O-Tū-Kapua (what clouds see), is a Mixed Reality experience that took place at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery in 2017. This exhibition used participatory art to teach school aged children about atmospheric science. The whole project is documented and available under creative commons copyright for use via the project website https://www.otukapua.nz
F4 were the invited in 2015 to work with atmospheric scientists from NIWA to create a project addressing air quality for the °TEMP NZ project. The °TEMP team invited artists from NZ to work with New Zealand scientists to interrogate and reframe global climate science in a series of visually rich and immersive art installations. The °TEMP project addressed 5 key themes
Wai/Water – Climate change is heating up the ocean – changing the way it moves. Ocean currents, drawn in rope, will spread across an acre of park.
Huarere/Weather – The average NZ household annual carbon emission can be represented by a mountainous pile of coal. From black coal to colourful paper fans, human impact on weather is highlighted through Brydee Rood’s unique art.
Kai/Food – Explore cultivating food and managing consumption within a booming city. The entrance to Corban Estate will host a large edible gateway, along with community gardens.
Whakaruru/Shelter – An invitation to do community shelter differently in Auckland. Experience living in an extreme disaster zone, by making shelters from upcycled materials alongside strangers.
Angi/Air – Contribute to a mixed reality installation, both visual and virtual, to explore the living breathing Waitakere Ranges.
We are AIR, The team comprised F4, The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research atmospheric scientists Gustavo Olivares, Elizabeth Somerville and Guy Coulson, Composer Maree Sheehan, researchers from Auckland University of Technology Centre for Learning and Teaching, Claudio Aguayo and James Smith. Dr Roy Davies (IMERSIA), the Education Team at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery and most importantly the more than one thousand participants who took part in making this experience come to life.
This snail became the App’s icon and is a reappearing character along with his other snail friends.
Mock up of the Air page from the O-Tū-Kapua app.
The print-based booklet that accompanied the exhibition. free to download from https://www.otukapua.nz
O-Tu-Kapua, forest visualisation from Sue Jowsey on Vimeo.
The Markers that trigger the Augmented Reality (AR) when you use the O-Tū-Kapua app
You can download the app for free just go to your devices app store and type in otukapua
This is the marker that produces a forest similar to the one you can see in the visualisation video. Initially we had planned to use an immersive technological experience to build the AR, in the end we chose more reliable preloaded marker based experiences.
This tree stump, acts as a metaphor for the death of our forests. This marker triggers the live data feed visualisation of a tree showing the overall health of the trees in Auckland and the amount of particles in the air – the air quality – due to traffic movements across the city.
This swirling mass is our water vapour marker, it is the trigger for the 360 walk in the Waitakere Ranges. It is best viewed with Google Cardboard or your phones VR viewer.
Meet our Auckland Tree Wētā. Phylum:Arthropoda Class:Insecta Order:Orthoptera Family:Anostostomatidae Species: Hemideina thoracic They live in holes in trees often made by our large green Pūriri Moths. Wētā can really jump, so watch out.
Visit our website to have the full experience – https://www.otukapua.nz
The AR page inside the App showing the tree that is triggered by the tree stump marker.
F4 