Monarch Butterfly Migration Patterns I

Data visualization of the seasonal migration patterns of monarch butterflies.

 

I found public maps depicting the geographical progression of the butterflies over the fall 2018 season (published by University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum) and plotted those points into three-dimensional space in Rhino. Those points were then lofted in Grasshopper, and translated into a physical shape. I played with wireframes and 3D renderings to figure out what form was best to present this data visualization, and wound up creating a series of four 2D images (final four images) which present an abstracted visualization of the migration patterns over time and space.

 

While the forms are derived from biological data points, they take on an identity of their own- coalescing and gathering to make unexpected shapes and patterns. As the lines break away from their didactic narrative function, they yield strange new images.

 

 

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