The Physicalization Project of Statistical Data of the Russian Premier League Teams in the 2022/23 Season

Russian football is not characterized by a good reputation. And with its isolation from international tournaments and, as a result, the lack of international matches, it is going through a difficult period. At this time, it is especially important to maintain interest in it. One of the non-trivial tools for this can be the physicalization of data, namely crochet data-art. This method was chosen for the implementation of this project because of its relevance and personal preferences of the author. The aim of the work was to form an emotional experience with a crochet installation showing the data of performances of Russian Premier League clubs in the season 2022/23. And the hypothesis – the possibility of presenting data in the form of a handmade object without losing information value and attracting the attention of the audience to the topic. Analysis of the research allowed us to derive the principles of coding information into handmade items, which was then applied in the implementation of the project. It took about half a year to create an installation of 16 crocheted objects, each 40 cm high, and a stand for them with dimensions of 270x60 cm. The installation was then shown in the Grand Atrium of the Higher School of Economics, where the audience filled out a questionnaire and shared their impressions. The results of the survey confirmed the hypothesis that it is possible to present infographics in the form of crocheted objects and they will indeed attract the attention of the audience, memorise them and stimulate them to further immersion in the topic. This is the practical significance of the study. Its theoretical significance, in turn, lies in the formulation of principles for the physicalization of data into crocheted or knitted objects. These have been developed based on an analysis of visualization and physicalization studies. The derived principles have been tested as part of the installation work. In addition, the work describes a number of perspectives for the project: this includes transfer to a museum, monetization, physicalization of data from other sports, and reference to the performance history of individual clubs. This project was shortlisted for the HSE CREATIVE OPEN/Infographics competition.