AIR: The Invisible and the Visible (an AUT LASER talks panel discussion)

Hosted by Associate Professor Janine Randerson, this panel discussion is part of the AUT LASER talks series.

AIR: The Invisible and the Visible

Air is invisible, yet we depend on our atmospheric container for life. Scientists, artists, and designers alike wrestle with the issue of representing the atmosphere and the urgent social politics of how we care for our immaterial environment. While philosopher Lucy Irigaray once asked “is air thinkable?”, today we are expanding our means to visually describe the qualities of air through sensors for pollutants and ‘big data’ forms of measurement as well as through aesthetic politics.

The recent commodification of air, as a luxury item, harnesses and challenges notions of consumer law around a growing awareness of principles of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and how we conceive and value the atmosphere in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Full event details and speaker biographies (Eventfinda website)

Speakers

Designer Dr Malte Wagenfeld, RMIT University, artist Dr Layne Waerea (Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Kahungunu) and urban meteorologist Jennifer Salmond, Associate Professor in the School of Environment, University of Auckland will each discuss an individual aspect of their research.

This will be followed by a 40 minute panel discussion.