Stefanie Suk – Looking Outwards – 04

CarbonScape, a kinetic data sound installation that incorporates both traditional and futuristic concepts of technology, is a work by a Chinese artist Chris Cheung. This work consists of 18 different tracks of synthesized sound samples that visualizes the carbon dioxide levels from data received by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Inspired by the artist’s natural environment, the installation is designed like a series of bamboo forest with black spheres inside representing the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This black sphere changes its position from top to bottom (to show the changes in carbon dioxide levels) as the sounds are emitted under the bamboo-like tube. I am deeply admired by this installation because of the combination of man-made object (sphere & tube) and natural energy (sound) to create a single piece of art that represents our world’s natural disaster. I know that the data from the NOAA that is computed to automatically send its information to the installation generated this artwork. I can see from the installation that the artist pursues minimalistic design, which also attracted me because the simple black and white structure made the installation easy to see/read and also made it visually appealing.