I learned about Carbon Goggles from the good people at PopTech. Carbon Goggles is a new application that allows us to visualize real world carbon emissions data in the virtual world of Second Life. The brainchild of Jim Purbrick, a developer with Linden Lab, makers of Second Life. Carbon Goggles allows users to tag virtual cars and such with real world carbon footprint data pulled from the carbon counting web service, AMEE , to the virtual counterparts of objects like Honda Civics. According to critical readers of PopTech, the AMEE service is not terribly robust, so we will need to wait to tag everything, like our jet-powered vests and other game-worthy, carbon-spewing, wearables.
Pollstream – Nuage Vert has won two very prestigious prizes for their stunning site-specific transformation of the emissions cloud above a Finnish power plant. The group won a much-deserved 2008 Golden Nica in Hybrid Art, and was also awarded the 01SJ Green Prix for Environmental Art at the second edition of 01SJ Festival in San Jose, US.
In February of 2008, laser rays traced the cloud of emissions from the Salmisaari power plant in Helsinki. The illumination level corresponded to the current level of electricity consumption by the local residents.
So many new ecoviz projects to log…apologies for my lengthy hiatus which I lovingly blame on my new son, Duncan!
Published by Tiffany Holmes April 8th, 2008
in Ecoviz Artists.
Please participate in my new artwork that counts carbon promises!
World Offset is an interactive website which allows individuals to pledge carbon offsets that alter the visuals in the eco-visualization.
The animation launched on March 22, 2008 with no carbon offsets. All of the spinning disks were then filled with devices that consume energy: hairdryers, toasters, cars, and airplanes.
The piece begins with no carbon offsets and all of the spinning disks are filled with devices that consume energy: hairdryers, cars, and airplanes. When the first 75,000 pounds of carbon are promised, a change occurs in the animation: trees replace hairdryers.
The initial goal of the animation was to offset at minimum 15,000 pounds of carbon, the amount that the average American consumes per year. The fact that so many real promises are required to offset the impact of one individual is in itself a demonstration of the enormous challenge of modifying human behavior to slow climate change. This initial goal of 15,000 lbs was met during the exhibition opening.
Presently, more than half a million pounds of carbon must be offset to fully “green” the animation at the ECOVIZ link on the site.
Published by Tiffany Holmes March 22nd, 2008
in Ecoviz Artists.
EcoAesthetics opens today at the <>TAG platform in the Netherlands; it is a new exhibition featuring the recent works of contemporary media artists exploring environmental data visualization: Scott Amron, Ben Arendt, Jurian Booij, Beatriz da Costa, DIY Kyoto, Yolande Harris, Tiffany Holmes, Lucid Design Group, Michael Mandiberg, Eve Mosher, Brooke Singer, and Tjerk Stoop.
The ecoAesthetics program invites viewers to examine traces of information presented in various “translated” forms as creative expression, and consider whether art and technology can help us look at our environment in a potentially more meaningful way.
Here are the questions the curators, Hicham Khalidi and Tiffany Holmes put to the audience: How can an artist visually or sonically translate everyday information? What are innovative artists and designers doing to promote conservation of resources using innovative technology and creative thinking? How can art make us more aware of the kilowatts we consume or the carbon we emit? And can artists significantly inspire viewers to be more environmentally sensitive by giving information a particular form or sound?
Saving energy is really simple according to designer Scott Amron. Amron has created a whole line or urgently funny objects that are crafted to fit into common household outlets but not draw any electricity. The notion is to block the plugs to prevent the household from drawing additional power. See Amron’s website, dieelectric.org, for a whole slew of ironic products.
Published by Tiffany Holmes January 16th, 2008
in Ecoviz Artists.
The Studio for Urban Projects has created a visualization of popular eco-jargon: In Popular Terms. The text is interactive; clicking on the term “sustainable” for example, searches a series of ten websites to track the relative frequency of usage from January 2004 to the present. Trendy terms like “green” and “sustainable” peak in the last two years while more fuddy-duddy terms like “wilderness” show a consistency of low usage. While the developers poll only a smattering of news sites, the piece is incredibly telling. The language of the environmental movement is as changeable as hem length is in the world of fashion. This piece won one of the $2000 Eco-Vis Design Challenge prizes and is presently being exhibited at Eyebeam as part of the Feedback exhibition.
For all you creative types, here is a great way to showcase your talents and do something earth-friendly.
Not only is there an environmental crisis, but an environmental data crisis. Viewing statistics on environmental change is usually overwhelming, unintelligible, hidden and dense. Eyebeam invites artists to collaborate with technologists to redefine what the future of tracking and visualizing the environment could be.
The Eco-challenge is composed of two parts:
Challenge 1: Eco Icons invites participants to create one or many information graphics that could be used to make visible environmental/ecological concerns.
Challenge 2: Eco Vis focuses on the creations of an eco-visualization based on at least one set of ecological impact data.
Winning designs will be awarded cash prizes and, along with finalists, be included in an upcoming Eyebeam exhibition. Detailed guidelines were released on September 15, in conjunction with the Conflux Festival.
This challenge is an initiative of Eyebeam’s Sustainability Research Group and has been crafted by Research Group members and Eyebeam Alumni, Michael Mandiberg and Brooke Singer.
Published by Tiffany Holmes October 5th, 2007
in Ecoviz Artists.
Bart Woodstrup recently launched his MFA thesis show at RPI titled “Climate Change.” In the show, he has several interesting pieces featured. In The Hottest Year on Record, Woodstrup makes use of the Global Mean Temperature Anomalies from 1880 - 2006 to make the sound of global warming audible to the gallery audience. Woodstrup designed custom software that uses appropriated “loops” from the song “Here Comes the Sun” and plays the loop faster or slower depending upon how hot the particular year was (each loop represents a year between 1880 - 2006). 2007 plays particularly fast; it is 88 degrees here in Chicago today.
Click for Woodstrup’s website.
