Sonifying data to raise groundwater awareness
A
Public Works
Case Study
Sonifying data to raise groundwater awareness
A
Public Works
Case Study
Groundwater is a source of life. Families, farms, entire ecologies depend on it. But groundwater changes as the environment around it changes. And over the last 30 years, Kentucky has changed a lot. The population and economy have grown. So too has the demand for and degradation of groundwater.
Sonifying data to raise groundwater awareness
A collaboration with the Kentucky Geological Survey & Connected Future Labs that leverages art, science, and AI to raise groundwater awareness
A collaboration with the Kentucky Geological Survey & Connected Future Labs that leverages art, science, and AI to raise groundwater awareness
Offering
Data Science
Data Science
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Environmental Design
Environmental Design
Actions
Prototyping Fabrication Installation Stakeholder Engagement Curriculum Design Facilitation
Outcomes
Public Art Installation Educational Outreach Program
Impact
Catalyze curiosity Empower citizens and scientists
“For humans to have a responsible relationship with the world," Wendell Berry says, "we must be able to imagine ourselves in it.” We must see how our actions impact our environment. And conversely, how the environment impacts our everyday lives. But how do you raise awareness of a largely invisible infrastructure like groundwater?
What if we could hear the water that runs beneath the Bluegrass? This is the question a few of us at Public Works began wondering back in 2013. Together with the Kentucky Geological Survey, we imagined Livestream–a civic engagement campaign that translates groundwater data into an interactive public art installation and educational outreach program. Each component of the campaign was carefully designed to raise environmental awareness and accountability from the ground, up. How? Not politics, play!
Why play? Play is the way we discover how things work. It’s how we learn about the world and ourselves within the world. Play also increases our physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being. So perhaps a better question is: Why don’t we play more often?
Making the dream a reality
Our proposal was one of many presented to the citizens of Lexington, Kentucky. In short, we pitched a playground. Fabricated out of nine pipes, the playground would be divided into three clusters. Each cluster represents a different source of groundwater – Cold Spring in Bledsoe, Lost River Rise Spring in Bowling Green, and Bluehole Spring in Lexington. The three pipes within each cluster represent parameters of groundwater quality – temperature, conductivity, and flow.
Using a custom-designed sonification toolkit, Livestream would pull data specific to each parameter from the Kentucky Geological Survey’s Groundwater Repository. And transform it into sounds composed by Public Work’s collaborator, Ben Sollee. The library of sounds would then be uploaded to the sculpture. And play based on individuals’ proximity to the pipes. As you walk closer, the volume increases. As you walks away, the volume decreases. Moving through Livestream, people would literally play the ground!
After weeks of public voting, we were notified Lexington wanted to see Livestream becomes a reality! And our proposal was approved by the Lexington-Fayette County Department of Environmental Quality with financial support from the National Endowment for the Arts, with one caveat – given the investment, they wondered if we could make Livestream a permanent installation rather than a temporary one. After some consideration, we said yes – we can!
Fast-forward through two years of developing and testing countless prototypes. And eight weeks as artists-in-residence at Jacobson Park assembling pipes, soldering wires, and connecting with community members.
"But what does it sound like?," a journalist from Louisville Public Media asked. "Sollee said he focused on 'long string tones and a pitch range that is in nature,” and though that sounds abstract, it makes sense. The music feels both alien and entirely organic, a sensation heightened by the visitor’s role in the sound production. Livestream sounds strange and beautiful – as you move among the sensors there are resonant cellos that start to sound like distant whale songs that fade into a kind of euphonious clanging."
Empowering citizens and scientists
In addition to serving as a playful provocation for raising groundwater awareness, Livestream was designed to increase environmental accountability. To this end, we developed an educational outreach program.
In 2016, we piloted the program at the University of Kentucky. Undergraduate and graduate students alongside scientists from the university collaborated with students and teachers from Lexington’s STEAM Academy High School. Together, they embraced design as a means to investigate, [dis]assemble, and reframe their relationship to water.
