Preemptive Media - AIR (Area's Immediate Reading)

Preemptive Media - AIR (Area's Immediate Reading)

project link: http://www.preemptivemedia.net/
http://www.pm-air.net/

In August 2005, Preemptive Media was awarded the first Social Sculpture Commission (SSC) from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Eyebeam to develop Area's Immediate Reading (AIR). For this project PM is prototyping portable air quality measurement kits to monitor various air pollutants in Lower Manhattan, as well as create data visualizations of our findings. The SSC are intended to develop a new process oriented, socially based artwork that integrates the community into the creation and presentation of the work and affects the world around them. An AIR public workshop took place in June 2006 in New York City and the full project launched in September 2006.

AIR is a public, social experiment in which people are invited to use Preemptive Media's portable air monitoring devices to explore their neighborhoods and urban environments for pollution and fossil fuel burning hotspots.

Preemptive Media - AIR (Area's Immediate Reading)

Participants or "carriers" are able to see pollutant levels in their current locations, as well as simultaneously view measurements from the other AIR devices in the network. An on-board GPS unit and digital compass, combined with a database of known pollution sources such as power plants and heavy industries, allow carriers to see their distance from polluters as well. The AIR devices regularly transmit data to a central database allowing for real time data visualization on this website.

While AIR is designed to be a tool for individuals and groups to self identify pollution sources, it also serves as a platform to discuss energy politics and their impact on environment, health and social groups in specific regions.

Preemptive Media - AIR (Area's Immediate Reading)

AIR was conceived and produced by Preemptive Media (Beatriz da Costa, Jamie Schulte and Brooke Singer).

This project was made possible with support from Eyebeam/Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's 2005 Social Sculpture Commission. Special thanks to: Melanie Crean, Theodore Watson, Evan Harper, Rob O'Neill, Amanda McDonald Crowley and Perry Lowe of Eyebeam and Adam Kleinman and Radhika Subramaniam of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Preemptive Media - AIR (Area's Immediate Reading)

AIR is presented in conjunction with Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's summit, What Comes After: Cities, Art and Recovery from September 14 - 17, 2006. This summit incudles a program of films, exhibitions, symposia, performances, and a public art competition.

AIR was developed in conjunction with a project by Beatriz da Costa with Cina Hazegh and Kevin Ponto. AIR's data visualization was developed with Theodore Watson and the device case with Evan Harper of Eyebeam's Production Studios as part of the 2005 Social Sculpture Commission program.

Preemptive Media - AIR (Area's Immediate Reading)


artist bio
Preemptive Media (Beatriz da Costa, Jamie Schulte and Brooke Singer) is a group of artists, activists and technologists who are making their own style of beta tests, trial runs and impact assessments based on independent research. PM is most interested in emerging policies and technologies because they are contingent and malleable. The criteria and methods of PM programs are different than those run by businesses and government, and, therefore, PM gets different results. PM hopes that their inquiries create new opportunities for public discussion and alternative outcomes in the usually remote and closed world of technology-based research and development.