Air, 2023
Spazio Leonardo, Milan, IT
For the second event of 2023, Spazio Leonardo is pleased to announce Air, an exhibition by Silvia Hell (*1983, Bolzano) and Antonio Giuranna (*1981, Taranto), which transforms data concerning air quality in Milan into a dialogue between visual art and music.
“In 2008, the European Parliament produced a reference text for the monitoring of air quality. I decided to approach this document as if it were a song. Instead of reading it, I began singing it repeatedly over blues backing tracks. I am interested in the rhythm of information, the possibility that a regulation can imprint on an emotional substrate. The emphasis was placed on the importance of public information on air quality and making data publicly available. I decided to use this raw material and transform it into a visualisation to reveal a sort of air score.” (Silvia Hell)
Air is an ongoing project started in 2018, for which Silvia Hell has analysed air quality data in Milan from 1987 to the present obtained from the historical archive of Arpa Lombardia – the regional agency responsible for environmental protection. Such analysis led to the mapping of the concentration of eight pollutants in the air of the city.
These data are then transformed into a musical composition, produced in collaboration with composer Antonio Giuranna, who parameterised the data and translated them into music using various electronic instruments. The musical score is visually reproduced on large coloured canvases displayed at the Spazio Leonardo gallery, creating a synergy between sound, sign and data.