Researchers, artists and companies draw the changing lagoon

While the Sea imperceptibly rises each year, the sea level rise in Venice can only be seen through simulations and figures given by scientists who project future scenarios with a raise of 20, 50 or 75 cm depending on the models that is used and the greenhouse gas emission. Letting everyone see this data is the goal of one of Ca’ Foscari and IUAV’s Artificare initiatives which connect art and research, the city and science, artists and companies funded by the European Social Fund of the Veneto region.

Andreco, an artist and researcher with a Doctorate in environmental engineering, is currently drawing lines on the 19 bays of the building which faces the Grand Canal on Fondamenta Santa Lucia. They will visually represent the potential future sea level, a new normal for an expanding sea.

The blue lines that can be seen from the fondamenta or even from the vaporetto with the proper natural light show one of the most feared effects of climate change. In between the lines lay key formulas, symbols and acronyms on climate science like the increasingly famous ‘parts-per-million’ (ppm) with which the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In october the wall painting will be accompanied by a six meter high installation that will draw attention on the first victims to be of the sea level rise: the plants. The sculpture will contain local plants that are used to tides on the shore and on the dunes which are defending the lagoon from erosion by storing carbon and provide habitat for other species, but may not be able to survive the sea level rise.

“My work is symbolic: I create images that convey a meaning. My goal is to get people curious, raise questions about an issue we can act upon. Finding a solution depends on us.” says the artist and engineer Andreco when presenting the project for which he studied scientific publications and the IPCC report, talked to Ismar-Cnr researchers, experienced metal fabrication in the De Castelli srl laboratory, Artificare’s partner. Ca’ Foscari, the m.a.c.lab, the IUAV and the region of Veneto but also One Contemporary Art, ASLC progetti per l’arte, Grandi Stazioni, Spring Color, Platone Green participated in the project.

The Climate project 04 Sea level rise is the fourth chapter of Andreco’s exploration of environmental vulnerability between science and art that brought him to the opera house in Bari to discuss desertification.

The wall painting and the sculpture will be inaugurated on October 27th at 2.30pm and will be on display for three months. On October 30th experts will discuss Art and science in the time of climate changes in Italian (2.30pm, San Giobbe).

The research project Artificare/Art&Business includes seven “episodes” of interaction between companies and art. It is coordinated by Fabrizio Panozzo, professor at the Department of Management at Ca’ Foscari, and Angela Vettese, professor at IUAV.