Particle Falls

source: sensingchangechemheritageorg

Public Art by Andrea Polli
“Air—it’s invisible. We can’t really see it, touch it, know that it exists . . .

How can we become more aware of what’s happening with our air before we experience asthma or other problems that come from poor air?”

Andrea Polli, digital-media artist and creator of Particle Falls

Particle Falls is a large-scale, real-time visualization of air-quality data.

On a background of falling blue light, spots of bright, fiery color emerge and crackle, representing the presence of fine particulate matter, as detected by a nearby air monitor. Fewer bright spots over the falls mean fewer particles in the air.

Particle Falls draws our attention to the invisible particles that surround us and that may affect our health. While the visible smog that plagued many U.S. urban centers decades ago has been mitigated by technology and regulatory measures, microscopic threats to our air continue to exist and often go unnoticed. Particle Falls is one way we can learn more about the quality of air around us.

“Philadelphia has come a long way in improving the quality of the air we breathe, but our work isn’t done. Particle Falls makes it possible to see—in real time and vivid color—the challenges we continue to face.” Thomas Huynh, Director, Air Management Services, City of Philadelphia

This installation, originally shown in San Jose, California, in 2010, was projected onto the façade of the Wilma Theater, at Broad and Spruce streets in Philadelphia, from September 26 to December 1, 2013. For more visitor information, as well as media from Particle Falls events, click here.

Andrea Polli is a digital-media artist whose work merges art, science, and technology to address how natural and man-made systems are connected. Since 1999 Polli has focused on environmental-science issues in her work and has collaborated extensively with atmospheric scientists. Most recently Polli worked with scientists to develop systems for understanding climate through sound using sonification, a process by which data is translated into sound.
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source: greenmeit

Una cascata che si colora a seconda di quanto è inquinata l’aria. Una cascata di luce, blu o gialla o rossa, che cambia a seconda della percezione in tempo reale dell’inquinamento atmosferico.

Il suo nome è “Particle Falls” (dell’artista Andrea Polli) e quello che la contraddistingue è che in realtà si tratta di un’installazione rientrante in un progetto di arte pubblica, ma ha dalla sua l’onere di inviare un messaggio: quanto alti siano i livelli di inquinamento nella nostra aria e quanto siano invisibili ai nostri occhi.
Polli, professoressa associata di arte ed ecologia all’Università del New Mexico, ha debuttato con questa installazione di arte digitale a San Jose, in California, nel 2010. Ora, dopo Detroit, Philadelphia e Pittsburgh, “Particle Falls” è a Logan, nello Utah, in esposizione all’interno della rassegna ARTsySTEM project della Utah State University.

COME FUNZIONA – La cascata è controllata con un nefelometro, uno strumento meteorologico che analizza in tempo reale le particelle sospese basandosi sulla misura della luce diffusa. In pratica riproduce in un flusso costante di luci acquose i dati sulla presenza di particolato nell’aria, captati da un nefelometro. Lo strumento spara un fascio luminoso in aria per misurare la concentrazione delle particelle sottili, in particolare la più piccola particella, la PM2,5. In questo modo, si monitora l’impatto quotidiano dell’inquinamento atmosferico.
“A Detroit e Philadelphia, per esempio, lo strumento che monitora il particolato [nefelometro] è stato collocato su una strada trafficata vicino a un semaforo”, ha spiegato Polli. “Siamo stati così in grado di vedere gli effetti di vari tipi di autobus, vedendo un miglioramento reale nell’aria tra la circolazione di autobus e quella di veicoli diesel. Tuttavia, a Pittsburgh e Logan, il contesto era molto diverso”. Polli ha notato che il persistere di alti livelli di Pm2,5 in queste due città è stato causato da un effetto di inversione in inverno nello Utah e la presenza dell’industria a Pittsburgh.
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source: articleno
Andrea Polli is a digital media artist, Associate Professor in Fine Arts and Engineering and Mesa Del Sol Chair of Digital Media at The University of New Mexico. Polli’s work with science, technology and media has been presented widely in venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art Artport and The Field Museum of Natural History. Her work has been reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Art in America, Art News, NY Arts and others. In 2007/2008, she spent seven weeks in Antarctica on a National Science Foundation funded residency.

Supported by The Finnish Bioart Society, The University of Helsinki Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, The Long Term Ecological Network, The National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, The University of Colorado, Boulder Center for Humanities and the Arts, Department of Art and Art History, ATLAS Institute and Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and the PSC-CUNY Research Foundation