You attended a public event, a workshop, or a lecture at the Complexity Science Hub? Grab a pin and mark your spot in “Connect Yourself”, an interactive, ever-growing installation.
From now on, when you enter the Complexity Science Hub and walk up to the atrium, you’re in for an unusual sight: a fabric-wrapped bench bristling with pins and yarn connecting names, research topics, and positions ‒ a tangible representation of the CSH network!
Whether you’re stopping by for a lecture, joining us for a research visit, or just passing through — everyone has a place in this cosmos. Take one of the provided pins, mark it with the color that best describes your background and current position, and connect it to the people at CSH your visit relates to. Launched last Friday, the installation “Connect Yourself” invites staff, guests, and visitors to pinpoint their place and their connections within the Complexity Science Hub.
VISUALIZING NEW DATA THROUGH PARTICIPATION
The installation was designed and created by Ariane Burda, who is currently studying Digital Humanities and Archival Sciences at the University of Vienna. As part of her CSH summer internship and within the CSH Data Visualization team, Ariane took on the challenge of visualizing the patterns in collaboration and knowledge flows at the Complexity Science Hub for the institute’s 10 year anniversary.
Ariane, who also has a background in graphic design, decided to go for a physical form of visualization – so she got to work with pen, paper, glue, wood, and hacksaw. After numerous design iterations and visits to the DIY store, she created the pinboard as a means of thinking about collaboration at CSH – not simply as something to be visualized from existing data, but as something that could itself generate new data through participation: with every visitor, the installation reveals another node and connection in the CSH network.
“‘Connect Yourself’ explores the concept of Input Visualization,” says Liuhuaying Yang, who leads the Data Visualization team, “meaning a visual representation designed to collect and represent new data, rather than simply encode pre-existing datasets. In this case, the installation becomes a participatory space where visitors are invited to contribute their input, making their participation part of both the visualization and the data being represented.”
The pinboard is already filling up with names as we speak ‒ when you come visit us, feel free to add yours!
Ariane was part of the 2026 CSH summer internship program. If you’re interested in joining next year, find all information here.
