Lea Schick

Lea Schick is the editor and moderator of this debate forum. During the RETHINK exhibition she will facilitate the RETHINK Technology discussions here on her blog. We will very much encourage you to participate in the debate!

The interface in the sky

“The climate crisis introduces us to the fact that our immediate surroundings are being mediated by complex visualisations, interfaces, statistics and carbon quotas – thus an imaginary computer interface lurks in the blue sky, even deep in the country with no computers in sight!” (Søren Pold)

Climate is being measured and monitored all the time through pervasive computing and satellite systems. We don’t see the interface for climate measurements, but being a part of our climate, we as well get observed and interface/interlace with these ubiquitous technology systems. How does this situation change our perception of our being in the world, our nature and our climate. In his article, Imaginary Interfaces in the Blue Sky, Søren Pold describes this situation through a number of climate art works. We have to make interfaces for the climate problem in which the viewers are given the opportunity to understand and influence it.
 

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Contributions for RETHINK TECHNOLOGY

 

ABOUT RETHINK TECHNOLOGY

Experts estimate that in order to avoid catastrophic conditions, we must reduce our CO2 emissions by 90% within the next four decades. But the people of the developed world are reluctant to embrace austerity, and the people of the developing world desire for themselves the goods and lifestyles that developed countries enjoy. New technologies and design solutions are our only hope of bridging the divide between the human desire for luxury and the ever-sharper threat our changing climate promises us. New inventions and technological implementations have an essential role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as improving living conditions for the millions if not billions of people who will be negatively affected by climate change. Some argue that we are on the edge of a new industrial revolution, marked by renewable energy and green technologies. But unlike the first industrial revolution, this second, green revolution will be ineffective unless these technologies are made accessible to both developed and developing states, many of which will be among the nations most profoundly affected by climate change.

What can be done to make this vital, green technology accessible to all the people of the world? How can the challenge of serving local and at times unique situations and needs around the globe be met? How can we design and invent our way to a more sustainable lifestyle in the limited time that we have left? How can technologies make it possible for us to change the way we consume without reducing our standards of living? And can artists and designers contribute in the development of new creative solutions?

We here encourage you to read and discuss if and how new renewable technologies, green design solutions, techno-geological fixes, awareness technologies, and so on will possibly influence our lives in the future and perhaps help us to both mitigate and reverse the course of climate change as well as adapt to the inevitable changes we are already beginning to experience.

 

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Discuss the RETHINK TECHNOLOGY contributions on the blog to the left.