New research and art installation demonstrates the viability of using fog as a water source: A collaboration between arts and sciences faculty spreads awareness and climate knowledge
Gathering Cloud: Blending Creativity and Sustainability, a public art sculpture by Anja Ulfeldt, a multimedia sculptor, lecturer, and visiting artist-in-residence with OpenLab supporting the UCSC Art+Fog Collective with Professors Jennifer Parker and Peter Weiss-Penzias.
The goal of the Art+Fog collective is to catalyze climate knowledge, foster societal awareness, inspire people to think about fog and share how creative ideas can lead to smart solutions for the future. All of this is done through bridging the arts and sciences to create a groundbreaking solution for a growing lack of water.
The sculpture stands in the wetlands near the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. It features eight amorphous rings that echo the ethereal shapes of clouds. Each ring contains copper mesh that gathers fog water, oxidizing the copper to a beautiful sky-blue color.
Gathering Cloud is one of the many projects to restore the marshlands around Younger Lagoon, which is directly west of the Seymour Center.
Support for the project was made possible by the OpenLab Collaborative Research Center, the Center for Coastal Climate and Resilience, and the Climate Action Solutions Program.
Learn more about the Art+Fog Collective here: https://openlabresearch.com/artfog-collective-harvesting-water-from-the-sky