Thijs Biersteker —Voice of Nature

VOICE OF NATURE

Using data coming from living trees to give them a voice in times of climate change.

voice_nature_tree_Sensor_art_Sustaineble_Leafs — By connecting 12 sensors to a living tree in one of
the most polluted cities in the world; Chengdu, China,

voice_nature_tree_Sensor_art_Sustaineble_datavisualisation — we turned the 12.000 collected data points, showcasing the pollution levels, photosynthesis and growth patterns, into real time tree rings visualised behind the tree.

voice_nature_tree_art_awardwinning_Sustaineble_keyvisual — The tree rings, created every second instead of every year, presented the trees well being in real time.

Giving a voice to nature in times of climate change.

Voice of Nature sits on the intersection of environmental awareness art and bio art. Collaborating with scientists from Delft Technical University we used real-time data coming from a living tree to highlight the urgency of climate change.

Using environmental sensors we generated 1,600 data points to create a data visualisation that showed how the tree was feeling in real time about the environmental changes happening around it.

Trees are nature’s record keepers. They document their lives through annual growth rings hidden behind their bark, and for those that know how to read this arboreal script, the rings tell a detailed story. They reveal environmental changes and disease, forest fires and droughts and pollution levels throughout the tree’s life.

If any trees survive in the future, their growth rings will tell the story of our species' struggle to limit carbon emissions and protect the Earth from pollution. However, what if we could harness the natural climate monitoring abilities of trees to communicate the urgency of climate change to the general public? This is the driving concept behind Voice of Nature.

The artwork combines bio-generated data and creates a visual language that is technologically challenging but intellectually accessible. Voice of Nature was first exhibited in Chengdu, one China’s most heavily polluted cities. The sensors connected to the trees’ roots, leaves, and branches, monitor environmental conditions such as CO2 levels, temperature, moisture and light levels, which are fed into an algorithm to generate digital rings every second instead of a year. These real-time rings are displayed on a massive halo behind the tree revealing its current health status to onlookers and giving nature a voice that can potentially be heard by humanity.

The artwork poetically illustrates that humanity has a significant influence on the changing climate and their actions can have an impact in both positive and negative ways. When the tree is touched, the artwork either calms down or its energy levels increase, leaving the spectator with an empowering message that change is at their fingertips.

Partner
TU Delft

Enabler
Xing Guang Hua City Construction (CN), Lumen Art Projects Ltd (UK)

Production
Woven Studio

Co-production
Here Your Art (CN)

Motion Design
Jurriaan Hos

Creative Coding
Mickey van Olst

Electronics
Bas van Oerle

Soundscape
End of Time

Producer
Sophie de Krom