Highland Park, New Jersey
February 12, 2016
Visual Interpretation of LinkedIn Economic Graph looks at the intersection among abstract digital art and LinkedIn’s technological platform for professional networking.
The relationship between these dimensions is represented aesthetically as well as ideologically. It is an attempt to integrate digital art with the globalization and rise of the web as democratization agent to evoke viewer emotions using the browser’s window as canvas.
As an artistic and cultural artifact, this work focuses on my interpretation of digital mapping the global economy as the central concept underlying LinkedIn Economic Graph.
LinkedIn’s technological platform in which all communications flow within and among sub-groups of networks is symbolized as black-colored matrix that composes the background of the painting. Networks are represented as circles, ovals and rectangles whereas lines represent the flow of capital within and among networks. Economic opportunities created by the flow of capital are represented by solid colors contained within circles, ovals and rectangular figures.
How this artwork came to be:
Martin Calvino created an original digital edition of this artwork in response to a request from Glenn Manko (LinkedIn's Talent Solution Division) as an intellectual and artistic pursuit after visiting the NYC offices of LinkedIn on February 8, 2016.
"Painting must be fertile.
It must give birth to a world...it must fertilize the imagination"
Joan Miro
Art originates on the right side of the brain but quickly knocks on the left side in order to survive...in order to communicate...in order to thrive. It is through these very processes that I discovered the work of Scientist...Artist...Technologist...Martin Calvino. In January 2016, Calvino published a post on LinkedIn and it was the following paragraph that spoke to me with such passion that I immediately connected with him and then asked if we could meet.
"One thing that really interests me as scientist, artist and technologist is the humanization of science through art. Very often we hear about the intersection of art with technology as a fertile field for innovation, however, we seldom listen about the intersection of art with science. Art brings empathy when communicating with the intended audience and has the capacity to convey complex concepts into simpler ones."
Knowing that one of LinkedIn's fundamental core missions is to create economic opportunity at scale, e.g. the LinkedIn Economic Graph, I felt as if this artist had the empathetic capacity to appreciate what we at LinkedIn are doing. So, doing what we often refer to as taking an intelligent risk, I reached out...invited him to our offices in New York, and spent a couple of hours talking about the Economic Graph, our mission, vision, values, our culture and ultimately challenged him to visualize that "intersection" of art and all he felt and experienced while walking around our offices...with LinkedIn's culture and our Economic Graph. We spent time talking and walking and meeting people and discussing many, many things. Two perfect strangers that connected through technology through our love of art and commerce...
The visual result is what Calvino describes as "intersection of art and commerce," and I am proud to call him friend and honored to be the recipient of his masterful and brilliant work.
Glenn Manko | Philadelphia | February 2016
Keywords: Martin Calvino; digital art; LinkedIn; economic graph