“The Antarctic is unlike any other place on earth: geographically, politically, and culturally. Larger than the U.S., it is a frontier where borders and nationalities take a backseat to scientific collaboration and cooperation, a place where the compass becomes meaningless yet navigation is a matter of life and death. It is an extreme environment, inhabited by some of the most unique species, but it is also an ecosystem undergoing rapid change. Last year I had the opportunity to go to Antarctica for the first time, on a National Science Foundation-sponsored artist’s residency where I worked alongside scientists studying how its weather and climate impacts on the global environment.

Prior to this trip, I had spent several years working in collaboration with atmospheric scientists to develop systems for understanding storm and climate information through sound (a process called sonification). I created a spatialized sonification of highly detailed models of storms that devastated the New York area; a series of sonifications of actual and projected climate in New York City’s Central Park, and one of the world’s first locations for climate monitoring; and a real-time multichannel sonification and visualization of weather in the Arctic. I used data in my projects that I had collected from remote weather stations, but had never visited them. In going to Antarctica, I hoped to find a way to engage more directly with the issue of global climate change…” Continue reading Andrea Polli on Ground Truth, NYFA Current.