Tools Talk Back suzanne mathew
figure 1 Market Square Weather Data Survey Weather instruments can generate large amounts of data about the environment. In this survey collected for Market Square in Providence, data measurements included wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, pressure, and location. While the survey is thorough, the spatial effect is lost.
all images: Suzanne Mathew
My methods for surveying microclimates are simple: using hand-held weather instruments, I take incremental measurements of changes in light, temperature, wind speed and direction at certain intervals across a site. These measurements may be taken on a set grid, at set distances along a transect, or at specific moments of transition or change. These plotted measurements are used to generate a visual representation of the climatic atmospheres. Each survey I conduct requires a certain degree of in-the-moment responsiveness, of in-situ decision making, and this is where I’ve learned to hybridise both my body’s and my instrument’s capabilities.
When we experience outside space, our bodies sense a number of factors that we cannot see – changes in light, temperature, humidity, and sound create atmospheric envelopes that we move through, that we are aware of and that we consciously inhabit. But our sensory functions operate far too quickly for us to fully understand what we are experiencing, and as a result we often omit the dimensions of the phenomenal environment from our depictions of space. While weather instruments can measure near-invisible changes in microclimate, I’ve tried to develop methods for observing these phenomena to better understand how we ourselves can more fully sense exterior space. The utility of such tools goes beyond their mere capacity to measure: these tools talk back , and in that have the ability to increase our own capacity to notice. By using tools, I’ve been able to condition my consciousness to recognise the small changes in atmospheres that often evade us.
on site review 39: Tools 18
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