Abstraction Today 

Birgit Schneider (University of Potsdam)

Making Climate Data Graspable through Visualization and Sonification in Art and Science 

Climate data is difficult for many to grasp, which is why the climate crisis is said to have a comprehensive perception problem. Risk research has also found that it is very challenging for people to gain an awareness of risks from abstract data alone, as they draw their knowledge primarily from experiences they have had themselves. However, preventive decisions must be made for the future without this personal experience so that these events do not occur in the first place. In the lecture, I will analyse the potential of sonifying and visualizing climate and weather data with examples from art and science, how they translate discursive data into aesthetic perceptions or make them concrete, and discuss the extent to which the data remain abstract despite their sensualization.