(Archive) The Rainbow and the Air

A connection to the invisible

In many mythologies around the world, the rainbow is a connection between humanity and the immaterial. A messenger from the gods, or a bridge that connects the world to the heavens. In the mythology of climate change, the rainbow is again a connection between humanity and that what we cannot see: Air pollution.

Air pollution is measured using the rainbow

A spectroscope is an instrument that uses a diffraction grating to break the light into all of it’s colors. Every particle in the air reflects and absorbs different wavelengths of the light spectrum, and can thus be identified.

Measuring instruments are the tools we use to form an understanding of our environment. Before that, mythologies filled that role. Through stories, rituals and symbols, people would be able to relate to their world.
Myths were often celebrated and recreated in cultural events, actively engaging people in a local way. Unlike scientific data, which is not very well digested by society.
To create a culture that understands the challenges of a changing climate, we need to engage people with different aesthetics, experiences and stories. We need to embrace the mythical.

Looking at the air through the rainbow.

These proposals for spectroscopes measure air pollution and show the rainbow that would normally only be inside of the instrument. They are meant as a different aesthetic experience for measuring air pollution, refering to an ancient lineage of rainbow myths. They question the way we experience measuring instruments themselves, besides the data they produce. Becoming a combination of a scientific tool and a mythological artifact.