Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーション by Yingri Guan

Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーション by Yingri Guan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award 鉄賞 in ファインアート・アートインスタレーションデザイン Competition Category.

鉄ファインアート· 2021

Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーション

by Yingri Guan

Client: ARiceStudio

A' Design Award 鉄賞 Winner in ファインアート Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーション

「アイスコア・ビジュアライゼーション」は、二酸化炭素濃度と地球規模の気候との関係を示すアートインスタレーションです。本作品は、層状に重ねたジェルワックスを充填した8本のアクリル製チューブで構成されています。各チューブは直径8インチ、長さ3フィートです。ワックスの各層は千年間の平均データを表し、全体で過去四十万年間を網羅しています。グレースケールの配色によって二酸化炭素濃度の変動を示し、もう一方の配色では熱を赤、寒冷を青で表現することで気温の変動を示しています。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 鉄賞

Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーションは、よく設計された創造物に期待される専門的・産業的要件を満たす優れたデザインに授与される、権威ある評価である A' Design Award 鉄賞の受賞作品です。鉄賞の受賞作品は、制作者の高い技量、高度な専門性、専門家としての理解、創造的な能力を示しています。Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーションは、高く評価され、称賛され、愛される、実用的で革新的な創造物であることが期待されます。この A' Design Award 鉄賞を受賞したデザインは、業界のベストプラクティスを統合し、ノウハウと才能に結びついた有能な技術的特性を備えています。Ice Core Visualization アートインスタレーションは、その徹底ぶりで尊敬され、世界をより良い場所にするための生活の質の向上をもたらすよう設計されています。

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