Oceans of Air
balloons, fishing rods, air sensors
We are living at the bottom of an ocean of air. The atmosphere, from the boundary layer with the ground up through to the stratosphere is a 70 kilometre deep, dynamic ocean. Air masses and the substances carried within them travel globally in hours, days or weeks. As we breathe in and out, air is the medium that quite directly binds us all together.
Oceans of Air explores processes of measuring and representing our Earth’s atmosphere. Rather than focusing on data being the primary driver of knowledge production of an environment, this work explores the practices that surround the point of data collection and the different registers of attention it produces in the observer.
This collaborative work was initiated at the SCANZ2011: EcoSapians in New Plymouth, New Zealand in January 2011 and was continued at the 2011 Floating Land Festival held on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The project was inspired by interactions with collaborating scientist Ramon Guardans, who for twenty years has been involved in international action on atmospheric and marine pollution. The work explores measurement, predication and narratives of atmospheric investigation.
Developed in collaboration with Kirsty Boyle and UN atmospheric scientist Ramon Guardans.
Related Links
+ SCANZ2011: EcoSapians in New Plymouth, New Zealand
+ Exhibited at Floating Land, Sunshine Coast, 2011