All works

Liquide emergenze future

Liquide emergenze future

Historical materials for the work: text, photographs, audio and video when available.

Roberto Pugliese

Liquide emergenze future water, glass, waterproof speakers, cables, metal wire, computer, custom software, internet connection

Variable dimensions

2019

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder has established that the rise in sea level caused by global warming is accelerating and by the end of the century about 7% of the world population, including the inhabitants of Venice and other Italian coastal cities, risks ending up submerged, with immense damage and inconvenience.

The article appeared on 12 February 2018 on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was developed using data provided since 1993 by various satellites in orbit around the Earth such as TOPEX / Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason -2 and Jason-3.

According to the authors, the results of their research represent a qualitative leap in the discussion on climate change, transforming it from a dispute based on hypothetical assumptions to a discussion based on scientific data and objective observations. This happens above all thanks to the possibility of being able to access precise measurements provided daily by artificial satellites gravitating around the Earth.

Starting from these premises, the artist has created an interactive software system which, by connecting to the tide monitoring station in Venice in real time, downloads data relating to sea level. These data are subsequently processed by ad hoc software and transformed into sound thanks to a series of mathematical processes and algorithms. The sounds are reproduced by dozens of underwater speakers immersed in water inside blown-glass ampoules designed by the artist and made by a Master glassmaker. The latter are of different workmanship and size and are anchored to the ceiling of the exhibition space by means of braided metal cables. The dense visual texture linked to the lightness of the aerial forms in glass, to the transparency of water and to the immaterial but constant presence of sound project the user into a dreamlike context that aims to induce a reflection on the behavior we are interpreting towards our environment. Water has always been the symbol par excellence of life and prosperity but due to the wicked upheaval of the balances and available resources it is increasingly the protagonist of disastrous and uncontrolled phenomena such as floods, overflows, floods and not least the problem of raising sea level to which we will be subject if we do not do something as soon as possible to remedy. Are we sure we are ready to lose places of inestimable beauty and history like Venice?