The Haggerty Museum of Art’s exhibition Tomás Saraceno: Entangled Air, on view through May 21, aligns the work of internationally renowned artist Tomás Saraceno with the research of Dr. Somesh Roy, Marquette University assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Saraceno and Roy will engage in dialogue via Zoom at 11:45am (CT) on Thursday, March 30. Their conversation will explore the air pollutant black carbon (commonly known as soot), its impact on climate change and public health, and the creative ways that artists and scientists are working together to inspire a more conscientious coexistence with the atmosphere. Register online to attend.
For more than two decades Argentina-born, Berlin-based artist Tomás Saraceno has activated projects aimed towards rethinking the co-creation of the atmosphere, with the goal of eliminating carbon emissions. Saraceno’s multidimensional practice — which engages local communities, scientific researchers, and a studio team comprised of designers, architects, anthropologists, biologists, engineers, art historians, and musicians — aims to reorient our understanding of our place in the world, ultimately building awareness that we exist as actors in a complex network of interconnected human and nonhuman forces.
Dr. Somesh Roy’s work explores the mysteries of black carbon, which forms during combustion. Black carbon, part of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), contributes to climate change. Despite the ubiquitous presence of these tiny black particulates in the air, our knowledge of fundamental processes behind the formation and evolution of soot is still lacking. Operating in the field of combustion and aerosol science, Dr. Roy studies the formation of soot at an atomic level in combustion systems, its dispersion at the atmospheric level, and the mitigation of its impacts on a personal and social level.
The dialogue between Tomás Saraceno and Dr. Roy is part of the exhibition Tomás Saraceno: Entangled Air at the Haggerty Museum of Art.
