Anne-Laure Fréant is a French artist and technical writer whose work explores how knowledge, memory, and environmental data can be embedded into physical forms.
Her practice spans datasculpture, photography, and ceramics, transforming historical and scientific data into tangible, contemplative artworks.
Flood Necklace is a ceramic datasculpture made from Loire Valley clay, where each sphere represents a recorded flood of the Loire River
From embedding Loire River flood data into ceramic spheres to visualizing seasonal river flows in wood, Anne-Laure’s work blends rigorous research with inventive storytelling, turning numbers into sculptural narratives.
She investigates how technical and environmental knowledge can be represented and archived across time, drawing from geography, environmental history, and the history of technology. Each project combines scientific data with aesthetic experimentation, creating works that are both informative and visually striking.
The Life of a River by represents monthly water heights of the Loire River using stacked wooden discs, capturing seasonal variations from 2000 to 2022.
Her datasculpture projects, including The Flood Necklace and The Life of a River, explore historical and hydrological phenomena, highlighting the interplay between data, memory, and materiality.
Anne-Laure also documents her process and insights in dedicated blogs, contributing to research and reflection on data physicalization.
Anne-Laure's interest for data-physicalization and data-sculpture goes beyond experimenting with material.
In 2026, she is launching a new publication called Datartefact, a visual and artistic magazine entirely dedicated to the practices of making objects from and with data. The publication will feature both historical artefacts and contemporary artistic projects, showcase a curated selection of art-pieces, explore history of sciences and techniques, and feature a selection of websites and books to nourish analysis and creativity.
The first issue will be published in the Spring 2026 (print & digital). You can reach out to Anne-Laure here for more info.
A ceramic datasculpture made from Loire Valley clay, where each sphere represents a recorded flood of the Loire River in Orléans between 1800 and 2003.
A wooden datasculpture representing monthly water height data of the Loire River in Orléans from 2000 to 2022, each disc symbolizing a year in the river’s changing flow.
Anne-Laure’s work has been exhibited in virtual galleries and academic contexts, and continues to explore the intersection of data, geography, and sculptural practice.
Data To Art is a curated online gallery celebrating outstanding data art projects. Reach out if you’d like to submit your work for consideration.
