Research 1 Breath:
Documentation of Artworks & Process + Research, Critical Practice & Reflection +
External Resources & Professional Skills
Reflection from Unit 1 feedback
Continuing with the study in Unit 1, I still take the relationship between man and nature as the core topic of dicussion. But at this stage, I'm not going to limit my research to ocean plastic pollution issue and the use of plastics as a main materials to create work. Further reseach will turn from the ocean to the global climate etc that matter to everyone in every daily life.
The applictation of lighting will still be one of my important visual language or element of my work, but how to perfectly integrate it with the whole work will also be one of the points that need to be deeply explored in the future.
Climate Change and Global Warming
In recent decades, the term ‘climate change’ is most often used to describe changes in the Earth’s climate driven primarily by human activity since the pre-Industrial period (c. 1850 onwards), particularly the burning of fossil fuels and removal of forests, resulting in a relatively rapid increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Global warming is a term often used interchangeably with climate change, as it is one of the most important measures of global changes. Because there are more factors and impacts than only rising surface temperatures, the term climate change is used to include these additional impacts.
source:climate.nasa.gov
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from hovering around 280 parts per million (ppm) in pre-Industrial time, to 413 ppm as of early 2020. This concentration of carbon dioxide is unprecedented in recorded history. Scientists have reported that we need to return to a ‘safe’ concentration of 350 ppm by 2100 in order to stabilize global warming.
As is known to all, global warming will bring a seris of serious problems.The effects of global heating are far-reaching, including rising sea levels, glacier retreat, changes in the timing of seasonal events (plants flowering, migration patterns), and a rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. These categories of impacts have direct and indirect consequences on people and wildlife. Direct consequences include displacement of people and communities due to sea level rise and extreme weather events, whereas indirect consequences may include disruptions to economic development, food production, escalation in water crises, and increased public health risks.
I am greatly interested in the relationship between plants and global warming during my research. Because we know that reducing carbon emissions is crucial to slow down global warming. Interestingly, •Plants can mitigate global warming through photosynthesis—by
absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, plants help the earth breath. The ability to soak up carbon dioxide and fix it in plants or soil, thereby reducing its concentration in the atmosphere is called Carbon Sink. However, as the global temperature
keeps rising, this kind of valuable ability of plants has been increasingly undermined. Though the reactions to temperature changes vary from plant species, a period of excessive warmth is bound to result in weakened photosynthesis in plants.
To be honest, it’s sad that plants have no chance to make their voices heard, so they can only stand quietly and protect the earth. Having taken it for granted for a long time, human beings ignore and consume such green protection.
If neither the earth nor plants breathe, will human beings have any chance to breathe in fresh air? Undoubtedly, this is the last thing we would like to face.
At this point, I decided to give the public a clear view of plant breathing through my new work. Hence, I design the work called “Breath”.
At the same time, I think of Eliasson's a work called Ice Watch ,which is also about global warming. His work consisting of 12 floating glacial ice chunks was displayed on the place du panthéon, Paris in 2015. In fact, hardly having a chance to travel to the Arctic, the city people were stunned and impressed when being brought face-to-face with the nature in a public space in a metropolis. Undoubtly,Ice Watch connected the public with nature successfully.
Olafur Eliasson Ice Watch Paris 2015
Therefore, I decided to try to make plants a part of my new work.
The Sketch of Breath
“Breath” is an artistic sculpture able to test the carbon dioxide concentration around the plant. It can convert the concentration values into colors of lights. The higher the value is, the darker the red light becomes, for the purpose of warning the visitors. If the value is low, the light will turn to green. The work consists of multiple “breath” flowers. From afar, the rings of lights look like gas emitted by and floating around plants.
WWF ‘JUST IMAGINE’ + THE HANNAH PESCHAR SCULPTURE GARDEN
The summer show ,which will be held by the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, gives me a good opportunity to practice my new project in a public space. The core concept of the show takes the main elements from th WWF’s ‘Just Imagine' Creative Call Out as inspiration, which are as follows:
We want you to reimagine a future where we celebrate and protect nature.
What would our rebuilt future look like if we put nature at the heart of our decisions?
We want to see artistic exploration of how we can best live in harmony with our planet.
I think the core concept is very relevant to my research direction and the beautiful natural environment is also very suitable for "Breath".
Because of Covid-19,I couldn't go to the garden. In order to get more information about its natural features, I search the pictures and videos through the internet. I noticed that there are so many shrubs which are suitable for my piece.
The Sketch of Breath
The whole apprearance looks a bit like a molecular structure of CO2. Such a structure is not only stable, but also the slender support structure can avoid damaging the surrounding plants.
Considering no electricity point in outside and eco-friendly principle, I decided to use solar power.
Receiving Feedback From The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden
Dear Long Yuan,
Thank you again for submitting your proposal for our WWF collaboration. We were absolutely thrilled with the diverse range of exciting ideas - it exceeded our expectations, and certainly made us feel that this project is going to be a success.
We really loved the concept for your piece - such a beautiful idea to capture and illustrate this crucial natural process through a seeming simple and highly visual form. We would like to invite you to continue the project with us, and to show your final developed piece in the Sculpture Garden in the summer.
My colleague Rob (whom was mentioned in the presentation) is particularly excited about your piece, so I am going to ask him to speak to you in more detail next week as we have quite a lot of questions. In particular we’d like to know what the actual sensor(s) are that you are planning to use.
At the moment I am just making sure I reach out to everyone today, but next week I’ll ping everyone an email with regards to inviting you all up for a site visit in April.
Thanks again - and have a great weekend,
Vikki
Victoria Leedham
Co-Curator - Gallery Manager
More details to think and test
Fortunately,I got very positive feedback on my proposal The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden.However, there still remain some issues to be solved.
First, the material should be sturdy enough to keep its shape. As the work will be powered up, the installation must be water-proof and ensure safety of electricity.
Besides, it needs to be highly sensitive to variations of carbon dioxide in the air, so that the lights will change colors according to detection data in real time for the audience to easily notice them.
Finally, in consideration of its luminous spheres in quantity and complicated circuit arrangement, how to make it convenient for outdoor installation is another challenge.
Sensor and Light Test
Changes of Carbon Dioxide Concentration Collected by Sensor
Generally, the concentration of carbon dioxide ranges from 580 to 600, equivalent to 400PPM. Under these circumstances, the air is fresh.
When the concentration reaches 1200PPM, the air is stale and people will feel uncomfortable.
Therefore, I divide a sensing range corresponding to different colors. The lowest value is 400PPM(green), and the highest value is 1200PPM(red).
The real-time data on computer and the corresponding color change of lights
Work Materials
Considering that the work is installed outsides, the materials should be firm, waterproof, and easy to be transported.
The pipes of main structure are made of stainless steel pipes.
The sphere employs firm nylon.
The internal thread at the joint of sphere and the sphere itself are made by 3D printing at one time.
The sphere is screwed to the pipe.
The whole installation process is fast, sturdy and waterproof.
The sphere is screwed by two hemispheres, and can be glued together, which is fully waterproof and moisture-proof.
The wires of LED are placed inside of the stainless steel pipe for water resistance.
The diameter of sphere is 7cm.
The diameter of pipe is 2.2cm.
Water Proof Test
I dipped the ball and tube with tissue into the water to test the waterproof performance.
Structure Test
The work is installed on the ground by multiple stainless steel pipes.
The ends of pipes can be stuck into the soil, which not only ensures the stability but also minimizes the effect on the surrounding environment.
The Final 3DEffect picture