Triangulation through science communication
The Triangulation Through Science Communication project is an interdisciplinary multimedia project created for the 4th European Conference for Science Journalists (Copenhagen, June 26-30, 2017). Facts alone cannot convey the urgency and emotions needed to advance measures for protecting the earth, and the organizing committee included art as an alternative language to communicate science on climate change to society at large. [links provided to archived pages]
The project uses art to invoke emotions and communicate information about climate change. It involves works from the Triangulation Series by Yolanda del Riego, stories written and recorded by science journalists, and an augmented reality mobile application that ties them together. For example, Triangulation #64 (right) is associated with Vision of the Arctic, written and narrated by Emilia Noel Ptak.
See the article Climate Change Goes Pop to learn more about the context in which this project was presented.
Photos
A selection of photos from the project presentation, installation and production.
Art in the service of the environment
Yolanda del Riego's work has previously been used in the service of communicating environmental issues. Her 2016 exhibition, Climate Change. An Artist's Perspective, was organized by the United States Embassy to Mauritius and Seychelles in celebration of African Day of Seas and Oceans.
In her role as U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean, Dr. Jane Lubchenco gave one of the opening speeches:
I think it’s as important that we have science as we have art. They are two complementary parts of ourselves.
......we need things that speak to our minds, we need things that speak to our hearts and to our soul. And someone who has the passion that Yolanda [del Riego] does, based on science, can raise attention to important issues.
...Science can help us think about what the trade-offs and choices are, but we need to be awakened and spoken to by artists.
— Dr. Jane Lubchenco, 26 July 2016, Port Louis, Mauritius. Opening speech
Calentamiento Global, by Yolanda del Riego.
The Triangulation Series Mosaic Panels
45 variations from the Triangulation Series were used to form three mosaic panels: Earth, Water, and Chaos.
Each variation was individually created in Photoshop with no pre-determined position within the mosaic. The variations were printed on 25 x 30 cm aluminum panels using dye sublimation, and then the mosaics were arranged using the physical prints, looking for combinations that would form serendipitous geometrical shapes – diamonds and larger triangles.
Detail from the Triangulation panel titled Water. Photo by Jesús Pozo.
Mosaic panels made up of works from the Triangulation Series, from left to right:
Earth, Water, and Chaos.
The mosaics were mounted on aluminum panels which were previously printed with a virtual mat. Six variations on each panel were chosen to associate with multimedia content. The selected variations were mounted on acrylic glass bases that extend them outward from the panels.
The Role of Nature in Yolanda del Riego's Work
Nature has always been an important inspiration for Yolanda del Riego (see YR in support of Nature). Concern over environmental issues —such as marine pollution, deforestation and climate change— has increasingly become the primary subject of her work and the theme of her exhibitions: Climate Change. An Artist's Perspective (2016), Unsustainable Escalation (2016), The Sea As I See It (2015), and Trees to Meet You (2014).