Mind the (Earth) Gap

Mind the (Earth) Gap Dr. Rocio Garcia-Robles ASTERISM Research Group, University of Seville [email protected] Dr. Aurea Muñoz-Del-Amo Graphics and Digital Creation Group, University of Seville [email protected] ABSTRACT We present a digital interactive installation about how individuals’ tiny actions impact on climate change. The viewer is asked, through a digital interface, for a series of binary questions about daily behaviors. The system runs an algorithm that statistically analyzes the answers, which influence into two videos to be projected simultaneous and synchronously. The objective is to make everybody aware of his/her individual decisions influencing the collective destiny of the planet. CCS CONCEPTS •Arts and Humanities;•Media Arts;•Fine Arts; KEYWORDS Art Installation, Digital Interaction, Sustainability, Climate Change ACM Reference Format: Dr. Rocio Garcia-Robles and Dr. Aurea Muñoz-Del-Amo. 2021. Mind the (Earth) Gap. In 10th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts (ARTECH 2021), October 13–15, 2021, Aveiro, Portugal, Portugal. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3483529.3483783 1 ARTWORK DESCRIPTION It is a digital interactive installation that aims to make the viewer aware of the value that their individual actions can have in curbing climate change. The installation is made up of two parts, one audiovisual and the other interactive, which allows the viewer to interact with the artwork. The installation requires a room or space in twilight. On the one hand, two overlapping antagonistic videos are projected on one of the walls (two projectors and a white wall are required), for example, one projects a fragment of ice, and the other the sphere of the sun. On the other hand, there is a computer through which the user interacts. Being an interactive installation, the viewer is asked, through a digital interface, for a series of binary questions about daily behaviors. One of the answers follows patterns of individual responsibility in the sustainability of our habits, and the other responds to the comfort that usually prevails over our small day-to-day decisions. The system run an algorithm that statistically analyzes the responses, and influences the videos projected, simultaneous and synchronously. The objective is to make us part of the fact that our individual acts influences the collective destiny of the planet. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]. ARTECH 2021, October 13–15, 2021, Aveiro, Portugal, Portugal ©2021 Association for Computing Machinery. ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-8420-9/21/10...$15.00 https://doi.org/10.1145/3483529.3483783 For example, if I am in a public space and I feel thirsty, do I look for a fountain even if it is far away or do I buy a bottle in the nearest commercial establishment? We believe that buying a bottle is an innocent act and without consequences, but how many bottles are bought simultaneously on the planet? How much plastic do we generate without realizing it? The famous "butterfly effect" is continually generated when we do not connect with nature, and we allow ourselves to be carried away by our egocentric will. The answers, as we said, influence the videos, whose viewing is one-way. In this way, if the answers carry a greater environmental impact, the sun would blaze brightly and the ice would melt. On the contrary, the sun would cool down, and the ice would get back in shape. Both videos would be overlap and projected in sync. The same would happen with other opposite video clips. The preview of the overlapping video images is shown in Figure 1 2 REFERENCE ARTISTS Olafur Eliasson, Ellie Ga, Marta Rosler, Joan Jonas, Tomas Saraceno, Allora & Calzadilla 3 ART INSTALLATION ANALYSIS There are many possible taxonomies to describe the essence of our installation: • According to Claudia Giannetti taxonomy [ 1 ], there can be three types of digital types of interactivities: mediator, reactive and interactive. Our installation is an interactive system, because the receiver can also act as a transmitter. • Regarding with Edmond Couchot [ 1 ], [ 2 ] there are external versus internal interaction. Our installation may be considered as an external one. • In relation to Heinz von Foerster taxonomy [ 1 ], [ 3 ], there are trivial and non-trivial machines. Trivials are describable in their causal mode and, as predictable machines, are only possible in non-physical realms. The machines that exist in physical space are always non-trivial, since it is subject to entropic processes. Our installation could be classified as non-trivial because its evolution depends on users’ responses to a questionnaire. • From another perspective that has behavior and consciousness as a point of reference, Peter Weibel distinguishes between three levels of interaction [1], [4]: • Synesthetic interaction, which consists of the interaction between materials and elements, such as image and sound, color and music. • Synergistic interaction, which occurs between energy states, as in works that react to change in the environment. • Communicative interaction or kinetic interaction between people and between people and objects. ARTECH 2021, October 13–15, 2021, Aveiro, Portugal, Portugal Rocio Garcia-Robles and Aurea Muñoz-Del Amo Figure 1: Sun versus Ice Our installation could be typified as synesthetic. REFERENCES [1] Claudia Giannetti, 2002. Estética Digital: Sintopía del arte, la ciencia y la tecnología. Associació de Cultura Contemporània L’Angelot, Barcelona. [2] Edmond Couchot, 1995. Synthèse et simulation. In Poissant, Louise (ed), Esthétique des Arts Médiatiques, Vol II, 275-290. [3] Peter Krieg, 1993.Versuch über Interaktion und Medien. In Kunstiche Spiele. Klaus Boer Verlag, Múnich, 180-181. [4] Peter Weibel, Der Ausstieg aus der Kunst ais höchste Form der Kunst. In Kustforum International. Ruppichteroth, B. 103 (Sept/Oct, 1989), 225-231.