Crisis of living – Exploring the relationship between human beings and nature through new media
August 5, 2011 Filed under Center Stage
By He Jianwei
Human development has transformed nature and resulted in ecological disruption and climate change. The hole in the ozone layer, acid rain, deforestation, oil spills, radioactive plumes – these are all imprints of humanity’s desire for development, whatever the cost.
The International Triennial of New Media Art at the National Art Museum presents more than 50 works by 80 artists from 23 countries and regions, using technology to redefine man’s relationship with the ecosystem and inform audiences of the crisis of sustainable living.
On the plaza of the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), a white tunnel extends to the entrance. Designed by the architect Ma Yansong, the Weather Tunnel is a microcosm of the world’s living conditions, presented through 11 pieces of artwork.
Weather can be seen and heard in this tunnel. American artists Benjamin Bacon and Joe Saavedra have an installation called Electromechanical Solenoid Orchestra and Weather Ensemble, using aggregated data from sensor nodes dispersed in the tunnel to compose generative music in real time.
Korean artist Zune Lee worked with the programmers to design a game called Weather Pong v. 1.0, combining Pong and Arkanoid to present weather data from Seoul and Auckland.
If the weather in the cities is good, the game is easier for players. When the weather is worse, the game becomes more difficult. “During gameplay, the audience will have a chance to experience the relationship between nature and man,” Lee said.
The artistic duo Hehe – Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen – also installed sensor kits in the tunnel that measure air quality in Beijing. The computer program transforms the data into visuals.
On the third floor of the museum, a screen shows a computer-generated cloud that constantly changes color. Different colors reflect different pollution levels – red signals the worst and blue the best. The cloud was yellow last Tuesday afternoon – Evans said it signified mild pollution downtown.
“The floating cloud on the screen reflects the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and particle dust suspended in the air,” Evans said.
The duo insists on discussing air pollution in their works. At this exhibition, they present the video Green Cloud, made last year in France.
In it, they show clouds of vapor emitted by the largest waste incinerator in France on the edge of Paris at Ivry-sur-Seine, using a green laser beam to draw the cloud’s outline.
For the last two years, the project has attracted support from local citizens. It has been shown in Finland and France.
Their works haven’t always been the most popular with local governments. While residents and the power plant owner supported their project at Ivry-sur-Seine, local authorities prohibited them from shooting. In the end, they shot the film from a secret location on a resident’s rooftop.
If Hehe’s project shows direct evidence of pollution, Chris Chafe and Greg Niemeyer take a more subtle approach by illuminating the concentration of carbon dioxide in the installation Tomato Quintet using tomatoes ripening in the tent.
Music and light inside a tent are computer-controlled and calibrated according to the tomato’s ripening. The audience’s breath accelerates the ripening process and, as a result, accelerates the music and light.
“It is a heuristic way to educate participants about ozone depletion,” said Zhang Ga, the curator of the exhibition. “Artists can be activists, showing their concerns and discussing social issues in their works.”
Canadian artist Diane Landry contemplates water resources in her installation Knight of Infinite Resignation, with 237 bottles filled with sand bound to 12 wheels. When the wheels rotate, the sand leaks out.
The number of wheels symbolizes the number of hours on a clock and months in a year. “In Landry’s work, there is a sharp contrast between humanity’s myopic attitudes toward exploration of nature and the eternity of cosmic time,” Zhang said.
Other artists propose solutions for environmental issues.
Croatian artist Ines Krasic’s installation, Banana Poetry, seeks to generate alternative energy using fruits and vegetables. She first presented it in 2006 using lemons and bananas. In this exhibition, she chose lemons as the energy source.
A program powered by lemons browses the Internet and analyzes texts. The program was written by using texts from Karl Marx’s Capital and Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, recipes of cookbooks and erotic literature. “Poetry” is randomly generated.
Krasic drew inspiration from her life in Croatia. “We had a tradition of reading poetry in my childhood. But today, poetry is not as popular as before. I miss the days of reading poetry beneath the lemon trees,” she said. “Nature was the source of creation for poets. I hope fruits can provide energy for today’s creation, so I created this work with engineer Ivan Nikolic Lesh, who helped me design the program.”
Although many works in this exhibition are the result of collaboration between artists and scientists, NAMOC director Fan Di’an said it is not an exhibition to popularize scientific knowledge.
“If you visit the science and technology museum, you will definitely feel the difference between art and science,” Fan said. “Their exhibitions show the latest achievements of science and technology, which emphasize the application of science and technology. In the new media art exhibition, science and technology is only a medium to discuss social issues.”
“The exhibition reflects the human relationship with nature and calls for citizens to participate in dealing with imminent challenges,” Zhang said. The goal is to “advocate a new worldview of nature.”
This exhibition is the second new media art exhibition, following the Synthetic Times exhibition in 2008.
Translife – International Triennial of New Media Art
Where: National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Doncheng District
When: Until August 17, 9 am – 5 pm (no entry after 4 pm)
Admission: Free
Tel: 6400 6326
By He Jianwei
Human development has transformed nature and resulted in ecological disruption and climate change. The hole in the ozone layer, acid rain, deforestation, oil spills, radioactive plumes – these are all imprints of humanity’s desire for development, whatever the cost.
The International Triennial of New Media Art at the National Art Museum presents more than 50 works by 80 artists from 23 countries and regions, using technology to redefine man’s relationship with the ecosystem and inform audiences of the crisis of sustainable living.
Brian Station by Wu Juehui/Photos provided by National Art Museum of China
Ambiguous Cut into Space of Conjecture by Herwig Weiser
On the plaza of the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), a white tunnel extends to the entrance. Designed by the architect Ma Yansong, the Weather Tunnel is a microcosm of the world’s living conditions, presented through 11 pieces of artwork.
Weather can be seen and heard in this tunnel. American artists Benjamin Bacon and Joe Saavedra have an installation called Electromechanical Solenoid Orchestra and Weather Ensemble, using aggregated data from sensor nodes dispersed in the tunnel to compose generative music in real time.
Korean artist Zune Lee worked with the programmers to design a game called Weather Pong v. 1.0, combining Pong and Arkanoid to present weather data from Seoul and Auckland.
