Jennifer Chenoweth
Mapping the emotional topography of a community
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About Jennifer Chenoweth
Visual artist and entrepreneur Jennifer Chenoweth is the creator of XYZ Atlas, a hedonic map that portrays the feelings, stories and life experiences of people living in and visiting Austin, Texas. By asking people where they had their most significant emotional experiences, she created a topographic map of emotions of a city.
XYZ Atlas is one of the latest projects in Jennifer Chenoweth’s process, one that continually blurs the lines of the relationship between artists, their work and their audience. She utilizes visual art as a tool for social change through inspiration and connection.
Her current project, “Come Over, Come Eat, Come Play”, is a community placemaking project in Wilkinsburg, PA in 2017 and 2018. Wilkinsburg is a place that intensely reveals the effects of change in America. Her goal is to activate and share the beauty of Wilkinsburg - as embodied by its citizens, historic buildings and sacred spaces, and culture.
About This Talk
According to visual artist and entrepreneur Jennifer Chenoweth, "A city isn’t just land, streets, and buildings, but places overlaid with the diverse history of many people." In one of her most recent projects, XYZ Atlas, Jennifer captured the many stories of the people living in and visiting the city of Austin, Texas—from joyful encounters to traumatic events. In compiling and mapping these emotional accounts, Jennifer created a collective hedonic history for the community and then shared it as a tool for inspiration, connection, and social change. Tune in to Jennifer's 2017 TEDMED Talk to see how questions such as "Where did you fall in love?" and "Where did you experience disgust?" are creatively and meaningfully expressed across a community.