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1 Fieldwork day on Lake Zug and scientific devices inspirations

2 Water movements choreographies and horizon reflections

3 Satellite images of Greenlandic glacial lakes

4 Water probe hitting the lake surface

05. Hydrorecord



Hydrorecord is an on-going research project in collaboration with aquatic geochemist David Janssen.

For the scientists of Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), science on the field involves a great share of measuring and recording tasks, and the kilos of all the needed scientific gear weighs on their shoulders during the long days spent outside in the cold, on the lakes, for limnological studies. However, the physicality of the work, the weather conditions, as well as the materiality of the used technology are often overlooked to prioritize the abstracted data, the numbers that were collected throughout the day. These are further processed and abstracted into scientific papers which bear little or no trace of the atmospheric, material or sensorial context of the research.

By wanting to critically address scientific research from the point of view of the devices used for collecting data, we are asking: What do these tools say about how we relate to the world and to science? Is measuring enough to understand, and is recording enough to know? How can the historical and contemporary study of scientific device design help us understand our relationship to the world, and address what this relationship is lacking?

Taking the scientific analysis of interconnected networks of glacial lakes in Switzerland and Greenland as a case study, we investigate what lies behind the very idea of measurement. Do measuring technologies help bridge the gap between scientist and the world, or do they create more distance? What role could artistic and critical design methods play in rethinking these devices and offer a reflection around the idea of measurement at such?

2024 - ongoing


Realized in the art and science collaboration programme PolARTS of Pro Helvetia and Swiss Polar Institute (2024-2025)

Collaboration with aquatic geochemist David Janssen and Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Supported by Pro Helvetia and Swiss Polar Institute (PolARTS-2024-001)