A collaboration between artists Linus Lancaster, Hugh Livingston,
and students at Healdsburg Unified School District.
Your River, Downtown builds a sense of community around the Russian River and its vital role in Healdsburg, demonstrating how artwork can connect audiences to important ecological issues. The project is data-driven, collaborating with Russian Riverkeeper to monitor real-time aspects of the River, and artistically presented, using color, texture and line to depict the community narrative. We celebrate the River with video screens in public places that bring live images and river education to everyone. It is Your River, Downtown.
Project Details
Content
Instantiation
A computer-based ‘dashboard’ of data feeds realized as artwork, live video, and other rich content, displayed on large video screens.
Presentation
Screens will be deployed in high-traffic public locations around town such as City offices, tasting rooms, coffee shops, real estate agencies, hotels, gyms, the Chamber of Commerce visitor center.
Technology
Ultra-high definition video displays, media players, content management system (CMS), javascript dashboard software, real-time API data capture from web sources, real-time broadcasting waterproof cameras installed above and below water, generative art software (javascript).
Artwork
Hugh and Linus have varied artistic practices to bring to this project: creating painting pigments drawn from local soils, deriving color palettes seen in the surface of the Russian River, using animated text to show how the creeks flow, and more common practices such as photography, sound recording, and video. These media will be used to create vivid artistic content on video screens that give voice to the River, interpreted by the student participants, as well as interested community members.
Student and Community Participation
Linus Lancaster will be directing his Art and Climate Club students at Healdsburg High School. This creates the opportunity for younger people to get involved, learn about local ecology, help with the research for digital content, and learn the software and techniques used to create the displayed videos. We hope to include River live-streamed video to enhance the currency of the downtown experience. Thus, we look to the COH Public Art Grant as seed money for a longer-term series of community-engaged art projects.
Building On Experience: Where We Are Now
Linus and his students have been developing a floating platform and ceramic buoys (aesthetic objects, plus functionality) that can be used to deploy underwater cameras at River sites. This engages students in construction, materials, and problem-solving, and connects environmental understanding to the artwork that will result from these processes. Hugh has been programming software for interpretation of real-time data, and generating artistic responses to depict riverflow and other key indicators, with the cooperation of local agencies and organizations such as Riverkeeper.
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and students at Healdsburg Unified School District.
Your River, Downtown builds a sense of community around the Russian River and its vital role in Healdsburg, demonstrating how artwork can connect audiences to important ecological issues. The project is data-driven, collaborating with Russian Riverkeeper to monitor real-time aspects of the River, and artistically presented, using color, texture and line to depict the community narrative. We celebrate the River with video screens in public places that bring live images and river education to everyone. It is Your River, Downtown.
Project Details
Content
- Live video feeds from the River, above and below the water.
- Animations showing river flow, turbidity, temperature, capacity, potential and other key performance indicators that the community should understand.
- Animations showing all the creeks that feed the Russian River watershed (there are FOUR Mill Creeks?!)
- Artwork by team leaders and students that interprets the River experience and entertains a Healdsburg audience.
Instantiation
A computer-based ‘dashboard’ of data feeds realized as artwork, live video, and other rich content, displayed on large video screens.
Presentation
Screens will be deployed in high-traffic public locations around town such as City offices, tasting rooms, coffee shops, real estate agencies, hotels, gyms, the Chamber of Commerce visitor center.
Technology
Ultra-high definition video displays, media players, content management system (CMS), javascript dashboard software, real-time API data capture from web sources, real-time broadcasting waterproof cameras installed above and below water, generative art software (javascript).
Artwork
Hugh and Linus have varied artistic practices to bring to this project: creating painting pigments drawn from local soils, deriving color palettes seen in the surface of the Russian River, using animated text to show how the creeks flow, and more common practices such as photography, sound recording, and video. These media will be used to create vivid artistic content on video screens that give voice to the River, interpreted by the student participants, as well as interested community members.
Student and Community Participation
Linus Lancaster will be directing his Art and Climate Club students at Healdsburg High School. This creates the opportunity for younger people to get involved, learn about local ecology, help with the research for digital content, and learn the software and techniques used to create the displayed videos. We hope to include River live-streamed video to enhance the currency of the downtown experience. Thus, we look to the COH Public Art Grant as seed money for a longer-term series of community-engaged art projects.
Building On Experience: Where We Are Now
Linus and his students have been developing a floating platform and ceramic buoys (aesthetic objects, plus functionality) that can be used to deploy underwater cameras at River sites. This engages students in construction, materials, and problem-solving, and connects environmental understanding to the artwork that will result from these processes. Hugh has been programming software for interpretation of real-time data, and generating artistic responses to depict riverflow and other key indicators, with the cooperation of local agencies and organizations such as Riverkeeper.
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