Memory Matter

©Fara Peluso - 2019

(algae pigments, fabric, foam, glas, 2019)

A project realized during ‘Imagining Ecological Futures Residency’June 2019, Namur - Belgium. Supported by:

Goethe Institute Brussels

TRAKK Fab Lab Namur

KIKK Festival Namur

Cultura Center Namur - Abattoirs Bomel

Memory Matter is the result of an ongoing research, started beginning of this year, about Algae Bloom phenomen with the intent to recount the reasons that determine it, rapresenting the changes of a natural landscape and its connection with human beings daily activities. An installation which simulate a scenario where an aquatic ecosystem and its pollution are the main protagonists. Algal blooms are the resulst of an excess of nutrients in the water (in particular phosphorus and nitrogen) and these higher concentrations cause an increase in the growth of algae and green plants, producing a reduction of O2, harmful consequences and dead areas. The causes of this event are linked with the production and consumption activities of human being like agriculture, industry, urban life and climate change with the rising of temperatures and the amount of CO2. During the residency I’ve research on this topic and made experiments trying to reproduce in my atelier an algal bloom. This material has been used by me to getting inspired and develop an art installation, an occation to talk about a pollution problem and its causes. I’ve study this phenomenon in connection with the nearby Namur’s areas riproducing them in 3D prints models and part of several totems. Furthermore experimenting through a scientific tool and a DIY Biology approach, the chromatographic technique was the process that allowed an algal liquid pigment to evaporate and stand on the surface of the 3D models. Memory Matter want raises a public awareness about climate changes, the transformation of our landscapes and how the construction of a collective memory is fundamental to understanding and acting together. The concept of memory has therefore two channels of communication, linked to the collective memory of the spectators and to the almost invisible transformation of a liquid matter. It shows the meaning of scientific research and why it’s now important collect a memory as fundamental approach, a tool to rise discussions, understand future climate changes and learn how to prevent drastic conseguences.