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WIRED

Serpentine - Transformation Marathon

Barbican - Global Health Film Festival

Forma Arts - 2 Degrees Festival

Imagine the sound of a cello, rising and falling. 

How would you feel about it if you knew it was data? For example - Arctic ice freezing and melting over time? Climate Symphony translates data points into sound using “data sonification”. The sound is determined by properties within the data: varying instrumentation, dynamic, pitch and rhythm.

Sound has evolved to trigger deeply held emotions in us, provoking physiological and psychological responses: we instinctively feel calm when we hear birdsong and discomfort at the sound of nails on a blackboard. When linked to the hard facts of data we invite our audience to have a visceral response to the story of climate change.

                                  

Four movements tell the story of the human effect on the earth throughout the Holocene, with visuals to guide the listener – displaying dates, words and simple graphics that create a poetic interplay with the music. The experience provokes the viewer to consider the complex relationship between humans and nature. As the symphony reaches the present day, we reflect on the golden hour of climate change in which we have a last chance to change our future.

Climate Symphony has been exhibited as a work-in-progress at the Serpentine Transformation Marathon and the Barbican as part of the Global Health Film Festival. It was selected by CPH:DOX as one of twelve projects for further development in their prestigious CPH:LAB programme, and we have hosted participatory labs discussing the concept at the 2 Degrees Festival supported by Forma Arts, London’s East End Film Festival and Brighton’s Photo Fringe Festival.