Oceans and seas should never be considered as flat blue interfaces or dumping holes for our anthropogenic remains – vast amounts of diverse organisms live down there, adversely affected by our waste and noise pollution. Current scientific studies have demonstrated how noise sources such as sonar and fracking influence large marine life with shocking examples such as stranded whales and dolphins. However, almost nothing is known about the possible impact on marvelous microscopic organisms such as the plankton, and with the entanglement of micro plastics, the ecological balance is further compromised.
Noise Aquarium utilizes 3-D-scans of these micro creatures obtained with unique scientific imaging techniques and immerses the audience in the 3-D “aquarium” of diverse planktons projected as large as whales. With their presence alone, participants create destructive visual and audio noises, demonstrating how we are all implicated by our inaction.
Credits:
Artist:
Victoria Vesna, UCLA Art Sci center
Director:
Alfred Vendl, Science Visualization Lab at Department DIGITALEKUNST/Ruth Schnell, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Animation:
Martina Fröschl, Science Visualization Lab at Department DIGITALEKUNST/Ruth Schnell, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Programming:
Glenn Bristol, United Motion Labs
Audio mixing:
Paul Geluso, NYU Steinhardt
Scientific imaging:
Stephan Handschuh, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
Scientific imaging:
Thomas Schwaha, Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna
Sponsors:
Gerald Bast Rektor, Ruth Schnell, Digital Art, University of Applied Arts Vienna; UCLA faculty research, UCLA Art Sci center; Harvestworks.
