Curtains
Water, rivers, a mute and faceless chorus, shadow gestures exchanged between rivals. 
The uncertain play of semiotics and signification.
view on vimeo

The sound is derived from a data sonification model exploring the phenomenon of disappearing Arctic sea ice. There seems to be some agreement that of all the phenomena marking climate change in the Arctic, all the data, local knowledge and simple observations from sustained field work, points to the rate of loss of Arctic sea ice as the most obvious and critical. Revisiting the method of taking historical data and projecting forward using best estimates, I gathered data mapping the disappearance of sea ice from 1980 (earliest records) to 2080, when some scientists predict it will have disappeared altogether. The model uses two tones, high and low, representing ice levels a century apart. A sweeping tone between the two at a user-defined interval emphasises the difference. The simplicity of this model honours a fundamental principle of sonification. Yes, this film is about climate change.

Title: Curtains
Running Time: 00:05:34
Year of Production: 2021