Dialogue with the Brown Cloud: a virtual conversation

Abstract

In this paper titled Dialogue with the Brown Cloud, new modes of approaching our environs will be investigated, adding to the global conversation surrounding climate change. This paper aims to pose questions rather than supply answers regarding the state of our atmosphere, written through the combined lens - the fields of science and art. At the cusp of these fields lies a liminal space, a ‘virtual world’ where ideas of beauty and truth can converge. This shared space allows a reflexive, cross-disciplinary viewpoint and allows for wider significance while researching, and can be made tangible, physical, through works of art. To this end, color and the materials of art will be discussed as key contributors to the translation of related ideas into art and vice versa. Our virtual and physical environments are becoming increasingly convergent as technology and lifestyle become more integrated. The brown cloud over Asia is a physical reminder of the ether that connects us, yet technology connects us virtually, universally, through the satellite. These objects – like clouds - circumnavigate our earth; yet link us via a web of information. What does this signify for this particular dialogue, a discourse that encompasses sustainability, art and technology? Paul Klee’s quote ‘Not to render the visible but to render visible’ stems from the same idea that the onus on the artist is to reveal the unseen rather than representing the seen.