Data Vandals: Taking Data Visualization Off the Screen and Into the Streets

About this episode

The episode discusses how Jen Ray and Jason Forrest bring data visualization into the physical world through various creative methods.

In this episode, I sat down with Jen Ray and Jason Forrest—the married duo behind Data Vandals—to talk about their remarkable approach to bringing data visualization off the screen and into the physical world. What started as a pandemic-era poster campaign in New York City evolved into street theater, interactive gallery installations, and a Piaggio Ape three-wheeler touring London with opinion surveys. We talked about how they use isotypes, stickers, and hand-painted signs to spark real conversations between strangers about everything from gun violence to foxes to billionaires. We also got into their recent workshops in the Netherlands and Budapest, and their stunning new installation at Los Angeles Union Station about the city's native wildlife. If you've ever wondered whether people will actually stop and engage with data—even on a cold March day in the East Village—this episode will convince you they will. Keywords: data visualization, data vandals, Jen Ray, Jason Forrest, physical data visualization, data art, community engagement, isotype, street data, data physicalization, data communication, PolicyViz podcast, data storytelling, interactive data, data literacy, public…

People in this episode

Host: PolicyViz Podcast

Guests: Jen Ray, Jason Forrest

Topics covered

• data visualization
• community engagement
• street art
• interactive installations
• data storytelling

Keywords

• data visualization
• data vandals
• physical data visualization
• community engagement
• data storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Data Vandals

More episodes of The PolicyViz Podcast

• Outlier 2026: What to Expect at This Year's Data Visualization Society Conference · June 3, 2026 · 40 min
• Reimagining Civic Participation: The Digital Democracy Project · May 20, 2026 · 36 min
• Mapping the Invisible: Inside the Atlas of Macroscopes · May 7, 2026 · 45 min
• Why Government Makes Things Hard: Don Moynihan on Administrative Burden · April 8, 2026 · 36 min
• AI, Dashboards, and Human Decisions: A Conversation with Melanie Tory · March 25, 2026 · 36 min
• From PDFs to Pit Lane: Building a Real-Time Data Product for McLaren Racing · March 11, 2026 · 37 min