La Jaquer EsCool - Nubes vibrantes from Platohedro on Vimeo.

VIBRANT CLOUDS. MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA. JUNE 2017

In this Art Residency we created a space for learning and experimentation in the sciences, technology, and their interconnection with power and society. We used the climate as a context for gaining scientific knowledge, mediated by the making of low-cost antennas.

As an educational practice, building low cost scientific tools is an entry point for the analysis of the political dimensions of sciences.

Within the artistic process, we were interested in sparking curiosity in those who have not been involved in sciences because of the type of education we have received in schools, because of the scary tone of mathematics or because we do not see the relevance of sciences in society. We believe in the importance of facilitating processes for people to find the relevance of this knowledge into their own experiences, building up curiosity and the desire to learn and experiment. We achieved this with a very diverse group of people who came to Platohedro: students, radio amateurs, sound artists and citizens in general.

During four sessions we created an atmosphere of dialogue about the electromagnetic spectrum. Even though only a small fragment of it is visible to us, it can be accessed and used as part of an artistic intervention.

We held conversations around power structures in the electromagnetic spectrum, who is the owner, who can use it and for what purposes. Together we came to understand the role of the spectrum as a common good and the opportunity we have to make use of it. We built low cost antennas and made weather data sonification as an experience to materialize the learning.

Without dividing between theory and practice, the conversations while cutting the wires led us to understand some knowledge of physics and astronomy. In short, we created a space where science, technology and artistic representation conversed in a participatory manner.

We see great potential of this type of interventions in broader contexts. Workshops for science education that depart from experimentation are important to eliminate barriers that historically have restricted access to knowledge, processes and scientific tools. Those who know science and technology are still locked in the laboratory, enclosing their knowledge and their ways of knowing.

Building low-cost antennas can be a pivot for interventions in communities for climate prediction, for example in coastal communities. In civic media, antennas can be used for the transmission and reception of media content. The concluding session of the residence stressed on the importance of creating ecosystems where the creation of antennas is one of the interventions within a broader context, where people participate out of joy and genuine interest. We hope to return to collaborate with Platohedro to materialize these and many other ideas.

This residence was in collaboration with Sharath Chandra Ram