Tag: Air Pollution

We are proud to share that our latest project, This Place Has Its Own Air, a data-driven video-installation created by Polina Zioga and Catherine M. Weir, in partnership with the Clean Air Network (CAN), premiered at the SPARK Festival 2024 ‘Healthy Futures’ in Hong Kong! This milestone marks the outcome of 18 months of dedicated remote research, collaboration, and production, bringing together art, science, and technology to address the critical issue of air quality, and the air pollution of our environment. Air pollutants can spread across long distances and are principally the products of combustion from space heating, power generation or from motor vehicle traffic. They are monitored and regulated, as they can cause both short- and long-term negative health effects. However, despite recent improvements, air pollution remains the biggest environmental threat to health.

The video-installation consists of an animated moving image, which expands and contracts, as if breathing, following the human adult respiratory rate. It is created using average hourly readings of the city’s pollutants to generate a colour filter, while a particle system appears and overlays different parts of the image, as the concentration of hazardous pollutants rises and falls throughout the day. As a result, the installation aesthetically immerses the viewers, enables them to have a glimpse of the air they breathe, and increases their awareness of the need for reducing environmental pollution.

The Numbers Behind the Scenes

These figures behind the video-installation reflect the depth of our detailed work:

• 17,568 air quality datapoints gathered and analysed.
• 12 hours of double 4K video (8192px x 2160px) featured, amounting to a total size of 50.28GB.
• More than 1,266 image layers compiled into one captivating animated experience.
• 7.49m in height, 12.15m in width, and 3.46m in depth total installation dimensions.
• No generative AI used.

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Image: ‘This Place Has Its Own Air’. [Data-driven video-installation]. In: SPARK Festival 2024 ‘Healthy Futures’. AIRSIDE, Hong Kong, 18-20 October 2024. ©2024 Interactive Filmmaking Lab®.

A Heartfelt Thank You

We want to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who made this project possible.

• Our invaluable partners at Clean Air Network (CAN), who have been instrumental in our success.
• Our funders and supporters at the British Council Hong Kong.
• The AIRSIDE team for their expertise and commitment throughout the technical implementation and testing phases.
• The British Consulate General Hong Kong for their warm welcome and unique visits arranged for UK delegates.

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Image: ‘This Place Has Its Own Air’. [Data-driven video-installation]. In: SPARK Festival 2024 ‘Healthy Futures’. AIRSIDE, Hong Kong, 18-20 October 2024. ©2024 Interactive Filmmaking Lab®.

Looking Ahead

We are excited to continue fostering conversations around clean air and environmental awareness through innovative projects like this one. This Place Has Its Own Air serves not only as an artistic expression but also as a call to action for all of us to reduce environmental pollution, and improve air quality.

For those interested in exploring more about the project, please visit our dedicated webpage and check out the teaser video. Together, let’s make clean air a visible and vital topic in our communities!

As part of the SPARK Festival 2024 ‘Healthy Futures’, the Interactive Filmmaking Lab®, in partnership with the Clean Air Network (CAN), present This Place Has Its Own Air, a data-driven video-installation created by Polina Zioga and Catherine M. Weir, accompanied by a public talk. The project focuses on the quality of the air we breathe, and the air pollution of our environment, which are inextricably linked. Air pollutants can spread across long distances and are principally the products of combustion from space heating, power generation or from motor vehicle traffic. They are monitored and regulated, as they can cause both short- and long-term negative health effects. However, despite recent improvements, air pollution remains the biggest environmental threat to health.

The title of the video-installation is based on the seminal memoir The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd (1893-1981), a Scottish writer and poet, and is concerned with the effect of the city’s air on the body. It consists of an animated moving image, which expands and contracts, as if breathing, following the human adult respiratory rate. It is created using average hourly readings of the city’s pollutants to generate a colour filter, while a particle system appears and overlays different parts of the image, as the concentration of hazardous pollutants rises and falls throughout the day. As a result, the installation aesthetically immerses the viewers, enables them to have a glimpse of the air they breathe, and increases their awareness of the need for reducing environmental pollution. During the public talk attendees will learn more about the artists’ creative process and research, listen to expert perspectives on air pollution, and learn what they can do individually and collectively to improve it.

VENUE & DATES
– Video-Installation: AIRSIDE G/F LED Arch, 2 Concorde Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon, Hong Kong | 18-20 October 2024 | 10:00-22:00 (HKT).
– SPARK Talk: AIRSIDE 2/F Atrium, 2 Concorde Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon, Hong Kong & online | 19 October 2024 | 17:30 – 18:30 (HKT).
– Registration: online.

VIDEO-INSTALLATION
– Research & Interaction Design: Dr Polina Zioga and Dr Catherine M. Weir.
– Producing & Animation: Dr Polina Zioga.
– Programming & Visual Effects: Dr Catherine M. Weir.

SPARK TALK
– Moderator: Patrick Fung (Clean Air Network).
– Speakers: Dr Polina Zioga and Dr Catherine M. Weir (Interactive Filmmaking Lab®), and Dr Tony Ip (Tony Ip Green Architects).