Ojo De Dios

“Ojos de Dios", “god’s eyes,” are traditionally ritual objects made by the Huichol (wet-chol) indigenous people of Mexico. 

This data-art activity is inspired by these objects and designed to be created to show bimodal data (over/under, high/low) in a colorful and creative way. Students start with two sticks or popsicle sticks in a cross configuration and choose two colors of yarn or string. The students decide which data each color represents, ex. blue means below average and red means over average. Starting with the first year of data, they wrap the yarn over, under, and around each stick in a loop to represent each year of data. They continue with each year, wrapping the appropriate color of yarn that corresponds with the data, until the have a completed data-art project!

Tips: Securing the sticks together with hot glue or other adhesive helps young participants get started. We also recommend making marks on the sticks to help with creating a scale for knowing how many times to wrap each stick with yarn.