Air of the Anthropocene

In recent years, numerous artists have been exploring ways to capture and visualise air pollution. Some companies, like AIR-INK, use captured pollutants as a form of ink itself. Others are experimenting with digital technologies designed to make the invisible, visible.

The Air of the Anthropocene is a nomadic art project, taking place across the UK, India, Ireland, Mexico and Africa. It uses a custom built LED light painter that translates particulate pollution levels into the density of light dots in a long exposure photograph. In this video, Robin Price records a presentation from his hotel room in Addis Ababa, taking us through some of the outputs and capabilities of the project.

Stills captured from the project were printed and used as protest postcards sent to legislators in the Ethiopian Capital.