Seoyeon Lee

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File:03. Literature Review Seoyeon Lee.pdf01. Midterm Presentation on Nov 24, 2025

02. Final Presentation on Jan 06, 2026

03. Literature Review on Jan 26, 2026

04. Documentation on Apr 23, 2026

Small Stones In Concrete: A Data Research and Visualization Project

Concrete

Motivation

The project Small Stones In Concrete began with a simple moment: while collecting small stones in front of my house, I accidentally picked up a piece of concrete, mistaking it for a stone. When I realized that it was not a stone but concrete, I found myself thinking, “It really looks like a stone.” This led me to a series of questions: What makes a stone a stone? Why can this object not be considered a stone? Interestingly, the concrete itself contained many small, real stones. Despite holding so many stones within it, why can this mass not be a stone? As these questions accumulated in my mind, I began this project as an exploration of what fundamentally defines a stone.

Microscopic view of concrete

Experiment

To examine the essence of concrete, I visited a Bio Lab and observed concrete under a microscope. Inside, I found countless small stones, and around them, even traces of moss were growing, making it appear as if a small world existed within. Through this process, I became increasingly interested in these small stones. It led me to wonder whether these tiny elements might actually be what supports the concrete itself. In fact, concrete is made by mixing water, cement, and aggregates such as gravel and sand. These small stones, in particular, are essential for giving concrete its strength and durability, preventing it from easily breaking apart. Although they are too small to be clearly recognized without a microscope, the presence of these countless tiny stones ultimately makes the existence of concrete possible.

Datasheet

Next, my way of engaging with these small stones was to create a data sheet. I measured their width and height, calculated their surface area, recorded their positions within the concrete, and noted their total points—the visible protrusions observed on each stone. Of course, since countless small stones existed within the concrete, I selected those that were relatively large, visually prominent, and easier to measure as representative samples for constructing this sheet. In the process of recording and representing this data, I referred to Circulating Reference: Sampling the Soil in the Amazon Forest by Bruno Latour. If these small stones are the essence of concrete, then what would happen if their data were translated into digital form, recreating stones of the same size and in the same positions? Could such a digital mass of concrete also be considered a “real” entity that fully embodies the essence of actual concrete?

Data-driven simulation

Data-driven simulation

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Simulation Video

Outcome

Finally, I went through the process of transferring the data of these small stones into the digital world. I began by 3D scanning the concrete, importing its form, and reducing it to only its outline. I then placed the stones according to the positions recorded in the data sheet and applied their respective widths and heights. In addition, I translated the total points—referring to the visible protrusions observed on each stone—into the digital space by assigning the same number of points to each corresponding stone. Although I transferred nearly all of the measured data, one crucial question remained: how should the points of each stone be connected? This aspect remained unknown. I decided to explore this infinite range of possibilities through simulation. The continuously generated random stones reflect the original data of real stones, yet their forms are infinitely variable. Is it truly possible to fully translate the essence of a stone into the digital realm? This question remains open.

Elemental Layers of Concrete

Further Development

Until now, I have understood the essence of these small stones through their external appearance. I regarded elements such as the number of points they have, their width and height, and their surface area as their defining characteristics. However, in order to approach another layer of essence—not their appearance, but what constitutes them—I commissioned a scan that analyzes the individual components within the concrete.

As a result, I obtained data in which elements such as Aluminum, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Silicon, Zinc, Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Titanium are visualized through color, indicating their relative presence within the concrete. The image above presents a composition of selected element maps, including Calcium (CaK), Silicon (SiK), Zinc (ZnK), Aluminum (AlK), along with a Total Count (TCnt) image that combines the signals of all detected elements.

Through this, it became possible to identify the material composition within the concrete. Furthermore, these concentration-based datasets suggest the potential for further development into another form of data-driven artistic visualization.