Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie by Yingri Guan

Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie by Yingri Guan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award in IJzer in Beeldende Kunst en Kunstinstallatie Ontwerp Competition Category.

IJzerBeeldende Kunst· 2021

Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie

by Yingri Guan

Client: ARiceStudio

A' Design Award in IJzer Winner in Beeldende Kunst Category

14,220

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #105575

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

Colors

The Design

About Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie

IJskernvisualisatie is een kunstinstallatie die de relatie tussen kooldioxideniveaus en het wereldwijde klimaat toont. De installatie bestaat uit acht acrylbuizen gevuld met gelaagde gelwas. Elke buis heeft een diameter van 8 inch en is 3 voet lang. Elke waslaag vertegenwoordigt gemiddelde gegevens over een periode van duizend jaar, waarmee in totaal de afgelopen vierhonderdduizend jaar worden bestreken. Een grijstintenschema toont de variatie in kooldioxide. Een tweede kleurenschema gebruikt rood voor warmte en blauw voor kou om temperatuurvariaties weer te geven.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in IJzer

Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie is winnaar van de A' Design Award in IJzer, een prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan goede ontwerpen die voldoen aan de professionele en industriële eisen die worden verwacht van goed ontworpen creaties. Winnaars in IJzer tonen grote vaardigheid, hoge specialisatie, deskundig inzicht en het creatieve vermogen van hun makers. Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie wordt verwacht een hooggewaardeerde, bewonderde en gekoesterde creatie te zijn die praktisch en innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in IJzer heeft gewonnen, integreert de beste praktijken uit de sector en heeft bekwame technische kenmerken die verbonden zijn met knowhow en talent. Ice Core Visualization Kunstinstallatie wordt gerespecteerd om zijn grondigheid en is ontworpen om verbeteringen van de levenskwaliteit te bieden die helpen de wereld een betere plek te maken.

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