Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering by Yingri Guan

Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering by Yingri Guan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award i Jern in Billedkunst og Kunstinstallationsdesign Competition Category.

JernBilledkunst· 2021

Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering

by Yingri Guan

Client: ARiceStudio

A' Design Award i Jern Winner in Billedkunst Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #105575

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Colors

The Design

About Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering

Iskerne-visualisering er en kunstinstallation, der viser sammenhængen mellem kuldioxidniveauer og det globale klima. Installationen består af otte akrylrør fyldt med lagdelt gelevoks. Hvert rør har en diameter på 8 tommer og er 3 fod langt. Hvert vokslag repræsenterer gennemsnitsdata for en periode på tusind år og dækker tilsammen de sidste fire hundrede tusind år. En gråtoneskala viser variationen i kuldioxid. En anden farveskala bruger rød for varme og blå for kulde til at vise temperaturvariationen.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Jern

Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering er vinder af A' Design Award i Jern, en prestigefyldt anerkendelse, der tildeles gode designs, som opfylder de professionelle og industrielle krav, man forventer af veldesignede skabelser. Jernvinderne viser stor dygtighed, høj specialisering, ekspertforståelse og kreativ kapacitet hos deres skabere. Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering forventes at være en højt estimeret, beundret og kær skabelse, der er praktisk og innovativ. Dette design, der har vundet A' Design Award i Jern, integrerer branchens bedste praksis og har kompetente tekniske egenskaber knyttet til knowhow og talent. Ice Core Visualization Iskerne-visualisering respekteres for sin grundighed og er designet til at levere forbedringer af livskvaliteten, der er med til at gøre verden til et bedre sted.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Ice Core brings together the aesthetics of layers of ice with the immense amount of weather information core samples contain. It features eight acrylic tubes filled with layered gel wax, with each layer denoting the average data contained within a thousand-year sample.
Dimensions & Packaging: Each ice core tube is 8 inches in diameter and 3 feet in length
Tags: Ice Core, Art, Installation, Visualizations, Generative
Production Technology: First the data set is obtained from NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Below shows the data set used in diagram format based on the Vostok Petit data. Carbon dioxide in comparison of global temperature variation is chosen. Generally carbon dioxide production is related to burning of carbon and other energy consumption activities. While global warming is closely related to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere especially carbon dioxide level.
Design Challenge: I was brainstorming along the line of creating something semi-transparent, which lends close resemblance to original ice cores while giving the flexibility of making it layer by layer. Therefore, the process of making wax candles came in handy. Hence, I melted layers of wax with the measured amount of dye is poured into the tube layer by layer. I divided the acrylic tube into four sections, and each tube represents a hundred thousand years. Then I further divided each tube into a hundred layers. Therefore each layer of the wax represents average data over a thousand years.
Research: A greyscale color scheme depicts the carbon dioxide variation over the last four hundred thousand years. In comparison, a color scheme based on the weather map describes temperature variations. Red is associated with heat; blue indicates freezing temperature. The goal to show temperature variation. When four tubes are displayed side by side, we can see that the variation corresponds. If more carbon dioxide is present in the global environment, the higher the temperature. Inversely, the lighter content indicates a lower carbon dioxide production and therefore followed by a generally colder climate.
Inspiration: Ice cores are long and condensed tubes that are extracted from the extremely cold areas where snow fell and accumulated over the years with minimal melting and eventually compressed to ice sheets. The layers of snow contain rich information about our global climate. For example, dust, ash, pollen, bubbles of atmospheric gas and radioactive substances. This project is particularly concerned with carbon dioxide content in the gaseous bubbles trapped inside each layer of ice.
Project Duration: Project started in Buffalo since 2012 and complete in San Francisco Bay Area by 2018
Operation Flow: A very interesting aspect of this making is the tactility of the whole process. I wanted the audience to have a direct correlation to what they see in front of them and appreciate the beauty of the ice core as I have been. Also, it is observed that there are four general cycles in terms of variation of the global climate. Currently, according to the trend, we are moving towards the time period that temperature is predicted to go up. Therefore it lends question to that if global warming is a manmade phenomenon or it is part of the global climate change cycle.
Team Members: Yingri Guan
Image Credits: Photographer Yingri Guan, Variations, 2014