Facciamo Il Bosco
Data sonification and visualisation for Eliza Collin's work Facciamo il Bosco. From the abstract:
Stress on water supply and temperature increase are both predicted to affect Sicily in the next 20 years. It is clear that Covid-19 has dominated the media however the problems we were facing before have not disappeared and may in fact be interconnected. This case is clearly outlined in ‘The Ecology of Disease’ (Robbins, 2012).
I am speculating on the creation of a democratised tool which can capture the hidden vibrations of culturally significant plants in regions of Sicily which are under increasing water and heat stress due to our rapidly changing climate.
Eliza collected data measuring the vital metrics of plants with EEG and temperature/humidity sensors. My task was to turn the data into an audiovisual experience. For the visualisation component, I used TouchDesigner and Processing to generate various layers, each visualising a different metric. The layers were then composited into the final video.
For the sonification part, I built a custom granular synthesis system in Max/MSP, which used Eliza's field recordings of Sicilian natural soundscapes to produce an abstract generative composition.
Exhibited as part of the Pandemos multimedia exhibition by Studio Rizoma in Palermo, October 2020.