As one of the participating scientists stated, “The whole process reminded me somewhat of my three-year old granddaughter playing… In some ways, it didn’t seem like design to me. In other ways, it very much is design.”
“For humans to have a responsible relationship with the world," Wendell Berry says, "we must be able to imagine ourselves in it.” We must see how our actions impact our environment. And conversely, how the environment impacts our everyday lives. But how do you raise awareness of a largely invisible infrastructure like groundwater?
What if we could hear the water that runs beneath the Bluegrass? This is the question a few of us at Public Works began wondering back in 2013. Together with the Kentucky Geological Survey, we imagined Livestream–a civic engagement campaign that translates groundwater data into an interactive public art installation and educational outreach program. Each component of the campaign was carefully designed to raise environmental awareness and accountability from the ground, up. How? Not politics, play!
Why play? Play is the way we discover how things work. It’s how we learn about the world and ourselves within the world. Play also increases our physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being. So perhaps a better question is: Why don’t we play more often?
Making the dream a reality
Our proposal was one of many presented to the citizens of Lexington, Kentucky. In short, we pitched a playground. Fabricated out of nine pipes, the playground would be divided into three clusters. Each cluster represents a different source of groundwater – Cold Spring in Bledsoe, Lost River Rise Spring in Bowling Green, and Bluehole Spring in Lexington. The three pipes within each cluster represent parameters of groundwater quality – temperature, conductivity, and flow.
Using a custom-designed sonification toolkit, Livestream would pull data specific to each parameter from the Kentucky Geological Survey’s Groundwater Repository. And transform it into sounds composed by Public Work’s collaborator, Ben Sollee. The library of sounds would then be uploaded to the sculpture. And play based on individuals’ proximity to the pipes. As you walk closer, the volume increases. As you walks away, the volume decreases. Moving through Livestream, people would literally play the ground!
After weeks of public voting, we were notified Lexington wanted to see Livestream becomes a reality! And our proposal was approved by the Lexington-Fayette County Department of Environmental Quality with financial support from the National Endowment for the Arts, with one caveat – given the investment, they wondered if we could make Livestream a permanent installation rather than a temporary one. After some consideration, we said yes – we can!
Fast-forward through two years of developing and testing countless prototypes. And eight weeks as artists-in-residence at Jacobson Park assembling pipes, soldering wires, and connecting with community members.
"But what does it sound like?," a journalist from Louisville Public Media asked. "Sollee said he focused on 'long string tones and a pitch range that is in nature,” and though that sounds abstract, it makes sense. The music feels both alien and entirely organic, a sensation heightened by the visitor’s role in the sound production. Livestream sounds strange and beautiful – as you move among the sensors there are resonant cellos that start to sound like distant whale songs that fade into a kind of euphonious clanging."
Empowering citizens and scientists
In addition to serving as a playful provocation for raising groundwater awareness, Livestream was designed to increase environmental accountability. To this end, we developed an educational outreach program.
In 2016, we piloted the program at the University of Kentucky. Undergraduate and graduate students alongside scientists from the university collaborated with students and teachers from Lexington’s STEAM Academy High School. Together, they embraced design as a means to investigate, [dis]assemble, and reframe their relationship to water.
As one of the participating scientists stated, “The whole process reminded me somewhat of my three-year old granddaughter playing… In some ways, it didn’t seem like design to me. In other ways, it very much is design.”
Groundwater is a source of life. Families, farms, entire ecologies depend on it. But groundwater changes as the environment around it changes. And over the last 30 years, Kentucky has changed a lot. The population and economy have grown. So too has the demand for and degradation of groundwater.
Below:
Below:
Public art installation from initial rendering to ribbon cutting
Public art installation from initial rendering to ribbon cutting
By harnessing the power of play as a means to catalyze curiosity, Livestream actively engages individuals and organizations across Kentucky in the cultivation of two of our most valuable resources — imagination and groundwater. So that together we can begin to work toward a more sustainable tomorrow, today.
This project was made possible with support from:
