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A Chicago area artist combines art and science in a dazzling way, and CBS News Chicago meteorologist David Yeomans even tried his hand at it as he checked out Environmental Graphiti.
The First Alert Weather team at CBS News Chicago talks a lot about how climate change is changing our weather, because it is.
With climate change, we’re seeing more intense heatwaves, worsening air quality from wildfires, and more severe flooding events.
Meteorologists like David Yeomans use very sophisticated statistics to analyze this and convey that to viewers, but CBS News Chicago also met somebody who makes these statistics beautiful.
Alisa Singer wants to draw you in and open your mind with her art.
“Art combined with science is a potent combination,” she said.
She’s the creator of Environmental Graphiti, a digital collection of art based on scientific graphs and data about climate change.
“I’m not an activist,” Singer said. “I am not an expert, but I thought I could bring something to this.”
She said her process begins with an issue that sparks her interest.
“I’ll go to the report, and if it’s a credible source, I will look for graphic data,” she said.
The chart or graph acts as the blueprint of each piece.
“There will be a number of figures, and I’ll look for one that has certain aesthetic elements that I think can be turned into art,” she said. “I won’t change a trend line. I’m not going to say. ‘I think this would be prettier if the temperature was a little bit lower.”
Anyone viewing her art will have to work to grasp the full intention.
“The idea is for you to walk into a room and to see what appears to be abstract art,” she said.
In galleries, the actual graph is shown next to the art. Your eye is meant to go back and forth to see a connection.
“You do a little bit of a double take, ‘Oh, that’s not abstract. That’s actually based on that. Where are those lines from the graph, or are they in the art, and what is this actually all about?'” she said.
She kind of sneaks in science into her art.
“If I’m doing a piece about sea level rise, I’m not going to try to make it look like an ocean,” she said. “I want there to be even more of a jarring effect.”
Aside from galleries, Singer’s work has graced the covers of advanced scientific journals and reports. It also can be found at museums and at universities around the world.
“To me, the art is a form of communication. It’s a form of education,” she said.
Singer didn’t set out to be an artist. She spent many years as a corporate attorney.
“When I retired in 2013, I decided I wanted to focus finally on creating art, which I love, but I also thought it would be worthwhile to try to combine it with something that I cared about,” she said.
CBS News Chicago gave Singer an assignment and sent her a graph of Chicago’s warming temperatures.
She also put David Yeomans to work.
Singer: “You provided me with an interesting graph.”
Yeomans: “Chicago’s temperatures from winter to summer back to winter, which have warmed, especially in the winter, by more than 3 degrees.”
Singer: “I’m looking at this graph, and I’m trying to decide what aspects of it are appealing that I can make interesting art from.”
But remember, her intent is not just to illustrate scientific graphs.
“I want this piece of art to stand completely independent of the underlying message,” she said.
First, they laid down textures – digital images similar to colors – then put them on top of each other in layers, all while making the art stay true to the data, but presented in a whole different way.
Singer said she’s grateful she can do her part to educate and engage.
“This was my opportunity to marry the two goals, to try to marry art and cause,” she said.
Singer doesn’t just do environmental works of art. She also creates beautiful portraits and abstracts.
She said, because her work is digital, it’s easy to share, and she’s happy to share it anyone who is not using it for commercial purposes.
To learn more, just log on to her website, environmentalgraphiti.org.
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