穿越虛擬森林：揭露樹木、大氣與氣候變遷的神秘連結——大氣森林 (Atmospheric Forest)

Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits《 大氣森林 (Atmospheric Forest) 》
VR／沈浸式裝置(Immersive Installation)／尺寸依場地而定(Dimension Variable)／2020

作品介紹

《大氣森林》揭示了森林、氣候變化和大氣之間的複雜關係。樹木不僅生成氧氣，它們也會呼吸，並釋放大量揮發性有機化合物到空氣中——這就是我們識別為森林的特有味道。科學家長期以來已知道芬芳的森林和氣候變暖之間的關聯，但其具體影響和規模尚不確定。《大氣森林》虛擬實境作品是一項三年藝術研究項目的結果，針對瑞士古老阿爾卑斯松林Pfynwald所遭受的氣候變化引起的乾旱；瑞士WSL研究所的科學家將此森林轉變為「生活觀測站」。藝術家掃描Pfynwald以創建虛擬點雲環境，將科學家提供的資料視覺化。他們收集了一整個生長季節的揮發性排放、松樹幹樹脂壓力和天氣測量數據，並將這些數據轉化為動態粒子，呈現森林生態系統與大氣過程之間的複雜相互作用。觀眾能在此作品中穿越散發氣味的樹木和虛擬森林，使用觀測塔、粉色標籤、樹幹周圍的測量「綁帶」，以及其他科學「工具」來觀察。觀眾還可以從底部觀察森林，沿著樹幹內的路徑向上，遠至森林上方，成為散發生態系統的一部分。儘管森林排放之於氣候變化的影響仍充滿不確定性，但視覺化的資料模式表明，隨著氣候變遷，未來的森林將更加芬芳、更具「大氣感」。

本作品為「生態數據 – 生態媒體 – 生態美學」研究項目（2017年至2021年）之創作計畫，由Yvonne Volkart領導、巴塞爾藝術與設計學院（FHNW）主辦、瑞士國家科學基金會資助。由 RIXC / 里加、Ecodata-Ecomedia-Ecoaesthetics項目 / 巴塞爾，以及ZKM / 卡爾斯魯厄於2020年聯合製作，並與瑞士聯邦森林、雪地和景觀研究所（WSL）的科學家Arthur Gessler、Christian Ginzler、Andreas Rigling，以及赫爾辛基大學的訪問科學家Kaisa Rissanen合作。

Atmospheric Forest visualizes the complex relations between the forest, climate change and atmosphere. Trees are not only oxygen generators, but they breathe as well, and emit large amounts of volatile organic compounds into the air – we recognize it as a habitual scent of the forest. Scientists have long known about the link between a fragrant forest and the warming climate, but are uncertain about the impact and scale.

Atmospheric Forest VR artwork is the outcome of a three-year artistic research project on Pfynwald, an ancient Swiss Alpine coniferous forest suffering from drought due to climate change; the Swiss scientists from WSL Research Institute have turned this forest into a “living observatory”. 

To create the Atmospheric Forest VR artwork, the artists scanned the Pfynwald creating a virtual point cloud environment, and visualized the data provided by scientists. The data sets collected during one growing season included measurements of volatile emissions, resin pressure in pine tree trunks and changing weather. The artists transformed these data into animated particle flows, revealing the complex interaction between the forest ecosystem and atmospheric processes. 

The viewer can navigate through the emitting trees and virtual forest with observation towers, pink labels attached to the plants, measuring ‘bonds’ around the trunks, and other scientific ‘artifacts’. The viewer also can observe the forest from the bottom up, and follow the path inside the tree trunk to go far up above the forest, becoming a part of the emitting ecosystem…

Uncertainty regarding the forest emission effects on climate change remains. However, the visualized data patterns show that with climate change we are set for a more fragrant and more ‘atmospheric forest’ in the future. 

Created as a part of the “Ecodata–Ecomedia–Ecoaesthetics” research project (2017–2021), led by Yvonne Volkart, hosted by the Academy of Art and Design (FHNW) in Basel, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Co-produced by RIXC / Riga, Ecodata-Ecomedia-Ecoaesthetics Project / Basel, and ZKM / Karlsruhe, 2020. Premiered at Critical Zones exhibition (2020-2022) curated by Peter Weibel and Bruno Latour. In collaboration with the scientists Arthur Gessler, Christian Ginzler, Andreas Rigling from Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), and visiting scientist Kaisa Rissanen, University of Helsinki. 

藝術家介紹

Rasa Smite和Raitis Smits是拉脫維亞里加和德國卡爾斯魯厄的藝術家，也是RIXC新媒體文化中心的共同創辦人、RIXC藝術與科學節策展人，以及《聲音空間》主編。他們共同創作了一系列科技藝術作品，從20世紀90年代的網路廣播實驗，到與無線電天文學家合作的電磁頻譜藝術調查，以及近期對「科技生態學」的探索。他們的作品曾獲得及被提名多個獎項，如Purvitis獎（2019、2021）、歐亞地區國際公共藝術獎（2021）、Ars Electronica（1998）和Falling Walls科學突破獎（2021）。這些作品已在威尼斯建築雙年展、拉脫維亞國立美術館、巴塞爾電子藝術之家、奧地利林茨電子藝術節，以及歐洲、美國、加拿大和亞洲的重要藝術展會中呈現。

Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits are Riga (Latvia) and Karlsruhe (Germany) based artists and co-founders of RIXC Center for New Media Culture in Riga, Latvia, co-curators of RIXC Art and Science Festival, and chief-editors of Acoustic Space. Together they create visionary and networked artworks – from pioneering internet radio experiments in the 1990s, to artistic investigations in electromagnetic spectrum and collaborations with radio astronomers, and more recent “techno-ecological” explorations. Their artworks have been nominated (Purvitis Prize 2019, 2021, International Public Arts Award – Eurasian region 2021), awarded (Ars Electronica 1998, Falling Walls – Science Breakthrough 2021) and shown widely including at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Latvian National Museum of Arts, House of Electronic Arts in Basel, Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, and other venues, exhibitions and festivals in Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia.

更多藝術家資訊：http://smitesmits.com/

展出日期｜2023.09.01 – 2023.09.06
展出地點｜臺灣當代文化實驗廣場 C-LAB
攝影紀錄｜張耀翔

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