Every week in the summer The duty takes you on the side roads of university life. A scholarly proposal and intimate, to pick up like a postcard during the summer. First stop: the ephemeral installation edge of the woods, which offers a kaleidoscopic look at boreal forest trees in context climate change discussed here by the artist GisèleTrudel and forest ecologist Daniel Kneeshaw.
Gisele. I’m interested in how scientists work with data to present it to the public as an artistic visualization. The data here is an incursion into the reality of the tree and the forest. Scientific instruments make it possible to “connect” differently with the situation of climate change, the effects of which are, of course, extremely serious, and which will increase in the future. By combining our two fields of research, how can we offer something else? I want to get out of this way of talking about climate change only in catastrophic terms.
Daniel. In large scientific journals, it is easier to get published if you have a catastrophic message. Sometimes there can be a message of hope. As you say, the point of view of the tree is not always catastrophic, it concerns everyday life, but it is thus often less interesting for the publication. By showing a graph or a time series, something changes every day. We can see, for example, that there is growth and enlargement of the trunk of the tree, these are usual measures. There are other spatial order graphs.
In science, we are experiencing a mini-revolution in terms of thinking and the presentation of graphs. Now, several journals ask us for popular graphics for publication on the Web and not just in articles, in order to attract readers and encourage them to look further.
Plus, it’s about including the audience. If talking to other scientists, there is a particular chart to use; if talking to decision makers or others, it’s about including compelling images. That’s why it’s very interesting to work together. I am learning how different information can be conveyed in multiple ways, without hiding the richness in their data, in addition to being more accessible. Overall, there is no recipe that works for everyone.
Gisele. The role of art is indeed to incite, to invite, to welcome the public, without having a “message”. When I look at the data of the tree in the spreadsheet, its measurements in micrometers, extremely small variations, I tell myself that the tree is changing, that it is moving all the time. His way of moving, as minimal as it is, offers another way of acting in the face of climate change. All these small scales that add up over time can make a difference. The tree is always in motion.
Daniel. These exchanges are interesting, but also destabilizing for a scientist who is used to demonstrating the facts, to conveying a message. Scientists seek to convince people of their interpretation, we are trained to do so. We think about how to build figures and graphs to limit interpretations. We are also trained to have a critical look when we analyze a graph to know if the proposed interpretation is valid or not.
A person in science might stick to one meaning too much. The exploration that we are doing in this project opens my eyes to the vehicle, to the messages, to the types of graphics. Like you mentioned, who only wants to hear doomsday messages?
Gisele. Indeed, it is paralyzing. People give up. The association between our fields of research brings power. First, there is the validation of the data anchored in the real of the tree. These data flows generate an expressiveness of the line, of the animation. The figure adopts a qualitative approach, that of change. Here when I say the word qualitative, I am not referring to the social sciences. For me, qualitative means “variation, a sensitive, changing datum”.
Daniel. Scientists analyze the data, the mechanisms and the possible consequences if certain factors are combined. There are scientists who like to speak in the media to make people react, and sometimes to provoke them. For my part, I am decidedly less comfortable interacting with the audience. There’s a bit during the questions at the end of a presentation, but it’s not a real discussion, because we stay in touch with the message we’re trying to convey. I now wonder how the public will react to certain images, to certain messages. It is a richness of our collaboration.
Gisele. Thanks to our collaboration, I am amazed by the functioning of trees. They are still there, we have been allies for thousands of years. But there is no message in art… This project operates as an offering, a sharing, a way of thinking and acting with the tree. Technological instrumentation allows us to enter inside the processes of the tree and at the same time to better grasp its environment. Trees are living beings and they witness climate change.
Daniel. As you mentioned, trees don’t move, but move radially all the time through the days; at night they will shrink and during the day they will swell with a little water. Through the seasons, there is always this movement. Also, through growth, they are alive, but differently from a mammal or animal that can experience the world. With our collaboration, we seek to increase sensitivity to these dynamic organisms at scales different from those of humans.
Gisele. However, I have no idea what people’s reaction to the artistic proposal will be. This is the risk of art. It might not work at all. This is why I make art. If I knew in advance what was going to happen, why would I do it?
Daniel Kneeshaw is a forest ecologist and professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM. He is director of the Forest Study Center and holder of the Chair on the resilience and vulnerabilities of temperate and boreal forests to climate change. He also leads the pan-Canadian SmartForests network, which documents the climatic variations of forests in Canada.
Gisèle Trudel is an artist and professor at the School of Visual and Media Arts at UQAM. She is a researcher member of Hexagram, the research-creation network in arts, cultures and technologies. She co-founded the artistic research unit Aelab with musician and composer Stéphane Claude. She holds the MEDIANE Canada Research Chair in Arts, Practice Ecotechnologies and Climate Change.