German-American artist Hans Haacke created a participatory physical bar chart as part of a 1970 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The audience expressed his opinion on the question "Would the fact that Governor Rockefeller has not denounced President Nixon's Indochina Policy be a reason for your not voting for him in November?". The left plexiglass box collected "Yes" answers, while the right box collected "No" answers. Rockefeller was running for re-election and was a major donor and board member at the museum. He tried to have the piece removed the next day but without success.
For more recent examples of participatory bar charts, see our entry on Lucy Kimbell's inverted participatory bar charts and our entry on Jennifer Payne's physical visual sedimentation.
Sources:
- Found on Loren Madsen's lecture slides Art as Information - Information as Art.
- Graham Budgett MoMA Poll - Hans Haacke.
- Wikipedia article on Hans Haacke.
- Hans Haacke (2009) Lessons learned.
- Left photo from Irmgard Emmelhainz, right photo from language.cont3xt.net.