Roadside Garden Taipei
Andrea Polli, Dr. Chung-Ming Liu and various collaborators
Roadside Garden Taipei (2007) is a desktop application that downloads and visualizes daily amounts of CO (carbon monoxide) in the atmosphere in Taipei. The build up of carbon monoxide is visualized in the form of a small roadside tree next to a live Taipei highway webcam.
Creative Contribution
What was the significant innovation in approach or thinking behind the project/artwork? How can this be recognisably attributed to the involvement of creative practice?
The project adopts an aesthetic approach to visualising pollution caused by city traffic. The pollution data is visualised in the evolving shape and form of the tree, which grows in response to the real-time data. As the amount of CO in the atmosphere increased, the tree on the desktop grows and changes- increasing in size in order to (metaphorically) consume more of the dangerous chemical
Collaboration
What were the disciplinary contributors to the project? What model of research / development was followed? What were factors leading to success / problems?
Andrea Polli is a digital media artist living in New York City. Her projects often bring together artists and scientists from various disciplines. She is interested in global systems, the real time interconnectivity of these systems, and the effect of these systems on individuals.
Dr. Chung Ming Liu, Director of the Global Change Research Centre and Professor of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at National Taiwan University was the primary scientific collaborator on this project. Kevin Durkee and the South Coast AQMD (Air Quality Management District) assisted with the interpretation of scientific data.
The project utilizes a free, open source-programming environment called processing, created by Ben Fry and Casey Reas http://processing.org/
Values
What were the outcomes of the project? How were these disseminated to outside stakeholders? What models of value are implied by this project? What was the Impact of the work?
The project uses networked systems to connect users at their desktops with pollution in urban spaces.
The project is extensively documented on the New Climates online exhibition space, curated by Shane Brennan http://shanebrennan.net/climate/category/andrea-polli/. The project has also been recognized by several awards and exhibitions internationally.
"A goal of the project was to promote art and science collaborations related to the environment in Taiwan. At the time, Taiwan had not had many initiatives in art and science. This goal was achieved as evidenced by a subsequent major initiative by the Taipei Artist Village in art/science/environment that continues two years later." Andrea Polli (written response to this survey)
Links and Resources
http://shanebrennan.net/climate/2007/03/12/roadside-garden-socal-and-roadside-garden-taipei-2007-by-andrea-polli/
http://www.andreapolli.com/
http://shanebrennan.net/taipei/
