’s theme "dis/connected" we invite visualization works that question what the meaning of the dis/connections is in a broader spectrum. VISAP'21 proposes a space to reveal causes of disconnection, investigate ways of building and maintaining connections with others in our changing societies, cultures, and environments. We especially seek data-driven art and design that provokes alternative viewpoints to facilitate the discussion about connection and disconnection.

VISAP'21 welcomes work in art and design that addresses dis/connection — including interactive data visualization, web-based experience design, 3D printed sculptures, data-driven design in VR/AR/XR, digital fabrications, sound works, writing, print, video, data storytelling and other multimedia forms.

Submission Details

Submissions can either be made to:

  1. A paper track: Extended abstract with a 10 page limit, including references;
  2. A pictorial track (annotated portfolios): 16 page limit, in InDesign or Word template
  3. An exhibition track: Two-page description of the exhibit, accompanied by any relevant visuals and/or sound files

All submissions are due by June 10, 2021 (extended deadline), using the Precision Conference System (PCS). Please read the Submission Instructions for details.

Note: VISAP aims to foster discussions around the relationships between the design process and the final artifact. We encourage all artists and designers to showcase and describe the process of research creation when producing visualizations or data-driven art pieces.

Accepted submissions to the paper track will be presented during one of two paper sessions, while accepted exhibits and pictorials will be displayed during an opening reception, and throughout the conference in a specially allocated exhibition space. They may also be offered an opportunity to give a presentation in the paper session.

We look forward to your participation!

Yoon Chung Han and Charles Perin
VISAP'21 General Chairs