Aquamess: Portraits of Garbage at the Top of the World, observing and changing our synthetic footprint for human and planetary health
Abstract
How can science inform art and art inform science and how does that interrelationship affect social change, research and the dissemination of scientific evidence? Carol Devine's Aquamess: Portraits of Garbage at the Top of the World project is based on a 2015 civilian expedition, CleanUp Svalbard. Volunteers on this stewardship initiative collected garbage accumulating on the Norwegian archipelago's remote shores as a recognized marine debris mitigation strategy. For four days, Devine and fellow volunteers travelled 10 nautical miles and collected 13.5 metres of garbage including 3.5 cubic metres of plastic fishing nets. Devine documented the effort and created Aquamess, a photography exhibit with garbage 'portraits', noting their geolocations. Her objective was to disseminate knowledge about the global marine debris problem, such as how ocean currents carry plastics, how the density varies due to hydrological and meterological conditions, what gyres are etc., and to encourage dialogue and continued interdisciplinary research and action. At the request of Dr. David Pantalony, Curator at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Devine also collected a sample of the debris from Svalbard. This "Arctic garbage" is now archival material and part of an upcoming multimedia Oceans exhibit the museum created with her about marine science and ocean health. Already, Aquamess has engaged discussions about marine pollution's impact on human and planetary health in the 2016-7 group show Science Inspires Art: Food at the New York Hall of Science exploring contemporary food issues including food waste. It will be in a November 2017 group exhibit Photography as Response at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado and is the subject of Devine's TEDxMontreal Women talk. Devine has written blogs and articles about Aquamess;has been interviewed in science, sciart and culture journals in the US, Europe, and Canada; and is observing scientific and non-scientific reactions through interviews, social media and viewer feedback.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMPA41B..04D
- Keywords:
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- 0815 Informal education;
- EDUCATION;
- 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings);
- GENERAL OR MISCELLANEOUS;
- 1616 Climate variability;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGE