2 455 700 km²

Data Visualization of the Arctic Ice Decline

Interactive Installation

»We need to save the Arctic not because of the polar bears, and not because it is the most beau­ti­ful place in the world, but because our very survi­val depends upon it.«
— Lewis Gordon Pugh

The global warming and the decline of the Arctic ice are extre­mely dange­rous and threa­ten­ing for our envi­ron­ment and huma­nity. The aim of the project »2 455 700 km²« was to empha­size this deve­lop­ment and raise aware­ness by crea­ting some­thing unusual, inte­res­ting and easy to under­stand on an emotio­nal level. Based on the data of the Arctic ice, which is fortu­n­a­tely very well inves­ti­ga­ted and docu­men­ted, we crea­ted an artwork combi­ning physi­cal, real ice with an abstract data visua­li­za­tion of a 40-year time span star­ting in 1979. Four ice blocks cast in the shape of the Arctic with the help of 3D-prin­ting illus­tra­ted the extreme extents of ten years each. The visi­tors were invi­ted to touch the ice and feel the cold. By this, they simul­ta­neously trig­ge­red a projec­ted anima­tion visua­li­zing the arctic’s growing and shrin­king day by day during the corre­spon­ding time span. The visi­tors’ touches expe­di­ted the natu­ral melting of the ice during the exhi­bi­tion time which crea­ted a second, actual tempo­ral time­line addi­tio­nal to the spatial one.

Media (German only):
»Was uns inspi­riert« (Make Maga­zin 02/2020)

Adri­jan Stec­zek and Farina Hamann
Univer­sity of the Arts Bremen, March 2019